Wands, Swords, and Soul Gems

by MiddleEarthThestral

Madoka was an ordinary transfer student at Mitakihara Middle School until one day she and her friends received invitations to attend a magic school in England. On another continent a young, unimportant Harriet Potter makes a small wish and a new friend. PostRebellion, DevilHomura, FemPotter, 2ndYear, WBWLNeville, WeasleyFriendly, SecretHeritage, MonsterHeritage, SomeWorldBuilding

1. Chapter 1 Magic Is Real

PMMM and HP are properties belonging to their respective owners. This is a non profit fanwork.

This story was based on the simple premise of what would happen if the Post Rebellion Holy Quintet, some of their friends, and a scheming Kyubey went to Hogwarts. Then I decided they should do this during the Chamber of Secrets incident and that their arrival and existence would knock down as many dominos as possible to eventually ruin/improve their lives and the wizarding world around them. Kyubey is of course the most destructive of these elements just for his ability to turn teen and teenage girls, especially orphans into killing machines, but do not underestimate the potential of a goddess in human form, her devil girlfriend, two basically angels one of whom has been memory wiped, two magical girls both of whom have been memory wiped, and one Hitomi Shizuki to also cause problems for themselves and everyone around them. I want to cause as much suffering and chaos as possible (while still making sense for the story I am telling meaning I will be forced to pace myself) and without killing anyone, well, without killing anyone yet. Being special and powerful is only a limited protection at best and really just makes you a target for bad things to happen to. Of course, there are quite a few special and powerful people in the regular HP canon who will need to also suffer bad things as well. Nobody is safe! This does not mean there will not be happy endings, only that at least a little suffering and awkwardness is guaranteed.

Warning: This story is going to go very heavy into fanon territory and contain some OCs. On the HP side we will have wrong boy who lived Neville, fem Harry, some creature inheritances, some light world building, and so much more. On the PMMM side there will only be the fanon necessary for crossover elements, and I will definitely be drawing in the occasional character from the PMMM supplementary material.

Without further ado I present the trainwreck of a crossover Wands, Swords, and Soul Gems

Chapter 1 Magic Is Real

"To My Dearest Nicholas,

I find myself faced with a most puzzling academic conundrum, one upon which matters of life and death rest. All magic comes from the soul, so why are so few Puellae Magicae also witches? Any Puella Magica can learn at least a little basic Soul Magic depending only upon what wish she made and how long she has been alive. In fact it is my belief that Wixen Soul Magic began as reverse engineered Puella Magica magic even if that school of magic has since evolved quite far over the centuries, but the modern schools of magic, or at least the spells of those schools which are not based in some form of Soul Magic id est the overwhelming majority of modern Charms and Transfiguration, are beyond all but a very small number of my kind. Almost every Pualla Magica can cast a Patronus with just a little training, but only a small fraction can cast the simplest Lumos like a proper Wixen. Some few of these Wixen Puellae Magicae were witches first before becoming Puellae Magicae, but this number is vanishingly few as so few natural born Wixen, likely due to the isolation of their society, have any karmic potential worth speaking of. Another subset, perhaps a fifth of the total were not fully human to begin with which while good for them does little to help unravel this mystery. I am far more curious about the final subset that makes up a simple majority of cases, the Puellae Magicae who were born magicless like me, a set of cases who are often unaware that they have become Wixen even as accidental magic starts to happen around them shortly after contracting. I hypothesize that this final group must have been born with that latent spark that would make some of our progeny or some of our progeny's progeny muggleborn. The question then becomes how to prove this hypothesis, especially considering both the low life expectancy of my kind and the unusually high rates of being an orphan among Puellae Magicae, and once proven, how we might spread this spark to other Puellae Magicae through non wish based means to improve survival rates, life expectancy, and quality of life…" - Excerpt from a letter by Perenelle Flamel to her husband, translated from Middle French to Present Day English. It is worth noting that the terms Puella Magica and Puellae Magicae have since evolved into the modern term Puella Magi.

"So, you each got one too?" asked Madoka, brandishing the strange letter in her hand. Homura and Hitomi both nodded as Madoka took a seat with the two in the mall food court. Madoka made a point of sitting next to her girlfriend and she could see that Homura had her letter out and unfolded. By the way the letter now lay perfectly flat from how it had originally been perfectly folded up and by the wear and tear on the edges, Madoka could only assume Homura had been reading and rereading the strange message ever since it arrived this morning.

If Madoka was not imagining things she thought her already rather pale girlfriend looked paler than usual.

Setting down her own letter, Madoka could see that the two were identical save for a Ms. Kaname on hers and a Ms. Akemi on Homura's. "They had my exact address on the envelope." said Hitomi, "Right down to the room I sleep in."

A treacherous part of Madoka had upon seeing a fancy envelope addressed to her, secretly hoped it was a love letter from a boy or girl. She was surprised at how small this part of her was. Madoka was sure something had changed in who she was as a person, and she did not think her dating Homura was the sole reason for her changing since coming back from America.

Speaking of Homura, Madoka's girlfriend definitely looked paler than usual as she glared at the letter in front of her, "Homura?" asked Madoka.

"Everything is fine. I'm sure this is just a very elaborate prank." Madoka was sure Homura did not believe what she was saying.

"Sorry we're late." said Sayaka holding a tray with cheese fries, "Someone thought we should grab something to eat first."

"We're in a food court. Of course I grabbed something to eat." said Kyoko, sounding unusually grumpy and holding her tray in one hand and stealing a cheese fry from Sayaka with her other, "You all got one, too?"

"We did." said Hitomi as she and Madoka made room for the other two at their table.

Sayaka set down the fries and proceeded to ignore them as she snatched out her own letter. "To be clear, everyone here got a weird letter that seems like something out of an anime saying," and Sayaka started to read, "'HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY'?"

There were nods from around the table.

Kyoko now read while munching on a fry, "'Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore'," she read in a dry tone, "doubt I'm pronouncing the name correctly. It's a weird name even by American standards. 'Order of Merlin,' I've heard of that Merlin guy before. He's friends with King Arthur right?"

"He is. He was apparently the son of an incubus." said Homura with one of the too wide creepy smiles that Madoka heard she had only started using after Madoka transferred in. Homura assumed an exaggerated thinking pose. "He might have done some rather awful things if he had not been baptized after being born. I wonder what an unbaptized half demon would get up to." For some reason she glanced at Madoka and the way she smiled sent a shiver down Madoka's spine.

Madoka leaned over and whispered in Homura's ear, "What's an incubus?" Unfortunately for Madoka the food court was emptier than usual today and she did not whisper very quietly.

Hitomi and Sayaka blushed while Kyoko spoke up, "As the group's resident Christian, or at least former Christian,"

"I went to Catholic school." said Homura, but she was ignored by Kyoko.

"An incubus is a…" she got a glare from Sayaka that seemed to promise that she would be spending the night on the couch if she said the wrong thing, "It's a kind of demon, and well… when a demon loves another demon very much…"

"I know what sex is Kyoko." said Madoka who was now blushing as well. "So, this order of Merlin is probably like a demon worshiping cult, specifically focussed around sex demons?"

"I hope not!" said Hitomi, putting her hands to her reddening cheeks.

"Doubtful." said Homura. Madoka looked down towards the table feeling more than a little embarrassed at having her theory shot down like that. "Not that it's a bad guess Madoka," Homura quickly added no doubt seeing her reaction, "but I think it is more likely this order, whatever they are, is focused on Merlin being a powerful wizard."

Madoka perked back up, "That makes sense. I just hear the word 'order' and I think religious order, like a cult, you know? And then demons and cults go really well together."

"I knew trying to get you to watch anime that wasn't slice of life or yuri romance was a bad idea." said Sayaka.

