First Years, This Way~
Steam trains were not exactly something one expected much when one was to visit King's Cross Station in the modern day. Filled with trains that ran on Diesel fuel to get people to where they needed to go in their daily lives, the people that used such things on their commute would look at anyone with a hint of confusion if they were told that such a thing existed. This wasn't even counting the fact that Tom and his father had walked directly at a wall between platforms nine and ten, to arrive at a platform called nine and three-quarters like it was the most simple thing in the world!
The only requirement to be allowed through was both the knowledge of what was on the other side, and the desire to board the train. Either that, or you could have the intention to wait for someone you knew to board or leave the train and then exit the way you came. How the barrier was able to tell such things Tom would never know, but it made his father feel included and happy to be able to send him off on the train himself, so the dark-haired boy was glad.
It had been only a few short weeks at most since his meeting with Professor Snape and his subsequent trip to Diagon Alley, and his father was still in extremely good spirits. As it turned out that the so-called muggle disease that Ashley had caught that was incurable from the bad meat, was really just an extraordinarily advanced magical fungus that fed on a person's mental faculties. It would do so until they could no longer think clearly, nor do the things they should normally be capable of doing. And yes, it was entirely curable with a regime of pretty standard anti-fungal potions with a hefty daily dose of calcium and vitamin K recommended for the next several years after to ensure there was no relapse.
Unironically, broccoli soup with cheese and cream and anti-brain-rot medicine were the proscribed things for Ashley to take, with the medicine only being necessary until Christmas, when she would be able to come home. After that, as long as she ate a lot of dairy and vegetables, she would be just fine.
"Make sure you write as often as you can!" Jerry told Tom, scooping him up in a tight hug. "I want to hear all about your experiences, any friends you make, and all the things you get up to while you're away, and so does Ash," he brightened even more even as he put the young boy down, and ruffled his medium-short length hair that he had just trimmed for the school year the day before. "She'll be so excited to see you when you come home for Christmas!"
Tom sighed, giving his dad a wry smile as he picked up his luggage and prepared to carry it onto the train. "Don't worry dad, I'll be sure to keep in contact as often as I can afford. Owl mail still costs money even in Hogwarts after all," he said to his father, enjoying the proud look on the older man's face.
"I love you, son! Take care of yourself!" Jerry told him with a cheery wave, before turning around and heading back out from the special platform so that he could get to work on time. Even if the stocks they had invested in so far had made them a bit more well off than before, it was still better for the man to continue working, if only so that he could keep up his rate of advancement in the company and get the potential management position that he had wanted for the last few years.
Hefting his trunk with both hands, Tom carried it into the train with a smile, using it as a potential shield against the incoming crowds even though it held everything he would need for school. Though he would admit that the reason for this was more because he was feeling a bit shy now that his father was gone and he wanted something else to focus on, rather than the people making their way onto compartments after him.
He decided to sit near the very back of the train, simply because he figured most people would be unwilling to walk as far as that, when the rearmost doors onto the train from the platforms ended around the middle. It might allow him the ability to center himself and relax while he read the meditation guide from the bookstore and help him set up the first steps to proper Occlumency.
"Hopefully, I can get an empty cabin," Tom said to himself, making his way to the compartment at the very rear of the train. It would be best for his studies, after all.
Though when he did find the cabin he wanted, and it was in fact empty, he found himself joined by a pair of freckled redheads within a rather short amount of time. The train had literally just begun to move as they arrived, and they were quick to sit down on the other side, apologizing as they did so.
"Sorry, I heard what you said, but the train's enchanted to force people to share cabins by only having enough space for there to at least be two people for each one, and removing empty ones if people try to avoid that," the older one told him with a wry grin. "Figured it would be better if at least someone friendly were to sit with you that at least know when to be quiet if you needed that as well."
"Thanks, Mister…" Tom prompted, giving them the benefit of the doubt for now. It was unlikely in his mind that the train actually had such an enchantment, but he was certain that these two at least believed that whole-heartedly.
"Weasley. I'm Bill Weasley, and this is my brother Charlie," Bill introduced with a smile, offering his hand for a shake at the same time Charlie did. He shook both of their hands in turn in they sat down again properly.
