Blurring House Lines

Blurring House Lines

Year One: The Beginning

The owl swooped low over the houses, wings beating silently in the dark, a letter tied to its leg. It was a magnificent owl, tawny and regal. It flew with a purpose, heeding not the sights and sounds below.

Spotting its destination, it landed on the windowsill of a house and tapped at the glass.

~~

Eleven-year-old Arthur Kirkland woke from a dream of unicorns and faeries to see an owl sitting on its windowsill, tapping at the glass with a talon.

"What do you bloody want?" the boy demanded of the bird, but it only tilted its head slightly and flapped its wings.

Arthur crossed over to his window and opened it. The owl swooped in and landed on his bookshelf.

Arthur then realised it. "I'm eleven now, and you've come to visit me, and there's a letter on your leg, which means...!" Eagerly, he untied the letter from the owl's leg. It was heavy parchment and his name was written on it in a loopy script.

He opened it and started reading.

"Arthur Kirkland, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."

~~

"Look, look! My letter came!"

Arthur ran down the stairs yelling that, his dressing gown hanging onto his shoulders for dear life.

As he ran into the kitchen, he took a seat next to his older brother Arawn, who was already a third year at Hogwarts.

"As if we didn't expect that at all," his other older brother Liam remarked. He had graduated the previous year and had a job in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

"Be nice, Liam," Arthur's older sister Erin snapped. "We didn't shoot you down when you got your letter."

Peter, the youngest of the lot, came padding down. "I heard something about a letter," he said groggily as Erin placed a platter of kippers and eggs in front of him.

"Arthur got his from Hogwarts," Liam explained.

Peter's eyes went wide. "Ooh, can I see?" Arthur handed him the letter. His little brother read it eagerly. "Ooh, I can't wait until I get mine!"

"Are we going to Diagon Alley then?" Arawn asked, as another owl came in with a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Do you have your supply list?" Erin asked. She had graduated as well, and she had a job in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Flicking her wand, she made the family's empty plates rise and float over to the sink, where they started washing themselves.

Arawn shook his head, but at that moment, another owl showed up with a letter.

~~

Diagon Alley was crowded, as usual. Arthur had been here many times, but rarely did he buy anything except for ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. The fact that he was here to purchase school supplies for the first time excited him.

The family first stopped at Gringotts to get money. Then they bought all the supplies that both Arawn and Arthur needed. After that, Erin offered to take Arthur to finish his shopping while Liam took Peter and Arawn to Gambol and Japes.

"What kind of pet do you want?" Erin asked him as they headed to the Magical Menagerie.

Arthur thought for a moment. "An owl," he finally said. "It would be practical, wouldn't it?"

Erin nodded, and steered him in the direction of Eyelops Owl Emporium.

~~

Arthur and Erin left the store with a barn owl Arthur named Driscoll. They headed towards Ollivander's Wand Shop.

Mr. Ollivander was a kindly old man whose shop seemed to be made of only boxes and boxes of wands. After he measured Arthur, he disappeared into a pile of boxes and came back with another armful of boxes.

"Here, try this one. Twelve inches, cherry, dragon heartstring."

He barely touched it before it was replaced.

"Ten and a half inches, mahogany, phoenix feather." It, too, was taken away.

"Eleven inches, Royal oak, unicorn hair."

Arthur took it, and suddenly he felt a warm tingling in his arm. Red sparks flew from the tip.

"Yes, yes, congratulations!" Mr. Ollivander beamed at him and packed up the wand. As Erin paid for it, he continued to talk. "But most curious... that wand never seemed to be compatible with anyone before."

~~

King's Cross Station was loud and crowded on September 1 as Arawn and Arthur, flanked by the others, pushed their trolleys through the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

The Hogwarts Express belched steam over the people on the platform. Arthur checked the clock. Eleven forty-five.

"Are you returning for Christmas?" Peter asked.

"No, I think I'll spend Christmas at Hogwarts," Arthur replied as Liam helped Arawn get his trunk onto the train. Arawn's cat, Tristan, leapt lightly onto the train after his owner, mewling. Arthur grabbed Driscoll's cage as Liam turned to get his trunk as well. "Bye," he said to Erin and Peter.

"Bye," Peter said, looking rather subdued for once.

Arthur clambered onto the train with Driscoll in one arm and his trunk in the other. After a few minutes of wandering, he found an empty compartment, where he sat down and looked out the window at Liam, Erin, and Peter. Arawn had hopped off the train to say his goodbyes, and Arthur watched them.

Twelve o'clock came, the whistle blew, the train started to move, and Arthur watched his family on the platform - Peter running after the train, waving and yelling as Erin and Liam stood back but waved. He watched their faces blur and disappear, and then he grabbed a book from his rucksack and started reading.