"So, this Dumblydore is part of some kind of maybe religious order of witches and wizards that may or may not be connected to demons." said Kyoko while chewing on another of Sayaka's fries. Kyoko had gotten better about talking with her mouth full, so her slipping now was concerning. Madoka wondered if Kyoko was stress eating. "Then it says here, 'First Class,' that's like riding the train first class right? Rich bastard." Kyoko had gotten better about her swearing, but still slipped into it when she was tired or angry. Hitomi coughed awkwardly and looked away. Kyoko ignored her, something else she now only did when upset, "'Grand Sorc.,' whatever that means." Kyoko spelled out 'Chf.' adding "'Warlock,'? You think it's a typo saying chef warlock? Like a warlock chef? Now that is my kind of magic right there. You can drag me down to Hell's Kitchen anytime. I'd even kiss Ramsay-Kun, at least I would if he was a chick," She said while unpacking the food she bought, some KFC chicken burger. "Someone else want to read? This is giving me a headache trying to figure out what all they're trying to say. English is not my best subject and it's like whoever wrote this is trying to make it extra difficult."

"Let me," said Hitomi and she picked up her letter from where it sat neatly folded in its neatly opened envelope on the table, and then she read as if giving a speech to the class, "Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards' I'm not sure what a Mugwump is, but it's probably something important."

"It sounds like a pokemon. Just imagine us all learning about a whole other magical world from a talking pokemon sort of like a magical girl mascot!" said Madoka hugging herself as she felt her mind brushing against some half forgotten thing, it was an experience that had been happening rather often since coming back to Mitakihara from California. "So do you think this Albus Dumbledore is actually some kind of cute little animal, like a cat or a bunny or maybe even like a combination of the two?" Madoka noticed Homura looking a little green at the words, especially at 'combination of the two'. Madoka had noticed across the last few months that Homura had an unusual phobia of white and red stuffed animals, especially ones that looked like cats. Maybe a white cat scratched her when she was younger? She did not seem to have a problem with Madoka's adopted cat Amy, but Amy had black fur.

"You know, that would make so much sense!" said Sayaka. "So we've been invited to a junior high school full of Yokai then? I think I've seen this anime before. Maybe the thing about this Order of Merlin being about demons was onto something!"

"Yes, except that we aren't exactly demons or any other kind of Yokai." said Hitomi, "Well unless you count Kyoko." she added with a too polite smile in the redhead's direction. Kyoko shot a roguish grin at Hitomi, the girl's inhuman looking fang proudly on display, but the look lost a lot of its charm from how forced it seemed. It definitely did not reach Kyoko's eyes.

Madoka noticed Homura's face twitching when she heard what Hitomi said about not exactly being demons, like she was trying not to smile. Madoka had seen enough of that look from dating the admittedly unusual girl for the past few months. What did Homura know that they did not or was this just Homura calling herself a devil or demon again?

"We aren't exactly witches either," said Sayaka. Homura was definitely fighting not to smile and it looked like she was even losing the fight. Madoka just knew there was something up, but she also knew Homura would not open up about it easily. The girl really was as cryptic and mysterious as she was radiant and loving.

"Speak for yourself." said Kyoko, her forced smile vanishing and her voice even grumpier and angrier than when she arrived earlier. The girl was happy just the other day. Madoka wondered why a silly prank letter would make her so angry then she heard the girl mutter, "Maybe my dad was onto something."

Madoka doubted Kyoko intended to be overheard, but it was too quiet in the food court today.

Nobody commented.

Madoka knew very little about Kyoko's parents. She knew Kyoko's father was the source of the girl's distinctive red hair. He had apparently been an orphan Irish Anglican pastor fleeing Ireland in the 90s, and he had preached a message that went against church doctrine that had led to a period of the family not having enough to eat for several months. The family then had some kind of miraculous lucky break. Kyoko would never say anything more about her father.

As for Kyoko' mother, Madoka knew she was apparently the source of Kyoko's distinctive fang as well as her last name Sakura. She had been an unusually reclusive woman of a mixed Japanese Chinese descent with apparently no record of ever existing. Over the months Madoka had known Kyoko, the girl had sometimes spoken of her mother's fondness for Chinese theater, the woman having apparently at one time been an actress, and how she would sometimes drag the family to watch various productions. Kyoko was only ever interested in the fight scenes which her mother knew a lot of the choreography for, or at least her mother knew the choreography for the wudan roles. In spite of her mother's fondness for theatrical violence, a fondness Kyoko had seemingly inherited and then some, Kyoko said that her mother was one of the kindest and gentlest people she knew.

Madoka also knew that both of the girl's parents and her little sister died in a fire that Kyoko miraculously survived without even getting burnt. Only her father's body was ever recovered.

Sayaka's hand found Kyoko's as Sayaka took up reading again, "'Dear Ms Miki,' there better not be anyone else with a Dear Ms Miki here, I don't need any secret long lost siblings, thank you! Although, if anyone wants to change their letter to read Dear Mrs Miki…"

Hitomi coughed and then read, "'We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.'

Term begins on 1 September.' that is the way of writing the date in Australia, New Zealand, and India."

"But not in America!" said Madoka, "so you think it's Australia, New Zealand, or India?"

"I hope it's New Zealand! I've wanted to go there ever since we saw that fantasy movie with the elves and orcs and short hungry people!" said Sayaka.

"I liked the hobbits." Muttered Kyoko, "they really seemed to understand the things that were actually important in the world."

"What concerns me is this part here," said Hitomi, "'Representatives from the school will arrive in the afternoon of 10 August to answer any questions and escort you and several others to Diagon Alley to shop for School Supplies.'"

"And their industrial district is named Horizont Alley." said Sayaka causing Madoka to giggle and Hitomi to sigh.

"Hey! Anyone notice we don't even get the chance to say 'no'?" asked Kyoko.

"I doubt they are going to just kidnap us, especially not after giving us a warning saying 'we are going to kidnap you at this date and time." said Sayaka. "And anyways, Kyoko, don't you want to have magical powers so you can be a beautiful enchantress?" asked Sayaka waggling her eyebrows at her girlfriend.

"Assuming this shit is legit," said Kyoko, "but then what's the cost of receiving these magical powers? There's got to be a catch somewhere. Every blessing has to come at the cost of a curse unless the powers are themselves a curse."

"Agreed." said Homura who exchanged a glance with Kyoko who looked back at Homura with confusion.

"You two have been watching way too much anime," said Sayaka, "This is not something like Fate made by 'The Butcher' Urobuchi." She said 'The Butcher' in English and pronounced it almost as if she were a native speaker to the degree that Madoka doubted many of her friends back in America would be able to notice the accent at least at first. Apparently Sayaka, around the time Madoka transferred in, just got really good with English which Sayaka and their teacher Ms. Saotome both claimed Sayaka had been struggling with before. Weird, but Madoka had very easily adjusted to speaking English after moving to California and very easily picked up some Spanish, Canadian French, and even a little German and Latin, too, even if she rarely had an opportunity to use any of them, so weirder things had happened.

"If anyone does show up on August 10th, I will give them a chance to prove that this witchcraft and wizardry is real." said Hitomi, "I highly highly doubt it is, but I think their demonstration could be very entertaining."

"But what are our parents going to say?" asked Madoka, "Pretending for a moment that this was somehow real, would they be alright with us going to study magic in a completely different country?"

Hitomi took a steadying breath, "I am still figuring out how to just bring up the subject of the letter and possible strange visitors and that is if we are not going with the logical assumption of this just being a very elaborate prank. Notice, the wax seal and the parchment paper are both genuine enough and of impressively high quality. I think whoever did this wanted us to think this was real or at the very least doubt our initial assumptions."

"Yeah, but have you taken a look at the supply list? There's no way half of that exists even if we assumed for a moment that magic was real!" said Sayaka. To emphasize this point Sayaka brought out the list which Madoka could see was identical to her own list reading:

"Uniform

Three sets of plain work robes (black).

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear.

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)." She stopped reading for a moment to say, "Dragons really?" and continued:

"One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings).

Please note that all student's clothes should carry name tags at all times.

Books

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart

Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart

Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

Other Equipment

1 Wand

1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set of glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set of brass scales

Students may also bring an Owl OR a Cat OR a Toad.

ADDITIONAL BOOKS AND EQUIPMENT FOR REMEDIAL CLASSES WILL BE PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL

BROOMSTICKS WILL BE ALLOWED TO BE BROUGHT, BUT NOT USED UNTIL AFTER THE COMPLETION OF FLYING LESSONS"

"At least their taste in school uniforms seems… acceptable." said Homura. Madoka imagined the girl was just happy to be wearing all black.