"Good to meet you, you can call me Tom," the dark-haired boy told them, watching as Charlie's trunk rattled a little from atop the luggage rack from where it was seated. After a moment of awkward silence, the boy almost went back to his book but then stopped. He realized it might be a good idea to make connections while he could, as he might need them later on; musing to himself that it might just be worthwhile to get to know a future curse breaker and dragon handler.
"Is there anything about Hogwarts that I should know?" Tom asked the boys with a slightly interested expression, gazing at them as if he was looking to divine the inner workings of magic just by hearing the stories they might have to share. And to be fair, he figured they just might have something he could go off of.
Charlie perked up, getting pretty excited on the spot. "Yeah! Bill told me he is going to be taking all the electives. Some of them happen at the exact same time too, which means he is going to have to use a Time-Turner!" he claimed, causing Tom's mind to blank for a moment while Bill tried to explain it.
Tom knew full well that time turners were a method of time travel that would be incredibly useful in school, but that they were only available among third years or higher to those who were incredibly smart and could actually handle themselves in their use.
"… So don't expect to be given one unless you are top in your class in all the classes you take for your year in both first and second year," Bill finished his explanation just as Tom realized an important discovery. Something absolutely monumental.
The Room of Requirement had Time-Turners. There was absolutely no way in all of the hells of any world, that the Hogwarts Room of Requirement did not have a Time-Turner, no matter what anyone was to believe. It was a room that held literally anything one might require and could become whatever you desired. All you needed to do was walk back and forth three times on the seventh floor across from the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy teaching the trolls to dance, while thinking deliberately of what you needed that day.
He might even be able to find himself some interesting things to work on while he was there, like copies of the books from the restricted part of the library if he was careful enough. Things he really shouldn't be able to access for ages, along with a room for rituals, potions, and ingredients that he may never be able to find without such a room.
It was the ultimate hack. A literal cheat code that would likely see him propelled to much greater heights, as long as he did the work himself, and properly researched everything he needed to know on his own.
Tom noticed he was taking a while to respond, so he nodded his head and agreed. It wasn't as though he was going to tell the Weasleys about the room after all. He wouldn't put it past them to share the secret room with the whole school, and then he'd be forced to share, or worse. The room would be monitored and off limits to some years as most likely, if students would be allowed to use it at all. "Right."
"Well, I think we should let Tom get back to his studies for a bit, Charlie," Bill told the younger redhead with a wry smile. "It looks like he has a lot to go through."
Yes, he did. Tom was rather grateful for the suggestion in fact, as it would allow him a bit more time to figure out how to set up his occlumency barriers to protect his mind.
He very much doubted he would be able to figure it out by the end of the day, or even the end of the week, but he knew full well that he needed to have that done by the end of the year. If only for the sake of reducing the risk of being caught with knowledge he really shouldn't have.
Not even an hour after he started, however, when Charlie looked like he was just about ready to fall asleep, the young shapeshifting witch from before slammed the door open with a light yelp, seemingly growing a few inches by mistake as she entered the room and smacking her head on the benches when she inevitably fell. It was almost somewhat embarrassing for him, and he hardly knew her atall.
"Are you alright!?" Charlie asked, getting to his feet in a flash to help the young witch to her feet. His concern for her well-being was somewhat touching, and Tom was sure that he meant well by it. Unfortunately, he also immediately dumped her directly next to Tom, jostling her a bit while she was still recovering, and that caused her to land face first against his shoulder, dropping his book on the ground.
When he picked the book back up again, he discovered that he had lost his place within. Specifically, during the meditative section that he was supposed to read from start to finish without pause to prepare his mindset for the next part. That meant he was going to have to re-read ten whole pages of what was a rather small font, simply to reset his mind back into the proper mindset to understand what was being said in the next section.
Come to think of it, why would a book on occlumency have a section like that in it? It did seem rather suspicious, so he might have to ask Professor Snape about that once he was free. Maybe there might have been something wrong with the book Tom had picked out on the subject?
It might have been nothing, but he should at least get that checked first. You never knew with such things after all.
"Ugh," Tonks groaned, sitting up in the seat beside him with a grimace. "Sorry about that, I must have tripped again."
"What brought you here, Tonks?" Tom decided to ask, for lack of a better conversation starter. It wasn't like he really knew her well enough for much of anything yet after all.
