Delicious food is a wonderful thing, except when it's the dish sitting in front of Allen.
It was clear that Uagadou School of Magic took this exchange seriously. In addition to local delicacies, they had gone to great lengths to include a variety of well-known British dishes on the menu.
Unfortunately for Allen, fate had delivered him one of his least favorite classics.
He could handle fish and chips. He was fine with jacket potatoes, the kind Harry ate in the original books, baked whole and steaming hot.
But that didn't mean he could accept this so-called national treasure.
Right in front of him was a full pie crust… and embedded inside, staring up at him with wide-open eyes, were dozens of tiny fish.
That's right, Stargazy Pie.
A few nearby Uagadou students were staring at him curiously, clearly wondering what kind of person would willingly choose such a bizarre-looking dish. Allen, for his part, had only one response: heh.
Thankfully, the local dishes of Uagadou were much more to his liking. Leaning into the spirit of "when in Rome," he managed to fill his stomach with a decent meal.
Later that night, back at camp, Professor McGonagall kindly informed them that due to many years without interaction between the two schools, they hadn't known that Uagadou had since switched its primary language from its native tongue to English. This revelation meant the bar for successful communication had just been raised considerably, now that language was no longer a barrier, many new avenues for exchange were suddenly wide open.
For many students, this was disheartening news. It meant the responsibilities they shouldered had only grown heavier.
But relief came quickly, in typical Allen fashion.
On the walk back, Allen remarked with a smirk that the students of Uagadou were probably in for a rough time too. Now that everyone was speaking the same language, Professor Snape's terrifying teaching style could be unleashed at full power. That got the Slytherins laughing… until they remembered who they were talking about, and quickly went silent.
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
The next morning, Allen awoke to an unfamiliar sight, no sunlight streaming through the window.
Only then did it really hit him: he wasn't at Hogwarts anymore.
He was abroad. In Africa, no less.
And not just as a traveler, but as a representative of one of Europe's most prestigious magical institutions.
Which, now that he thought about it… was probably a recipe for conflict. Like throwing a "lucky chosen one" into a land of "unlucky souls."
Tch. What a way to jinx the day.
And as if guided by Murphy's Law, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, things went just as Allen feared.
As the only first-year student chosen for the exchange, he had to attend classes alone.
Fortunately, the language barrier had completely vanished, so while he was surrounded by unfamiliar faces and unfamiliar Professors, the experience wasn't as nerve-wracking as he expected. It actually reminded him of transferring to a new elementary school, not ideal, but manageable.
Even better, the morning class was one of his strongest subjects: Herbology. As a proud Hufflepuff, it would be a scandal to be bad at Herbology, the Head of House might drag you to tutoring herself!
Allen breezed through the lecture, even answering a few tricky questions with ease.
Naturally, this caught some attention.
And not all of it was friendly.
Even a normal transfer student would draw resentment by outperforming the locals, how much more so an exchange student?
Sure enough, after class, Allen was approached by a group of students.
They invited him to what they called a "welcome party" for exchange students, an informal gathering organized by the students themselves.
They made it sound casual. Optional, even. But the implication was clear: refusing would be rude, perhaps even offensive.
And Allen wasn't about to burn bridges. He still wanted to learn everything he could from this place. So of course, he accepted.
At lunchtime, Allen quietly slipped away from the main dining hall with a group of first-year Uagadou students.
Later, when a concerned Hufflepuff student asked where Allen was, one of his friends smoothly answered,
"Allen? You mean the amazing little exchange student? Oh, he's just off enjoying some homemade food with a few of his new buddies."
Meanwhile, Allen was already back in the dining hall, sitting at an empty spot and enjoying a delicious local dish called Matoke, a savory meal made from mashed green bananas, red bean sauce, peanut butter, braised chicken, and curried beef. Right up his alley.
••┈┈┈┈┈༓┈┈┈┈┈•••
Let's rewind about an hour.
In a stone-walled classroom, a few "enthusiastic" students who'd invited Allen had laid out some food and several unmarked bottles. Judging by how polished the food was, they must've snagged it straight from the kitchen, maybe Uagadou had some spirited house-elves too?
But the moment Allen heard the corks pop, he knew exactly what this was.
The bottles were full of strong liquor.
They weren't planning anything too rough, they didn't want to outright haze him.
But they did want to test him.
Fine by him. He could play along. Worst case, he'd just dip into his system and buy a barrel of hangover cure. No way he was losing this.
And when they explained the rules, Allen couldn't help but laugh.
"You're the newcomer, so here's our tradition," one student said.
"Yeah! I bet your school has its own way of making friends. But this is our turf. Here, we do things our way!"
"It's simple: we're friends now, right?"
"And friends gotta introduce themselves! Once someone's done, you repeat their name. If you get it right, great, we're friends. If you mess up, well… guess the bond wasn't strong enough."
"And if the bond isn't strong enough, you drink. Simple as that."
"I'll go first! I'm MARTIN! FRANK! FELIX…!"
"I'm next! I'm…"
"And me, I'm…"
Around the circle they went, one by one, introducing themselves and waiting for Allen to trip up.
But Allen raised his glass, calmly looked at each one in turn, and flawlessly recited every single name, word for word, in perfect order.
The whole room went silent in stunned disbelief.
Are you kidding? Allen had been tormented by Reiz's training for three years straight. He memorized complex runes like they were birthday cards. This? Just a bunch of names? Child's play.
So… the bond was forged.
Time to drink!
As for his own name?
He muttered under his breath with a smirk.
"Honestly, my fake name isn't even that long."
Wode Tian Visenmo Allen Ramoshuai Shuaide Buyaobuyaode.
"What's so hard about that?"
The rest of them, however, were slumped over, defeated, trying and failing to remember even half of it.
==========
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