"Cloaks are really nice." said Sayaka, "But robes and pointed hats?"

"It's traditional." said Hitomi with a small laugh, "Just like flying on a broomstick, using a magic wand, and having a black cat familiar."

"Give me an owl, because personally," said Sayaka, "I'd rather be cosplaying Sword in the Stone than Kiki's Delivery Service." Madoka preferred Kiki's Delivery Service. She also already had Amy.

"Sword in the Stone is the King Arthur Disney movie I fell asleep during?" asked Kyoko.

"That's the one. Wait, you fell asleep when I was showing you that?" asked Sayaka looking annoyed. Even after all of these months Kyoko still found ways to get under Sayaka's skin. Madoka thought Kyoko enjoyed it. She also thought some part of Sayaka did, too.

"Yeah," said Kyoko, "Only thing I remember is the part with the old people changing into animals. I think the old lady turned into a dragon at one point?"

"She did," said Hitomi, "Oh dear, if these are European dragons, some European dragons like Fafnir used to be people." Madoka vaguely recognized the name Fafnir from one of the times Sayaka had ranted about Classical music.

"Now there's an idea." said Sayaka. Sayaka leaned forward using her 'I am obviously joking around' voice, "You think I could turn into a dragon if I studied really hard?"

"Oh, I'm sure you can," Hitomi said, playing along, "but ah… that raises all kinds of ethical concerns," said Hitomi.

"Ethical concerns?" asked Madoka, "Oh no, the dragon hide gloves! You don't think they kill innocent dragons to make those do you?" She knew this was all supposed to be a joke, but killing animals for their parts did bother her.

Hitomi very deliberately nodded.

"And if those dragons used to be people…" said Sayaka looking at her list with a faux somber expression.

Homura took Madoka's hand and gently squeezed, "If it's real they probably have spells to heal the dragons and take away their pain. I'm sure they just put the dragon to sleep and when the dragon wakes up, nothing has changed."

"That's actually kind of terrifying," said Kyoko and she did look rather horrified.

"Yeah, you just go to sleep and then wake up with some of your skin stolen and you never even knew it happened," said Sayaka shaking her head.

"No, no!" said Hitomi, "dragons can usually talk, right? They probably consent to it in exchange for a big pile of gold since European dragons especially like to have treasure hoards. It's just like donating a kidney!"

Madoka smiled at her friends, "I appreciate the gesture, but I know the world isn't always as nice as I would like to make it. If this is all real, I'm only buying those dragon hide gloves if I know the dragon who it was made from consented to the operation."

"Same." said Sayaka, "Especially if I'm planning to become a dragon myself."

"I hate to play devil's advocate." said Kyoko.

"I don't mind you being my advocate," said Homura. This tendency of Homura saying things like this whenever words like devil and demon were brought up had stopped being confusing to the friend group after only the first month of listening to Homura going on about devils and how she would eventually become everyone's enemy and such. Now they all just accepted it as a quirk of the formerly quiet girl with Sayaka no longer even whispering the word Chuuni behind Homura's back. They were all in Middle School or rather they had just finished Middle School and this was not unheard of behavior for a Middle Schooler in Japan.

"But," continued Kyoko as if Homura had not said anything, "Maybe these dragons are actually evil. Everyone here has seen How To Train Your Dragon right?"

There were nods all around.

"But those were good dragons!" cried Madoka who had fond memories of the movie which had come out while she was in the States and which she had watched with her friend Ashley Taylor. She even had plushies of some of the dragons. Her favorite was her Toothless Plushie which now reminded her of Homura with how it was mysterious and dangerous, but secretly was really sweet and cuddly.

"Were they good dragons though?" asked Kyoko, "To me, they were the monsters, stealing those poor vikings' only source of food and setting everything on… on fire." Sayaka rubbed Kyoko's shoulder and nobody commented. Kyoko hated pity and hated being vulnerable to anyone but Sayaka.

"We won't know until we meet these representatives they mentioned," said Hitomi. "We'll ask them how wizards and witches in their make-believe world view dragons. Anything else we should ask them?"

"I'd like to know why literally half the books we need to get are by the same author." said Sayaka.

"If this is real, I imagine he's one of the teachers and is trying to make money off the students," said Homura.

"I hope not." said Sayaka.

"If that is the case," said Hitomi, "Our hypothetical magical selves could probably get by with just buying one copy of each to share. That is assuming we won't need to have the book out during class."

"But how will we know since the term starts after our shopping trip?" said Madoka.

"And I would also like to know what the monetary price for getting a magical education is on top of the metaphorical or metaphysical price for the magical powers," said Kyoko. Homura slowly nodded her head at this comment appearing deep in thought. She might have also muttered something about needing to rob the Yakuza again, but that was just Homura being Homura.

"We'll just ask the representatives they send." said Hitomi, "What? Even if this was real, it's not like any of us know what we'd be getting ourselves into, so until we get to this Diagon Alley, assuming it exists, our only source of information will be these people from the school and until they arrive we have nothing. Does anybody else have any thoughts on the letter that they want to share?" Nobody did. It was not that nobody had questions, but rather that there was no way to get any answers right now.

"So I guess that's it then?" asked Sayaka, "Either magic is real or we've all been the target of a very elaborate prank?"

"Pretty much." said Hitomi.

"And we still need to tell our parents," said Madoka.

"Not looking forward to that," said Sayaka.

H-P-H-P-H-P-H-P-H-P-H-P-H-P-H-P-H-P-H-P

Everyone's parents took the news of the letters surprisingly well. None of them believed that demonic Pokemon headmasters and magical schools were real of course, but they all agreed it could be entertaining to see what would happen. Madoka's mom invited everyone over to their house early on the morning of August 10th and even their teacher Kazuko Saotome was invited.

All of the families brought some kind of food and Madoka's dad made some finger food with vegetables he had grown. Apparently the adults were planning to play a drinking game when the representatives arrived and if or - as Madoka imagined most of the adults expected - when nobody showed up, there were plans to watch a few witch themed movies.

Since nobody knew when in the afternoon to expect the representatives, everyone started gathering at 12 and the last arrival, Kazuko Saotome arrived at 1pm. "How was your date?" Madoka's mom asked her teacher.

"I don't want to talk about it. Where's these magicians? I could do with some entertainment." said their teacher making a beeline for the bottles of alcohol, bottles of soda, glass cups, and a line of colorful shot glasses.

Madoka's dad was guarding the bottles while simultaneously rocking Madoka's little brother Tatsuya in his arms and talking with Sayaka's parents. When Saotome approached he shooed her away, "Not until either the guests arrive or we start the movies."

They did not have to wait for very long before the electric doorbell was rung making a digital sound ring throughout the house.

"Watch it be a package delivery." said Madoka's mom as she stepped over to open the door and as everyone crowded around to get a look at the new arrival. Madoka noticed that Homura stood beside and slightly in front of her almost protectively though she was sure the girl had been on the other side of the room only a moment ago. Homura's hand found hers. She wondered if the girl was worried about the representatives of the school.

Whatever everyone was expecting, a younger girl with long white hair and orange eyes was not it. She appeared a little nervous, especially when her eyes drifted towards Madoka. Homura's grip tightened just a little. For some reason, Madoka was sure she had seen this girl before, but she could not remember where. Weird.

The girl stared at Madoka's mom and Madoka's mom stared back at her for a few seconds before finally asking, "Hello sweetie, is there something we can help you with?"

"Yes ma'am. Nagisa is here…is here to see Homura Akemi. Is she here?"

"She is. Is she a friend of yours?"

Madoka watched as the girl's face went through a variety of expressions including anger and fear before settling on resignation, "Yes. Homura is a friend of Nagisa, and Nagisa needs Homura's help with something." The words seemed forced and the girl put up her hands a moment later in a placating gesture, "Nagisa wouldn't have come if it wasn't really really important. Please tell Homura that."

"Of course." Madoka's mother turned around to look at the people behind her, "Well Homura, aren't you going to greet your friend?"

Homura stepped in front of Madoka still holding Madoka's hand and said, "Nagisa Momoe."

The girl, Nagisa, fidgeted for several seconds as Homura stared at her. Neither spoke or moved.