"The compartment I was in was filled with three of the most vapid Slytherin airheads I have ever seen. I'm not entirely sure that they understood the references and jokes they were making about so called 'blood traitors' or 'mud bloods' but I didn't want any part of it," the pink-haired girl told them in the most aggrieved tone he had ever heard from a young girl. She seemed to be utterly done with people being dumb for the day, and he couldn't blame her.
Tom nodded his head at her, his mind full of various thoughts on how utterly dumb they must have been to get this kind of reaction from what seemed to be a particularly cheerful girl. "Sounds rough," he told her with a slight grimace. He knew just how bad it was to have to deal with people who were unable to think for themselves from his past life. After all, you could remove racism from someone's mind with enough effort or blunt force trauma. You could not, however, fix stupidity.
"Well, you're at least welcome to sit with us," Tom told her, the Weasley brothers nodding along in agreement with his statement. They had a long train ride ahead of them, and it would likely be better with company, even despite his earlier misgivings.
After all, who knew what could have happened to him if he kept reading that book all the way through without getting it checked by a professional? For all he knew it could be cursed! He was honestly glad he was interrupted at such a timely moment.
Yeah, Tom was going to get the book checked as soon as possible. For the sake of his own safety and sanity.
"So, Tonks was it?" Charlie asked with a small smile. "I'm Charlie Weasley, and this is my brother, Bill."
"Pleasure to meet you," Tonks told him with a nod, rubbing her head lightly. At least she was able to be polite, despite her embarrassment.
While he sat there and ruminated on the thoughts he had about the book and listened to the quiet conversation nearby, a knock sounded at the door. "Anyone want something on the trolley? We got drinks and sweets and lots of tasty treats!" the Trolley Witch said with a small grin.
"Oh! I'll take some!" Tonks yelled out as she made her way to the door, nearly tripping again in the process. It would be a while before they arrived at Hogwarts, so having something to eat would be a pretty good idea.
Checking his pouch for a bit of money, he figured he had enough to by something filling, some drinks, and maybe a bit of candy or chocolate to enjoy. It couldn't hurt to enjoy himself just a little on the train ride to a private magical school so far away from home.
With that settled, he bought himself a chocolate frog and a pack of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans from the cart for the experience inherent within each of those snacks, along with a turkey sandwich and a hot chocolate to go with it. Once he was seated again with the snacks, Tom held open the box of jellybeans with a grin. "Anyone brave enough to try these with me?" he asked, knowing that they'd all rise to the bait.
"Alright then, let's have a go at it," Tonks replied with a small smile. Soon they all joined her, taking a small handful each to try one at a time while they talked about the various wonderous things at the school they were on their way to.
~~~~
By the time the train had rolled to a stop at Hogwarts, the Weasleys and Tom were incredibly tired, and Tonks had nodded off quite some time before. All the topics they could discuss about Hogwarts or magic Tom had in general were answered to the best of their abilities, and the rare question they couldn't or didn't want to even attempt answering were deferred to a later time, when they actually had the answers he sought.
Most of those questions had been along the lines of wizarding customs and laws. Tonks and Charlie had agreed those were a waste of time to learn when they could be talking about much more fun things in their minds. However, Bill was only avoiding answering because he genuinely did not know the answer, and sought the time to rectify that before he led Tom the wrong way by mistake.
As he mused about the things he had learned from the train, one of the prefects came to grab them, banging the door open with a slam. "Alright then you lot, get your robes on and let's get moving. You should have done that ages ago, but clearly you didn't think ahead so chop chop!" the slightly older teenaged girl told them with a grin. It seemed she found it rather amusing and thought it would be funny to tease them about it.
The fact that she continued to stand there and stare at them made the exchange rather creepy, however. She likely didn't mean it to come across as such, but he had the mind of a grown man, so he couldn't help but be a little put off by her apparent enthusiasm for watching children change their clothes, even if he knew she was just having fun messing with them, rather than meaning anything untoward by it.
They still changed into their robes, grumbling about it the entire time, and were out of the train before they had time to process that their trunks were still on the train. It was only the fact that the elder Weasley seemed remarkably calm about this that kept the other two from rushing back in to grab theirs, even as Tom was reminded that house elves were indeed a thing, and that Hogwarts had a great many under their employ.