"Homura, it's fine. You can deal with this and we'll give you a call when these representatives from this mysterious school show up." prompted Madoka's mom. Homura said nothing.

Nagisa turned towards Madoka's mother, "You wouldn't mean this school would you?" she asked and took out a familiar letter.

"I'm not surprised you got one, too. I take it, Mami Tomoe has also received one?" asked Homura.

"That's correct." said Nagisa.

"Mami Tomoe?" asked Hitomi's mom, "Like the daughter of the late Senator Mai Tomoe?"

"Yes ma'am." said Nagisa.

"Why didn't you tell me you both received these letters?" asked Homura, sounding a little angry. Madoka squeezed the girl's hand to get her attention and when Homura looked her way, Madoka shook her head. Homura took a breath and then exhaled, "Sorry Nagisa, that was uncalled for. So why are you telling me about the letter now?"

"Nagisa and Mami thought the letters were a joke. Nagisa is telling you now because the representatives from this school are both stuck inside the fireplace in Mami's apartment like they're trying to play Santa Clause."

"Isn't that fireplace decorative and sealed with a metal grate?" asked Homura.

"It's gas powered. Mami just never uses it."

"How did they fit?" asked Homura.

Nagisa hesitated for a long moment, glancing between Homura, Madoka, and the rest of the group before finally saying, "Magic.".

"Wait, so magic is supposed to be real now?" asked Saotome, holding an empty shot glass with drops of liquid visible on the sides.. Madoka guessed her teacher had gotten to the bottles while her dad was distracted by Nagisa.

Nagisa was already a pale girl, but she seemed to get even paler. She looked at Homura. Homura sighed and flipped her hair out, something the girl would sometimes do when stressed, "Nagisa wouldn't lie, so apparently it is either real or several grown adults, I hope they are grown adults," she looked at Nagisa who nodded, "have managed to get stuck inside a sealed and very very small gas fireplace."

"I've got to see this," said Sayaka's father.

After a round of introductions, with Sayaka whispering to Madoka how she felt this Nagisa girl seemed familiar, a comment that got a raised eyebrow and small glare from Homura, and after Nagisa called ahead to ask her friend if they were comfortable with extra company though she did not specify how much company, the adults and teenagers followed Nagisa to the train station and from there set off for this Mami Tomoe's apartment bringing the food and a cooler full of drinks with them.

For some reason, the name Mami Tomoe also seemed familiar to Madoka, although she could not be sure where she had heard it before. This strange feeling only grew more intense as Madoka recognized the path they were taking, the building, and even the elevator up. They had to take two elevator cars to fit the whole group with Nagisa telling them the correct floor to get off on. Even with splitting the group, the large elevator was cramped with a cooler, a platter of finger food, three adults, two teenagers, Nagisa, and a toddler. Sayaka, Kyoko, and Hitomi were riding with Hitomi's parents, Madoka's mom, and Saotome in the other elevator car.

When the elevator stopped Nagisa led the large party down a hall Madoka was sure she had seen before. Apparently she was not the only one, "I remember this place." said Hitomi's father as Nagisa rang the doorbell. "I hope little Mami has been doing well for herself."

The door opened to show a blonde vaguely European or American looking girl who Madoka was just certain on some fundamental level was Mami Tomoe and who was apparently not so little anymore. "Good afternoon." said the girl with a bow, "I am Mami…Tomoe." The girl glanced at the rather large party that had arrived at her doorstep with very wide eyes and muttered in a voice that was only barely audible, "Well, I guess I did wish to be less lonely and have people over."

"Good afternoon Tomoe-san." said Hitomi's mother, "I don't know if you remember me or my husband, you were just the cutest little girl at the time, but we were friends of your parents Mai Tomoe and Marco Gallert Tomoe, and…" but whatever she was going to say was lost as she saw something or rather someone behind Mami.

There was no other way to describe the man, he was a giant, a real life giant, standing behind Mami Tomoe. He had to be over two and a half meters in height and more than a meter wide with a massive black beard down to his waist and wearing a very big brown leather overcoat. Two and a half meters was a Guinness World Record kind of height. He towered over all of the adults by a very wide margin to say nothing of the teenagers!

Now that they were looking they could see there was another man beside him who was barely over a meter tall seeing as his eyes were level with Madoka's chest. He had a big white beard, and he was wearing a smart gray formal suit with a blue and bronze striped bowtie. Even Madoka who was uninitiated to this suddenly less improbable world of magic could tell there was something distinctly inhuman about them both.

"Dwarves and giants?" said Hitomi's mother before politely coughing and assuming a polite smile, "My apologies." at the man's confused look she repeated herself in English, "My apologies." and continuing in English "Allow us to introduce ourselves." And so there was another round of introductions, all in English this time with everyone present thankfully being at least passable with the language.

"Rubeus Hagrid, at yer service. Keeper o' keys an' grounds at Hogwarts, I am." said the big man in a deep, rumbling voice.

"And I am Professor Flitwick, the charms teacher and head of Ravenclaw house at Hogwarts. said the other man with a slightly high-pitched voice.

At this point Madoka imagined everyone was having doubts about this magical school being just a prank, but there still had been no signs of actual magic just yet.

Very soon, everyone was inside the apartment with most of the group kneeling or standing around a mid sized triangular table made of glass. Mami Tomoe's apartment was extravagant, incredibly spacious for only two young inhabitants, with a soaring ceiling, two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, a balcony, several closets, and a kitchen. It was not made for nine adults - one of them unusually large, six teenagers, and two children even if one of them was a toddler.

Mami Tomoe and Nagisa had excused themselves to the kitchen to prepare tea and a cheese platter for the guests and Madoka presumed, based on what she could hear from her place squeezed up against the kitchen door, also for Mami Tomoe to have a minor meltdown and scold Nagisa for not mentioning just how many guests she would be bringing when the younger girl had called ahead.

Madoka's dad, who had offered to help with the food, and who Mami Tomoe reluctantly allowed into her kitchen, pretended not to notice anything. With her father helping their host and also helping handle the food and drinks that their party had brought with them, Madoka was now responsible for her little brother Tatsuya who she was now holding in her arms.

Near the kitchen, on the wall was a photograph of a smiling family of three. There was a younger Mami in the picture and on one side of her a dignified Japanese woman with piercing dark eyes wearing a smart looking suit who must have been her mother and on the other a European man with golden blonde hair who was presumably her father. The man had tan skin and one pale blue eye and one yellow eye. Mami had two yellow eyes, golden blonde hair like her father, and a face and skin like her mother's.

Madoka turned her attention back to the two foreigners who were now answering questions about magic.

"Professor Flitwick, Mister Hagrid, would one of you mind showing us some of this witchcraft and wizardry?" asked Madoka's mother. Any thoughts of drinking games and bumbling magicians seems to have been forgotten along with the cooler that was now sitting in the kitchen. Even the formerly distressed Saotome was paying attention.

Hagrid and Flitwick exchanged a look. Madoka was not sure why. Hagrid, who had brought a nice looking umbrella with him, hid the umbrella behind himself. Everyone else seemed to focus on this exchange and Madoka could see some suspicion returning to people's faces. Flitwick pulled out what was presumably a wand and then asked, "I assume by that that you want proof of magic. What would you consider proof of magic?"

"This isn't going to be one of those philosophical questions where you're going to say anything can be magic, is it?" asked Sayaka's father, rubbing his forehead.

"Not at all. Instead I'm going to say magic can do just about anything with almost no limit. Note the almost. There are limits to what spells on their own can do, and of course there are limits to the number of spells a wizard or witch might know or be able to cast, but I know quite a few and am a master of charms, so I can probably perform whatever task it takes to satisfy your skepticism. So again I ask, what you would consider proof of magic, or perhaps the better way to phrase that question is what is some action whose explanation can only be magic?"

The adults all huddled together and began tossing around ideas between them for some action that could only be explained with magic and kept running into ways that technology could be used to accomplish tasks from creating illusions to making objects fly. Before they could settle on a test, Homura spoke up, "The manipulation of time."

"Quite the clever test," said Flitiwck with an encouraging smile, "but for such a test, we will need an object to perform the spell on. Ah, here's the tea." he said as Mami came in with a tea pot with Nagisa and Madoka's dad bringing out cups for everyone. As Mami was about to pour Flitwick a cup he politely asked her to wait a moment to pour and to remove the lid from the kettle. He waved his hand through the steam coming out making it swirl in the air, and then he pointed his wand at the opening and said, "On the count of three start pouring, one, two, three." and Mami did.

At first tea came out of the steaming kettle, but then Flitwick made some flicking motions with his wand ending in a stab, and said "Immobulus Tempus!"

Mami Tomoe almost dropped the kettle when the tea stopped coming out. Now there was not even steam coming out of the open kettle even though the tea already in the cup was still steaming.

"You can even tip it upside down if you would like, it's perfectly safe until I cancel the charm or the magic sustaining the spell runs out which will be about two minutes, but do be careful to keep it in approximately the same location as it was when I cast the spell."

Mami Tomoe in response to encouraging looks from everyone around hesitantly and carefully so that neither she or anybody else would be burned by scalding hot tea turned the tea pot upside down.

Nothing happened.

"Now the interesting part." said Professor Flitwick, "Does anybody have a spoon? Ah here we go." He said taking a spoon from Madoka's father. "Put it rightside up again." and he dipped the spoon into the tea in the open kettle. The liquid seemed to respond strangely almost like a jello and when he lifted up the spoon, he left a bowl shaped divot where the tea in the spoon used to be. No tea flowed in to fill the new hole. It appeared as if Flitwick had turned the tea to jello.

Flitwick grinned as he held the spoon sideways using the bowl of the spoon to move the now gravity defying tea through the air, "Now if we move the tea far enough away from the focal point of the spell, proportional to the amount of power put into the spell which I deliberately made very little, it will…" and with a plop the floating tea suddenly responded to gravity falling onto the glass table where it spread out immediately beginning to steam again. Flitwick pointed his wand at the water and with a swish and a flick, he said, "Wingardium Leviosa" and some of the steaming tea rose into the air where it made several shapes from a tiny dancing man to a dizzying fractal. Then with another flick of his wand and the word "Scourgify" the floating tea vanished leaving only a thin trail of steam behind.

Nobody said anything. There was stunned silence from Madoka's parents and her parents' friends, but Madoka's and Homura's friends were each feeling something else. Homura and Kyoko were both suppressing glares but Madoka thought they both also looked a little afraid. Sayaka was grinning like a mad woman. Mami Tomoe and Nagisa both had stern determined looks like they were about to march into battle, and HItomi, Hitomi had what on the surface looked like a calm smile on her face, though Madoka had known the girl long enough to see the signs that she was just as excited as Sayaka.

"Now, dear, would you mind going back to pouring my tea?" asked Flitwick with a satisfied smile. Mami quietly moved to obey. Nothing came out of the kettle. "And Finite Incantatem." and the tea flowed again. Mami, surprised, accidentally overflowed the teacup before she stopped pouring. "You children would do well to remember that spell out of all of the ones that I used just now. Finite Incantatem is the spell to end an enchantment. If something is ever going wrong with a spell or magical item, there is a chance, not a guarantee but a chance, that a Finite Incantatem will stop the magic. Just be aware what some of the possible consequences of ending that enchantment might be. For instance, a spatial distortion spell to make a small container have additional carrying space being Finited means all of the objects in that container would be squished into a much smaller volume of space. That is why many such containers, at least when made by a professional, are specifically enchanted to not be Finitable."

"I'm so sorry, professor. Let me get a towel." said Mami waiting to speak until the Professor had finished while she moved to clean the remaining spilled tea after setting down the kettle.

"Not to worry. It's my fault for startling you and it's nothing a simple spell can't fix. Scourgify." the spilled tea vanished, "Another spell that you are likely going to be getting a lot of use out of. I know I have. Now, I believe there are some questions?"

Homura looked like she was still forcing herself to remain calm. Madoka could tell from how the girl's lips were twitching ever so slightly towards a grimace while the rest of her face was completely stone cold. Her voice was just as cold as she said, "You only manipulated time for the liquid in the kettle."

"I'm afraid grander displays of time manipulation, for instance, trying to influence the past ranges from difficult to impossible. There are few limits on magic, but changing the past is one of those. That does not mean there is no way to travel to the past, but whatever made you travel to the past and whatever you observed before traveling to the past must still happen, and whatever you will do in the past has already happened."

"A closed time loop." muttered Hitomi's mother, "Time travel is possible."

"It's especially possible in the forward direction, but spells to accelerate that are both unimpressive and only taught to seventh years. We don't exactly want students casting such a spell on themselves just because they got bored in classes."

It sounded like a joke, but nobody laughed. It was clear everyone was still trying to process what they had just witnessed. Madoka guessed everyone else felt much like her, torn between wanting to ask about this brand new world and wanting to see more of the incredible things that magic could do.

At last, Hitomi's father spoke, his face unreadable, "How much is tuition?" Madoka supposed that was an understandable question for the parents to be asking.

"None of you were contacted by the Japanese Ministry of Magic were you?" asked Flitwick with a frown.

There were a few shaken heads from around the table.

"I thought as much. Well, you won't have to pay anything at all for the classes or for most of the books and equipment, but only your children are capable of and eligible to study how to do magic at Hogwarts."

"So there's no cost to us getting to have these abilities or education? I find that hard to believe." said Homura, her face twisting into a scowl.

"Nothing's free." said Kyoko, "There has to be some kind of hidden cost somewhere."

Flitwick seemed surprised before he scowled. It was a vicious scowl and did not look human at all, "Someone took advantage of you, didn't they?"

Madoka's mother seemed to have reached a similar conclusion, "Homura, Kyoko, what happened?"

Sayaka's father then chimed in with, "And where's the bast…" at a look from Sayaka's frowning mother he coughed before he could say a bad word, "person who did this? We're going to make them regret it."

"Agreed," said Hitomi's mother, whose calm smile had not disappeared. At a polite cough from Hitomi's father she added, "Within the bounds of what is legal of course." Saotome meanwhile looked even more distressed than she was after the messy break up earlier. Kyoko and Homura were her students last school year.

After a long moment of thought Homura said, "Just a salesperson, though I never got the individual's name. I stopped anything from happening and they won't be a problem anymore." Kyoko shot a confused look at Homura. The adults exchanged glances. Madoka could tell they wanted to pry. Homura apparently could as well, because when her mother gave Homura a significant look, Homura let out a sigh and said to Madoka's mother, "I'll tell you the full story later."

The other adults contented themselves with the knowledge that they would hear more from her mother later, or at least most of the other adults were. Madoka could tell Flitwick was not happy to let the matter go. The corner of his lip was twitching and his fingers would clench and then visibly relax around his wand which he was now holding like a knife.

He took a deep breath in and then let it out though he only appeared to be slightly calmer afterwards, "To answer your question in full, you will not have to pay anything for the education and most basic school supplies, because your government has sent funds to our government to cover the costs, and our government volunteered to host you for publicity reasons and so will also be providing a small stipend to each of you. I should add that this is a very small stipend. The reason for this supposed generosity is because of a government scandal that actually did negatively affect you, in this case, the cost of this generosity is that your government overlooked your existence and so did not provide the benefits it was required to provide by law. Your children," he said addressing the adults for this part, "should have been invited to attend a local magical institution at the age of 11. Instead, your children, with the exceptions of Mami Tomoe and Nagisa Momoe will be entering Hogwarts as second years at age 14 where the normal age is 12, and will have to take remedial classes to learn the first year material. Mami Tomoe," he said, turning his gaze on the girl, "will enter as a 3rd year and will have to learn both the first year and second year material to be up to speed with her year mates, that is if you choose to join us at Hogwarts, Ms. Tomoe."

"That's honestly not that bad." said Sayaka's mother. Madoka met Sayaka's eyes and could tell her friend was having similar thoughts to her. It was easy for her friend's mother to say this was not a bad deal when she was not the one having to take a bunch of remedial classes. They were about to go into a world of magic, but would not have any time to properly appreciate that world.