Bill was taken off to the carriages shortly after explaining this to the others, while all of the first years soon found themselves standing before what was likely the largest man that any of them had seen in their lives. Someone so huge that Tom had no doubts that if he was to need to resort to violence, his opponents would likely find themselves helpless just from the act of him picking them up by their robes, let alone actually doing something physically harmful, fully grown adult or not.
His massive unkempt beard looked to be the length and girth of an average man's chest and was as dark and wild as the night. He waved to them with a jolly grin, showing them that he was friendly with his every motion as he made his way towards them with a very brightly lit lantern.
"Firs' years over 'ere! Come along now!" he bellowed naturally, though to him it must have seemed like a rather normal conversational tone to be using when outdoors. It was quite telling that when he waved them over and began to count them all in his head, he also had to use his fingers and look at a rather large list written on parchment to ensure that no one was missing from the group.
Of course, finding no one absent, he smiled again while waving an arm towards the lake with a bright sort of cheer not often found in most normal men. His father would get along pretty well with this man, Tom figured.
"Right then, we'll be crossing the great lake on these boats down by the water, but no more than four to a boat! They can' take the extra weigh'," the massive man said, as if that made any sense whatsoever with how large and heavy he was. Honestly, he probably weighed more than six of them, despite his words. Still, they followed him down to the shore, finding the exact amount of boats needed to ferry them across the calm, peaceful waters of the lake.
Tom sighed, shuffling himself into a boat with the two people he had met on the train while the others did their best impression of gaping fish at the sight of the Hogwarts castle all lit up during the dimly lit night that they happened to arrive in. With the sheer amount of gawking that the students were doing, it was a wonder that none of them had managed to fall into the water when they tried to get in the boats.
"Wow! It's so cool!" a young boy nearby exclaimed as they were all situated into the small wooden rowboats for the trip. His eyes were wide with excitement, and he seemed incredibly eager to get to the school.
"Alright then, we're off!" Hagrid called out, tapping the boat he was in with his umbrella and causing them all to cross the lake at a slow and steady pace all on their own. Again, how the man managed to sit in one without sinking it was beyond Tom, but the dark-haired boy figured it was probably just some fancy form of magic that was being used on him to make himself lighter than he should be temporarily.
"Now don't get any ideas about swimming across the lake while you're 'ere," Hagrid warned them as a few of them began running their hands through the water, testing it to see how clean and cold it was. His voice seemed mostly serious, but with an overtone of amusement as he continued, "The Giant Squid may be friendly and fun to play with, but most other things in this lake are pretty dangerous."
The few students who had been playing with the water as the boats slowly sailed immediately took their hands back out of the water and began to worry just a little. A few of them even began to whisper among themselves, probably muttering conspiracies that Tom couldn't make out due to the distance between them.
Unfortunate, yes, as Tom would have loved to hear about anything he might be able to use to his advantage, but it wasn't as though he couldn't simply hear about any rumors later to look up. You never knew which things a student might know that would be an incredibly good thing to avoid while in the school, if only for the sake of avoiding an incredibly painful death.
Soon however, they arrived at a magical waterfall. One that despite them going through it themselves, did not leave them wet in the slightest.
No, instead Tom could feel it flowing through him, as if he was being scanned for any curses or magical maladies, or perhaps even magical artifacts that he should not have. This was an incredibly strange sensation, like something had cracked half a dozen eggs on his head and then poured them through his soul with a bit of butter.
Sure, it came and went fairly quickly, but he was well aware that he had definitely gained a few residual spells stuck to the very core of his being, and he was fairly sure that he didn't like this one bit. It was likely necessary to keep them intact for the sake of being allowed entrance to Hogwarts, but he was one hundred percent going to make sure that he went over them and removed the ones that weren't necessary as soon as he had the knowledge to do so.
When they stopped at the bottom of a ledge before a set of stone stairs, a female professor with stereotypically Scottish red hair and a stern look stood before them, looking at them all with an appraising eye. After a moment or two, she raised an eyebrow, and with a flick of her wand, created a more stable platform out of the water to help them out of the boats.
"Come along children, it won't last forever," she told them as Hagrid waved them all off. Once they were all on the shore, she gave the large man a nod, speaking to him directly while she had the chance. "Be sure to come back inside for dinner after you send the boats to the shed, Hagrid. We don't want to have to come find you at your fields again like last year."