"Have no fear young Ms. Miki and Ms. Kaname," said Flitwick, noticing their distress, "The ministry recognizes it would be asking a lot to expect you all to handle the extra course load and possibly even take additional English classes for those who need it. Even with your teachers being accommodating and assigning less homework, you would have almost no time for making friends or for extracurriculars." Sayaka's face paled as the professor was basically spelling out what to them was the true cost of their miracle.

"And that's to say nothing of continuing your regular studies of the maths and sciences." said Hitomi's mother, "Unless magic junior high and high school offers calculus, chemistry, and physics?" she said the last part as a question directed at Flitwick.

"There are numerology, alchemy, and metaphysics lessons available, some of them only upon request, but sadly no conventional muggle that is to say non magical subjects. These subjects just are not necessary for getting a job in the wizarding world with the possible exceptions of a job in the Department For The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts or as an Unspeakable."

Sayaka looked like she was going to say something, but Hitomi's mother shot Madoka's mother a smile and Madoka's mom gave Madoka an apologetic smile, "So our children will continue taking the non magical subjects as well then."

Hitomi looked like she was trying not to say something to interrupt the adults and slowly losing the battle within herself. From the look of horror in her eyes, the honor's student was probably feeling like this was the end of the world. Hitomi already had extra lessons with private tutors almost every single day leading her to barely have a life outside of learning. More than doubling the number of school lessons she was taking might just break the poor girl.

"Afore yeh all start panickin'," said Hagrid with what was a small chuckle for him but a thunderous laugh to them, "the Ministry's already planned fer this. A way ter let yeh lot take yer extra courses an' still 'ave a life an' friends at the same time."

"Time travel." said Homura after seeming to take a moment to puzzle through the giant's words in what Madoka was sure was a mix of awe and horror, sounding sort of like how she imagined a tired wounded veteran being forced back onto a battlefield would sound. For some reason that image was easy for Madoka to imagine, especially with her girlfriend in that role. Weird, but Homura did like to cosplay sometimes even if that was usually just as a devil so imagining her cosplaying some kind of anime war veteran was not too hard.

"Exactly." said Flitwick, "The Unspeakables, that is a secretive group of ministry researchers, have devised a device that will allow all of you to take all of your courses without the work keeping you from enjoying your youth. Of course, all uses of the time machine will be monitored by a responsible adult."

The adults each expressed some amount of awe and admiration at the idea. Madoka could see relief on most of the children's faces. The only exceptions being Homura who had kept her facade of grim determination, Nagisa who seemed completely unphased by any of the news and was instead focusing on eating her way through the cheese platter, and Mami whose mix of shock and determination had given way to a kind of euphoria.

"What I don't get is why is your Hogwarts the one reaching out instead of a Japanese magical school?" asked Madoka's dad.

"The reason is the start of term." said Flitwick, "By the time the Japanese Ministry discovered they had overlooked no less than seven muggleborns, that is to say witches and wizards with non magical parents or non magical grandparents depending on who's writing the legal definition, the school term for the Japanese school had already started. Apparently a representative from the British Ministry was there when this was brought up and mentioned the possibility of sending your children to Hogwarts."

"Wait, you're from England? I mean, there's the accent and all, but I thought you would just be from Australia or New Zealand." said a startled Hitomi. When all eyes turned to her she looked a little embarrassed, "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, please do!" said Flitwick with a soft smile, "How are you going to learn if you never ask questions. I'm sure you all have questions, so please ask away!"

Hitomi cleared her throat, taking out a piece of paper full of questions that the girls had prepared beforehand. "Since you asked, my friends and I took the liberty of preparing a few questions beforehand. The first question is, and I apologize, but they are in the order we came up with the questions and not in order of importance, so," she took a breath, "First question, what is a mugwump?"

"Is it a cute little magical animal?" asked Madoka who was having trouble containing her excitement even while having to hold and look after her little brother. A few months ago she probably would have felt too shy and awkward to speak up like this in front of two strangers, but these two wizards seemed friendly enough. Flitwick even got upset on her friends' behalf.

"'Fraid not on that one," said Hagrid. Madoka nodded sadly, while most everyone else either looked confused or deep in thought. "See, a Mugwump ain't a creature—it's a word fer someone who don't take no side in politics. Guessin' yeh lot were wonderin' 'bout that 'cause o' Dumbledore bein' Supreme Mugwump. That just means he's like… er, reckon the word'd be an arbitrator."

"So a supreme Mugwump would be an arbitrator in major political disputes." said Hitomi after taking a moment to unravel what was said by Hagrid though Madoka could not imagine why the other girl was having problems. It was just a slightly different dialect of English and Hitomi was great at English!

Madoka realized she probably looked rather depressed at the news, "I'm sorry. I know it's wrong to be disappointed that Professor Dumbledore isn't a magical creature, especially since he sounds like he must be really qualified to be headmaster."

"Nothin' wrong with bein' disappointed yeh don't get ter meet a cute beastie. 'Course, I might be a bit biased. When I was yer age, I actually had a pet Acromantula." At a pointed cough from Flitwick, he added, "Not that yeh should be followin' me example—got in a wee bit o' trouble fer it, I did."

"What's an Acromantula?"

"It's a giant spider, and I mean a very giant spider." said Flitwick who seemed to be growing slightly concerned based on the way he kept looking between Hagrid and Madoka.

Sayaka made a face at the words 'very giant spider'.

"I can meet a real life Ariados?"

"A what now?" asked Hagrid.

"It's from a game she plays called Pokemon." her dad said awkwardly.

"Pika-chu!" said Tatsuya as he clenched and unclenched his little fists in Madoka's arms.

"Wha other critters do they got in this Pokeeman game?"

"Oh, all kinds! There's dragons, unicorns, giant serpents, and so much more!" said Madoka. She had to resist the urge to start properly naming the creatures or talking about their types since these were adults from not only another country, but a secret world within another country.

"Blimey! Sounds like me kind o' game," said Hagrid. "Where was this Pokeeman when I was a lad?"

"I think we're getting sidetracked." said Madoka's mom with a small laugh, "Don't worry Madoka, you'll have all the time in the world to learn about magical creatures. I wouldn't be surprised if there is even a magical biology class."

"There are actually two." said Flitwick, "Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, but the latter is an elective that you won't be able to take until your second year."

Madoka felt a little bad about having to wait, but at least she would get to learn about how to grow all kinds of cool magical plants. She wondered if there were any magical succulents. She always liked nurturing the prickly little things until they blossom and show their true beauty. She looked at Homura who was herself a prickly beauty that Madoka liked to nurture. She felt a blush begin to creep up her cheeks and looked away. Hagrid was looking at her, seeming in thought.

"Yeh don' think there might be a way ter let 'em take an elective early, eh, Professor?"

"I doubt it. They would need either the board of governors support or Ministry approval to do that."

"Ah, but they're the right age, an' ain't we here on behalf o' the Ministry? An' ain't we also authorized ter do whatever it takes—within reason, o' course—ter get most of 'em ter agree ter attend Hogwarts?"

"We are," said Flitwick seeming in thought, "So long as we limited them to just one elective each it shouldn't cut into their normal study time and we could always frame it as them just sitting in on the class. Maybe we phrase it as a kind of cultural exchange. It could work. The worst that happens is creating a precedent for other students sitting in on classes with higher level material, but that's a wonderful thing in my book." Flitwick said the last part with a smile, "But please Miss Kaname, talk to Professor Kettleburn, your head of house, or another responsible adult before you try interacting with any potentially dangerous magical creatures and please do not try to hatch a dragon egg and then raise it on your own. It is illegal and if you are caught...well."

Flitwick did not finish the thought, but Hagrid interjected, "Then yeh better hope yeh know a good dragon handler who can get his mates ter fly in an' take that dragon off yer hands."

"Yes that." said Flitwick, casting a significant look Hagrid's way while Hagird pretended to look innocent. Madoka made a mental note to ask where Hagrid got his dragon egg. By the smirk Sayaka gave her, she figured the other girl had the same idea in mind as well. The two of them were going to raise a dragon and the only responsible adult who would need to know would be Hagrid!

"That brings us neatly to our next question," said Hitomi, "What are the ethical considerations of using dragon hide?"

"I think someone is bound for my house." said Flitwick with a grin, "The answer to any ethics question is complicated, but the short version is no dragons were harmed in the making of those gloves. All dragonhide is harvested from dragons that died naturally."

"That's all dragonhide things yeh'd find in Diagon Alley that were made after 1983. Tha's when they classified killin' dragons as poachin'. Took 'em long enough."

"Yeah, but if I were to meet a dragon in the wild," said Kyoko, "would it attack me and if it did could I defend myself?"

"Yes you can defend yourself up to and including using lethal force, but you wouldn't be able to do anything with the carcass without ministry approval." said Flitwick, "And I am sorry to say," this was directed at Madoka and Sayaka, looks like their exchange had been caught by the teacher, "Dragons are extremely dangerous. They are classified as an XXXXX magical creature," Sayaka snorted at the third X for some reason, "Consider each X to be a mark of how dangerous a creature is, for instance, a red cap, a creature that haunts old battlegrounds where it works with its fellows to bludgeon passersby to death, dangerous because they sometimes work in groups and are somewhat intelligent is only an XXX creature." Sayaka's father was now trying to hold in his own laugh while Sayaka's mother looked at the two with disappointment clear in her eyes. Madoka did not understand what was so funny.

"So," said Flitwick, "If you were to ever meet a dragon, or more likely if you were ever to be told that a dragon was near where you were at, I would recommend not approaching it. Dragons are territorial, have a well earned reputation for aggression, and are extremely deadly when provoked." He now turned his gaze entirely onto Madoka, "The same is true for Acromantulas who are also classified as an XXXXX creature due to their deadly venom, high intelligence, pack hunting and ambush tactics, and use of spider web traps, though unlike dragons, Acromantulas are sentient creatures and can be reasoned with."

"What about turning into a dragon like in The Ring of the Nibelung? Is that possible?" asked Sayaka, saying the words The Ring of the Nibelung in a weird way, almost like she was speaking another language, maybe German. Madoka had no clue what this Ring thing was, but based on Sayaka's question it had at least one dragon in it. She figured it must be music related and probably that thing with Fafnir that Sayaka once ranted about and Hitomi mentioned. For some reason Sayaka's rant had been after a helicopter flew overhead. The rant was something about Nazi's ruining things and there might have been a bisexual composer in there somewhere.

"Technically it is possible, but it would be difficult. There are several ways to do it and all of them that I know of involve transfiguration though with enough years of work you might be able to make a breakthrough in potions that will also make that a possible avenue, possibly by modifying the polyjuice potion." said Flitwick "The easiest method would be to become really good at transfiguration magic to the point where you can transfigure humans into animals, but you would have a hard time using that power on yourself since you would not be able to cast verbal spells as a dragon and that means you would likely be unable to cast the counterspell to turn back to human necessitating just waiting out the transformation assuming it is not permanent. The other option I can think of immediately off the top of my head, and one more dependent on a great deal of luck would be to become an animagus."

"Why's this other option dependent on luck?" asked Sayaka.

"Because an animagus can turn into the animal that is a reflection of their soul at the time when they completed the animagus ritual. It is uncommon for a person's soul animal to be a magical creature, but definitely not unheard of with dragons being surprisingly common when compared to other magical creatures."

"Is there a way to know what my soul animal is beforehand?"

"There is a particularly tricky charm that can demonstrate just that." said Flitwick and he pulled out his wand, "Expecto Patronum!" he cried in a clear and Madoka would even say defiant voice and a massive gleaming white ghostly bear even bigger than Hagrid emerged from the professor's wand to stand astride the table.

More than the bear's physical shape, Madoka felt its emotional weight on the world. This creature was hope for a better world! It was joy at seeing the next generation take up the burdens of their elders wiser and more capable than those who came before them. It was happiness at sharing a new discovery with a loved one and finding others who share the same passions as you all wrapped up into one big cuddly bundle.

Madoka felt it all inside of her, but most of all, Madoka felt nostalgic for something she could not quite remember, but whatever it was, it was an incredible feeling. She felt like she could start literally glowing too if she wanted to, but the part of her mind still capable of conscious thought felt like that would be rather embarrassing to just start glowing in front of her friends and family so she chose not to.

Madoka looked around to see everyone else's reactions. They seemed for the most part awed and happy, even Homura had a small sad smile, but they did not seem to be slightly out of it the way she was feeling. Her little brother who she was still holding was reaching his arms out and passing his hands through the nearest arm of the bear, scattering silvery mist that then reformed into the creature's fur. Sayaka looked like she was concentrating very hard on something and by the way her face was scrunched up her friend had probably forgotten whatever that something was. Meanwhile the new girl, Nagisa, was looking at Madoka in a thoughtful manner and then looked away when she realized she had been caught.

Madoka saw Homura giving her a worried look and she gave a thumbs up to show she was okay. She was better than okay. She wanted to share this feeling with the world. She just knew there were a lot of people who were struggling alone and without hope. Her eyes found their way back to Homura for some reason. Madoka wanted to be there for them. She could not leave someone to that kind of crushing feeling of despair and helplessness. Madoka had dreams of feeling like that, dreams that often involved herself and her friends as magical girls battling against an unbeatable monster and then she would forget a lot of the details of her dream the next day, but she never forgot that feeling of helplessness and despair. She refused to give in to it.

She muttered something she was sure was from her dreams, "If someone ever tells me it's a mistake to have hope, well, then, I'll just tell them they're wrong. And I'll keep telling them 'til they believe! No matter how many times it takes." That is what the Patronus in front of her made her feel, "Professor," she said louder sounding and feeling more confident than she probably had in her entire life of being shy and awkward around anyone who was not a close friend or family member, "Will you be teaching us this spell?"

"Well," said Flitwick sounding a little awkward himself, and Madoka could see his bear wavering for a moment, "Normally that would be the job of your DADA, that is Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but if the DADA teacher this year, Gilderoy Lochart doesn't teach it to you by the end of we'll say the Calendar Year, I'll be happy to give you, and anyone else who is interested, private tutoring lessons." They all recognized the name from the shopping list, "I hope Gilderoy knows how to cast a Patronus. He claims to be good enough to cast the Homorphus Charm while fighting a transformed werewolf. Ah, the Homorphus Charm is a spell you will definitely want to know if you plan on dabbling in human to anything transfigurations."

Flitwick dismissed his bear which turned into light and smoke. Madoka could see that Sayaka was taking notes on her phone. Sayaka's parents glanced at her, but after seeing the notes app open and what Madoka could see were characters spelling out phonetically 'Homorphus Charm' and 'Animagus' they turned back towards the wizards.

"You're really set on doing this aren't you?" asked Kyoko. Everyone looked at her.

"Heck yeah!" said Sayaka with a grin and Madoka and Hitomi both nodded. They were going to learn real magic and make the world a better, happier place! Sayaka's grin started to crumble though, "You okay Kyoko?"

"Fine." said Kyoko and she let out a sigh, "I won't have you running off to some witch school on your own." she said looking into Sayaka's eyes before her gaze turned towards Madoka, Hitomi, and Homura, "Any of you."

Homura took a deep breath, her hands gripping each other so tight that her knuckles had turned white, "If you're all set on going. It's not like there would be much point in hiding from this magical world and pretending it doesn't exist. What you don't know can still hurt you."

"Nobody will be getting hurt at Hogwarts on my watch." said Flitwick with a low growl.

"Aye," said Hagrid, "We'll die afore we let anythin' happen to yeh lot." The adults in the room all made noises or gestures of approval.

"Nagisa and Mami want to go, too." said Nagisa looking between Madoka and Homura. She met Homura's eyes as if waiting for an instruction to which Homura nodded. Madoka really had to wonder what the two's relationship was.

Mami Tomoe seemed overwhelmed but managed a nod and a smile.

"Well, next question," said Hitomi trying to ease the tension, "Can we get away with just buying one copy of Gilderoy Lockhart's books? I guess that is a moot point now that we know that we don't have to pay for everything."

"I would still consider not buying seven copies of almost every one of that man's books. You would save around about two hundred galleons which is approximately one thousand British pounds."

"Or roughly one hundred and thirty thousand yen." said Hitomi's dad, scratching his chin. "I think there might be something wrong with one of your school's choices of teacher."