Hagrid nodded at her, helping the last few students out of their boats while the rest of them stood on the landing, watching the interaction with intrigue. "I'll be there as soon as I can, Professor McGonagall. I wouldn' miss the sorting ceremony for the world," he told her, puffing his chest out as she released the hold on her magic, since the students had all been received.
"See to it that you don't," she sniffed, though there was a fond smile on her face as she turned to the students, ready to lead them inside. "First years, follow me. The sorting ceremony will begin shortly, and I don't want any of you to be late."
The fact that she said it in such a way implied that she had personally been there when a student or two actually managed to pull that off somehow, so Tom decided to ask about it. "Professor, has that actually happened before in Hogwarts?" he asked with the sort of blunt curiosity expected of a child his current age. "If it did, there must have been something holding them back, right?"
McGonagall blushed a little at the thought, clearing her throat as she began to lead them inside. "Well, we were all young once, and it was only by a couple of minutes, but it was no less embarrassing for the experience so I do not wish to inflict such things upon you," her pace quickened as she brought them closer to a set of grand doors that seemed to twist and click with the smooth operation of countless gears as they slowly unlocked for them to enter.
Impressive as the sight was, Tom noted that without magic to back it up, having such a complex locking mechanism would only make it easier to break in, not harder. Though he assumed that most wizards probably didn't think of the simple solutions, like accelerating several tungsten rods at the walls and door themselves via non-magical means until it gave in from the sheer kinetic force.
As soon as the doors stopped clicking and began to open, a horde of ghosts came flying down out from within, chasing a rather persistent poltergeist as he proceeded to fling various balls of glittering nonsense at people that seemed to be flow towards their robes and hair, as if guided by an unseen hand. Tom was smart enough to know that if he was to step too far away from the crowd, he would be absolutely covered, so he simply stood near the far side of the group and prepared to dodge the incoming sparkles.
One never knew what seemingly magical sparkling dust might do to someone, even if it seemed relatively harmless. Case in point, most of the group started to sneeze violently and their hair changed color. With each sneeze, their hair started becoming more and more silvery.
"Peeves! Get back here and stop spreading failed potion powders all over the poor students!" one particularly pissed off ghost yelled with a deep and angry voice. The school seemed to tremble with his rage, or perhaps that was just him, but it really was a grim reminder that dangerous things sometimes happened within these halls. "It is unbefitting of one allowed to live within these hallowed school grounds, no matter the reason!"
Peeves simply stuck his tongue out at them and laughed, flying off through the air to try pranking someone else again. The dark-haired young boy was not looking forwards to dealing with that in the future. In fact, he would probably look up ways to exorcise particularly nasty ghosts as soon as possible.
Walking into the great hall, they found themselves greeted by the smiling faces of thousands of students, likely trying to see what the results of the prank that the poltergeist had played on them while they still had the chance. Only a few of them were not covered in silver sparkles and had clean robes and hair causing the children to laugh uproariously — which made Tom glad he didn't end up among those who had been struck by them.
Thankfully, their impromptu captive audience was silenced when the man in the middle of the head table — with the largest and most well-kept beard he had ever seen — stood and clapped his hands softly. The echoing bang from his hands sounded almost like a thunderclap despite how gentle a motion it had seemed. Tom knew by now that it was due to some sort of spell or such to amplify its volume, but the old man didn't need to raise his wand for such a thing, nor even so much as speak a single muttered spell by the look of things.
He recognized the old man as the Headmaster of Hogwarts — Professor Dumbledore — at a glance. The manipulative old fool who liked to gaslight children into thinking that they needed to die so that others may live.
Tom shuddered. He might be able to respect the man's choice of beard, but that was about the only thing he could respect from someone so utterly willing to send him off to die against a fated adversary of his chosen child, if only so that his beloved Britain would never change.
Still, his wandless and wordless magic was pretty impressive. How much had the Headmaster practiced to be able to do such a spell so well, without the need for any indication that he was using such a spell? Probably a very long time. After all, he was very old, and most certainly had the time to figure out such things for even a spell that seemed so utterly trivial, yet so very useful.
That spawned another stray thought for him while the old man began to talk, likely welcoming them to the school and introducing himself as they spoke. How often had he dreamed of being able to do all of his magic wandlessly and wordlessly? Perhaps he might have some insight on what he needed to train in to achieve such things. It would be remiss of him not to at least try to milk the professors in the school for every last scrap of knowledge they contained. He might have to check with Professor Snape after the feast so he could ask the potions teacher if Dumbledore would be a good teacher for such things, or if he should simply ask someone else in the school.