"You would be correct in thinking that." said Flitwick with a slight scowl, "But he was the only person brave or perhaps more likely stupid enough to take the job."

"Why's that?" asked Saotome, "I guess it would be silly to ask is it dangerous to teach, I think you called it Defense Against The Dark Arts, but surely it can't be that bad."

"You'd think that, but the job is currently jinxed, and it's a very serious jinx, too. On the bright side, if anything dangerous happens at the school, it will almost always happen around, and usually also to the Defense teacher. If Gilderoy is half the man his books make him out to be, he'll hopefully be able to break the spell. If not, he'll probably end up in Saint Mungo's which is more than he deserves taking advantage of the students like this."

"Well it sounds like a win either way then." said Hitomi's mother as if a man being presumably hospitalized was a good thing even if he was being greedy and a little awful.

"And I imagine we can find much better uses for one hundred and thirty thousand Yen." said Sayaka's mother, "Although I imagine it would have to count as an educational expense."

"It would, but I imagine there will be a lot of purchases of books not on the supply list, so I would wait to spend it on broom sticks and magical pets until we're finished at Flourish and Blotts. That's the best bookstore in the Alley, though certainly not the only one."

Hagrid seemed saddened at passing up incredible magical creatures in favor of something like a history textbook and Madoka could relate.

"Don't worry Madoka, we'll see about getting you a nice magical creature, though one that is not adult rated or worse." said her mother. At all the attention Madoka was getting she tried to hide her face behind her little brother.

"What do you even mean by adult rated?" she asked.

The adults exchanged glances. At last Madoka's dad sighed and said, "She means no dragons and nothing over two Xs until you're an adult."

Madoka nodded as if in understanding, but she just knew there was something she was not being told and by the look on Sayaka's face as her friend tried to keep from breaking out into laughter, Sayaka knew exactly what that thing was.

"Any other questions or should we move on to Diagon Alley?" asked Flitwick who had seemed both amused and confused by the whole affair.

"I have one," said Madoka's father, "I'm assuming Hogwarts is a boarding school," at Flitwick's nod he continued, "So how do we go about visiting our children? They'll be in England for one."

"Well, magic will work for the traveling part if you don't want to rely on muggle means. For the traveling part, your homes are being connected to the international flu network as we speak although you will have to go between two international flu terminals along the way, one in India and one in Turkey. We'll show you what we mean on the way to the Alley. The two real issues are you will need to be accompanied by a witch or wizard to travel by Flu which just means scheduling with the school ahead of time, and finding a suitable meeting location since you won't be allowed on school grounds."

"I'm guessing you have a solution though?" asked Madoka's mother.

"Yer thinkin' 'bout Hogsmeade, ain't yeh, Professor?"

"I am. Hogsmeade is a wizarding village right next to the castle."

"The caste?" asked Saotome.

"Oh yes, Hogwarts is an enchanted castle. I probably should have mentioned that."

Saotome shook her head and grinned, "Your school is a magic castle. I wish my school was a magic castle." Their school was very nice, a modern art piece made of glass with gold and steel beams and supports, but it was not the same as a castle.

"So we'll get to explore a magical village right by an enchanted castle with our children whenever we come to visit?" asked Hitomi's mother, her eyes lighting up with an almost childlike glee.

"That is correct, but…" and everyone's enthusiasm stopped with that but, "your children are all entering as second years with Miss Tomoe entering as a third year, and normally only third year and up are allowed to go to Hogsmeade."

"Professor, there ain't no other way fer 'em ter visit their kids, an' yeh know that rule only exists 'cause o' age an' all, an' only lil' Nagisa's the correct age fer her year group."

"I agree Hagrid. I think this is a situation where we will have to again exercise our special powers as temporary representatives of the ministry in this matter and grant special privileges to unique cases, so long as the appropriate permission slips are filled out of course!" said Flitwick, "Ms. Tomoe?"

"Yes professor?" asked Mami Tomoe who after getting everyone tea had been quietly watching the exchanges.

"Could I see the permission slip that accompanied your letter for a moment?" asked the professor. Mami Tomoe handed it over and with a long and complicated muttered charm six identical slips of paper fell out from under the original and landed on the table.

"I don't want to invite trouble so it's for the best if we don't make any more special exceptions." said Flitwick as he passed a copy of the paper to each of the three couples, "These are Hogsmeade passes. Are any of you able to sign as a guardian for Miss Tomoe, Miss Momoe, Miss Akemi, or Miss Sakura?"

"It doesn't have to be properly legally binding right?" asked Sayaka's mother, "This is not just in another country, but basically a whole other world."

"So long as you are an adult who is taking responsibility for the child and will be there if the child needs anything, there won't be a problem."

"Well Homura, this is us not quite officially calling you our daughter," said Madoka's dad as he took a piece of paper which he and Madoka's mom started filling out though not before her mom shot Homura a wink. What was that about and why was Homura blushing, hiding behind her hair, and refusing to meet Madoka's eyes? Weird.

"We've got you Kyoko." said Sayaka's mother, taking a paper for their, at this point, daughter in all but name. Kyoko only nodded. It looked like there might be something wrong with Kyoko.

"Tomoe-San, if you would like to be adopted, we would be happy to make this official. We honestly should have when we first heard about the accident." said Hitomi's mother offering to take the paper from Mami while her husband made a grunting affirmative noise as he filled out Hitomi's paper.

Mami laughed politely, "I'll have to think about that." Madoka could tell she was slightly uncomfortable and possibly feeling overwhelmed though Madoka thought the girl hid it rather well. For some reason, Madoka just felt like she could read the girl, maybe not as well as she could read her friends, but better than she should for a complete stranger.

"I suppose that that leaves Nagisa Momoe to me, unless there's anyone taking care of you who can sign?" asked Saotome. Madoka could tell her teacher was hoping Nagisa would mention some relative who was looking after her.

To Saotome's dismay the little girl shook her head with a sad smile, "No. Mami is the one taking care of Nagisa and Nagisa does not think Mami can sign."

"She cannot as she is also a student." confirmed Flitwick.

"In that case," Nagisa rose and bowed, "Nagisa is in your care Saotome-San."

"Good, now that that is settled," said Hitomi's mother with the same smile she wore when discussing legal and probably also illegal forms of revenge, "We should work out how you all will continue studying regular non magical subjects while still attending magical school."

AN: I made up some stuff to flesh out both Kyoko and Mami's parents. This stuff may or may not become important later on.

Recall that the teacher Kazuko Saotome in the pmmm movie Rebellion references the idea of the 2012 End of the World meaning this story I am telling is taking place in 2013. HP is normally set in the 1990s, but it honestly can be set during a lot of modern years since the Muggle world does not really matter much to the story. While the same can mostly be said for PMMM, PMMM does still do more to acknowledge the mundane world and the year it is taking place so its year is the one we will be using. 2013 is also more interesting than 1992.

I tried to capture Madoka being a literal goddess of hope and the magical girl afterlife trapped in human form and having some weird experiences as a result. Sayaka as a Messenger for The Law of Cycles who is also trapped in pretending to be human is also experiencing her own little bits of bleedover from her time in the afterlife. For instance her fellow Messengers would have spoken a myriad of languages. Sayaka is not Madoka however and so cannot understand everything she hears, but she is now doing better in her English classes than a predeath Sayaka whose place in this new universe she has basically taken and so she can speak a number of other languages that she encountered in the afterlife with only a slight accent. Hurray, that will be so useful... for me since I am throwing them all into western Europe and do not want to have to deal with language barriers any more than I have to. Basically Madoka can speak all languages all the time, but has some trouble telling the difference between them and Japanese while Sayaka and Nagisa can with barely any effort speak languages spoken by other magical girls they had interacted with and can tell when they are speaking or hearing another language that is not Japanese.

Stay tuned, the next update is coming in the next day or two along with a new chapter for Sayaka Miki International Girl of Mystery and a new chapter for The Long Night Descends on Brockton Bay. The next chapters for those two fics and next three chapters for this one are all written but need a last read over and possibly some more edits and revision before publishing. I spend so long editing that I manage to finish other chapters for my other WIPs. I guess there are worse problems to have.

As always I hope you enjoyed and let me know your thoughts and suggestions!