Tom sighed. He was getting ahead of himself. Perhaps there would be books on the subject he could try first. There was a lot less risk involved in that than there was in asking for help directly after all. It would be rather foolish to not try on his own first to see if he could figure everything out properly and not have to worry about it.
At some point, Professor McGonagall had moved her way to the front of the room, her voice calling out to the children with her own amplification spell. It was just loud enough to allow everyone in the hall to hear her without raising her voice. "We will now begin the Sorting!" she called, bringing him from his thoughts as they were slowly sorted one by one.
There were exactly two people he was interested in hearing the sorting of. Both of them would be sorted long after him, so he was quick to calm his racing mind and steady himself for what might just be the most invasive sorting process he would ever experience. As soon as he heard his name, however, he nearly jumped out of his skin. But he managed to recover in time to walk down between the two middle rows, the stares of the many children within causing the hairs on the back of his neck to raise ever so slightly in response.
Once he had been seated on the small stool in front of all the children at once, he had the hat placed on his head and hoped for the best. It was a magical artifact that read minds after all, so who knew what kinds of nefarious things were placed into it as enchantments. The hat might even have to tell people all the knowledge locked away in his mind!
"Oh come off it now. I'm both legally and magically obliged not to do that," a voice spoke up from his mind with an almost offended tone. "Even if I would love to tell Dumbledore his plan to put Harry in the Dursley's resulted in nothing but pain for him, I'm literally bound by the magic of the school not to divulge secrets even if I wanted to." The Hat paused for a moment before considering its next words carefully. "If you were to make it no longer a secret, however, that would be most helpful, as I doubt that the old fool truly saw it coming when he placed the child there, especially not in his slight senility."
Tom glanced up at the Hat with a slight mental groan, knowing that everything he had ever known was within the Hat's grasp. "And what if I don't want to be exposed as a Reincarnator?" he asked in his mind, allowing the Hat time to respond.
"Bah! It's all the same with you lot," it claimed, as if it had experienced this many times before. "You're not as special as you think! At least four of you pass through these halls every decade, and not one of the ones I've sorted were willing to share what they had learned, nor who they were before!" the Hat grumbled for a bit about time traveling bastards and a stupid multiversal goddess of foxes limiting the capabilities he was given in some Faustian bargain before it continued. "Well since I can't very well sort you based on your past life, I only have your current one to judge you on."
"Then what can you judge my suited house on," Tom asked with a twitch of his eyebrows. It was fairly obvious to him immediately after he said it mentally, but his mind was very much in turmoil about having it be so exposed to a magical artifact he did not truly trust.
"Well, I can see based on your loyalty to those who earn your trust and endearment, and your steadfast belief in the value of hard work and getting things done that you'd make an excellent Hufflepuff above all else. So unless you have any objections…?" the Hat offered him to pick any alternatives he may desire.
But Tom knew full well that he would at least know one person in Hufflepuff, so it wouldn't be too bad. It would likely also help him blend in and avoid unnecessary trouble while he was at Hogwarts.
"Well then, it seems your choice is made. Then it better be Hufflepuff!" the Hat told him, exclaiming the last part aloud for the whole school to hear. Many of the children at the table adorned in yellow clapped and cheered, calling him down with bright and warm smiles.
Once the rest of them had been sorted — with Tonks joining him in Hufflepuff and Charlie joining his older brother in Gryffindor — Tom decided to sit quietly in his seat, the shapeshifting young girl joining him at the table with a smile. The students were congratulated on being sorted into their houses fully as they sat together surprisingly comfortably despite what you might expect from hard wooden benches, and waited for their first meal at Hogwarts.
Dumbledore stood one last time as soon as everyone was settled, and began to speak. "And now for the Hogwarts song. Feel free to sing it to any tune your heart desires, so that perhaps we might hear the music of youth," he told them, before waving his wand into the air, filling it with various lyrics for the entire school to sing.
Chaos erupted soon after in a cacophony of sound, the students trying their very best to sing over top absolutely everyone else in the school, no matter where they were. Needless to say, he wasn't enthused.
However, once Tonks joined in and started singing to the tune of a Black Sabbath song, he knew he would have to join in. If only because he recognized it instantly from his father's old vinyl records from when he was a child.
When the surprisingly fun bit of so-called music was over, he found himself with a small smile, and decided it probably wouldn't be too bad in the school. After all, nothing terribly bad happened during this time period as far as he was aware, at least until after he would be done schooling, and he likely wouldn't need to get involved with any major tomfoolery himself. On top of this, magic was pretty interesting as an idea, and he could see himself making worthwhile friends and allies while he was at the school, potentially.
His thoughts were interrupted by the last part of the old man's speech before they ate. "… Of course, do not venture into the rather aptly named Forbidden Forest without a teacher, as you will in fact find out why it has been named such rather shortly," he told them with a sigh, as if he had seen far too many morons enter there unprepared. "So unless you wish to die a rather painful death, I assure you that you will find nothing your hearts may desire within such a dreadful place."
"Now for a few final words before we begin our meal," he said, growing a cheeky smile as he continued. He looked as if he was about to tell the students the greatest joke in the world, though Tom sincerely doubted it would be. "Endings, Death, Goodbyes. Enjoy your meal!"
It was at that point that Tom noticed that an absolutely massive meal had been laid out before them without him noticing. It reminded him of the house elves, who would indeed be incredibly useful to him should he manage to acquire one or two for himself. He would have to look into such things as soon as he could, but preferably after he ate his fill of the meal and had time to study a bit more about wizarding culture in general.
The meal lasted quite some time, but when it was over, Professor McGonagall directed them all to follow their prefects so that they would not get lost along the way to their dorms, and declared that their head of house would be by in the morning with their schedules for the next semester.
"Alright, follow me kids! Let's get you all tucked into bed," a rather plump woman with a cheery smile called out from the end of the table, already eager to lead them to their dorms despite most of the heads of houses leaving that duty to the prefects.
With that, the group was gathered together and they all followed her as she began to chat with them. "My name is Professor Pomona Sprout. I will be your head of house and your Herbology teacher while you are here in Hogwarts!" she called out, her voice filled with excitement for a new year. "I hope you will all come to enjoy what this school has to offer as much as I have."
After following her through the ever-shifting maze of staircases and hallways, warning them of tricks and traps along the way, she came to a stop outside a set of wine barrels. "Unlike the other houses, our house dorm has no password to get in. Instead you must knock on the barrel that is two from the bottom, in the middle of the second row, in the pattern of Hel-ga Huff-le-puff to get in." she told them, demonstrating it as she went, the barrel opening for them to crawl through. "After that, you simply enter right in through the barrel and you'll be in the common area, or as I like to call it, the Den."
~~~~
AN:
Kitsu: This one took me a bit longer than expected because I was being dragged in 6 directions at once, so my energy levels were practically non-existent. Thankfully, Asdo is very patient, it seems.
Asdo21: Yes I am, I'm used to waiting for things. Plus it helps that Kitsu does provide a indication that he is still active. Story is finally starting up so chapters should be tending towards the longer sides now, hope you all are happy about that, more content! As again, feedback is appreciated both good and bad, just remember to direct them to me.
Kitsu: If you want a story commission of your own, or you want a story I'm working on to come out faster, you can always commission me at aikoakiyoshi (Dot) carrd (Dot) co and I'll get it done as soon as I can!
Thanks for reading and stay fluffy Y'all!
EN:
Kitsu: Yar! It be edited! And since my last editor ran off with a huge amount of debt towards me of well over 1200 USD, I have a new editor I feel I can actually trust to get shit done! One that I've actually done collabs with and who is very reliable so far.
Say hello to my buddy TheLetter_A!
TheLetter_A: Hello! While it's not the first time I've edited a fic for someone, I do admit I'm still somewhat new. It's been a while since I've interacted with the Harry Potter fandom, but having the books on hand did help with checking over a few minor details here and there. Working with Kitsu has been an enjoyable experience so far, and I do hope this continues.
BTW, I am available as an editor if you wish to send over some money for those services. Links can be found either in Kitsu's carrd, or on his discord. If you want to know more, contact me on Discord via Kitsu's server, or any other server you manage to find me on.
Kitsu: His prices are insanely good too for his quality of work, so it's well worth the cash.
Thanks for your patience, we'll be motoring on and finally getting more chapters out soon!