~~

"Hey!"

Arthur looked up. Someone had joined him in his compartment.

"Who are you?" he asked haughtily.

The boy beamed at him. He was blonde with blue eyes framed by glasses, and he had a tuft of hair that stuck up rather stubbornly. "I'm Alfred F. Jones, and I'm a hero!"

"You sound like an American," Arthur said, frowning. "Why are you going to Hogwarts?"

"I got a letter, of course," Alfred said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Don't they have magic schools over in America?"

"None of them are awesome enough for a hero!"

That, Arthur decided, was a very lame excuse. To change tack, he asked, "Well, what house are you hoping you'll be in?"

"Gryffindor, of course. All the heroes go there!"

Arthur made a face. All of his family so far have been Gryffindors, and he already was dreading being put in the same house as this loudmouthed American.

Said loudmouthed American was speaking again. "Anyways, I couldn't believe that I got a letter! My parents were shocked! And my brother, Mattie, he got one too. He's right next to you."

Arthur blinked and looked to his left. Sure enough, there was a boy there who looked very much like Alfred.

"Hi, I'm Matthew Williams," the boy said shyly. He was holding a polar bear.

"I thought they didn't allow polar bears at Hogwarts?" Arthur asked.

"No one noticed him take it on the train, so I don't think anyone will care. Besides, all he does is eat fish and forget names," Alfred said through a mouthful of hamburger. Arthur had no idea where he got it from, and he didn't want to know.

He settled against the seat. This was going to be a long ride...

~~

Halfway there, the trolley came through and Alfred and Arthur bought some snacks off it.

"They make really strange candies here!" Alfred said as he bit off the end of a Liquorice Wand.

Arthur made a face, but decided not to comment.

The door to their compartment suddenly opened and in came three other boys. "Whassup, people not as awesome as me?" the boy with the silvery blonde hair and the red eyes asked with a smirk.

"What do you mean that I'm not as awesome as you? I'm a hero!" Alfred exclaimed.

"Tomato anyone?" asked the boy on the left; he had brown hair, green eyes, and was holding a tomato.

"No, thank you," said Arthur politely.

"But tomatoes are so delicioso!" the boy exclaimed.

The third boy merely pulled a rose out of thin air and winked at them. "Bonjour, mon chéri," he said with a smirk, causing Arthur's cheeks to redden.

"Get out of my compartment, frog," he growled. Oh, so there was a Beauxbatons student going to Hogwarts now?

"Pourquoi?" the French boy looked almost hurt, but then he laughed and handed the rose to Arthur, kissing his hand and causing the Brit to blush and glare even harder. "You look très mignon, except for tes sourcils. They are like caterpillars on your forehead."

Arthur understood him, and he punched the boy. "Don't make fun of my eyebrows, you git!"

The first two boys laughed. "Come on Francis. You can go hit on Eyebrows later," the first one said, chortling.

They left the compartment, leaving behind a confused Alfred, a shocked Matthew, and a livid Arthur.

~~

Hogwarts Castle was tall and formidable against a starlit sky and a glassy lake. Arthur was on a boat on said lake with the other first years. With him in the boat were Matthew and Alfred.

The boat with the three boys from the train glided past and the French boy, Francis, blew Arthur a kiss. Arthur was glad that no one could see the colour rising in his cheeks.

They docked in a shallow underground harbour. Leading their group was a truly humongous man named Hagrid. Arthur suspected that he had Giant blood in him.

They entered the castle through the front doors. Everyone else seemed to already be inside the Great Hall. The first years were shepherded off to the room next to the Great Hall, and there they waited.

Arthur looked at the rest of his class. There seemed to be a lot of foreign-looking students. In the corner, there were several Asians, one of them eagerly grabbing another one by the chest and the rest silently standing there. In another corner there was a tall boy with a scarf around his neck. A girl was latched onto his arm. Another girl stood next to her - Arthur immediately looked away from her prominent breasts. Poor girl was probably going to have back problems.

There were two boys arguing in Italian; one had his eyes closed and the other was holding a tomato. There were the three boys from the train, Frenchie now hitting on a girl with her black hair tied into two ponytails and Almost Albino hitting on a brunette who looked about ready to hex him. There was a tall, intimidating boy standing next to Almost Albino who was watching the Italians; he had blonde hair that was slicked back and his robes had a freshly-ironed appearance.

"I heard that they put you into Houses by making you fight a troll!" Alfred said excitedly in Arthur's ear and the Brit nearly jumped out of his skin at it.

"That's preposterous," he whispered back.

"But it sounds like something a hero's gotta do!"

"Can you lay off the hero rubbish for an hour or two?" Arthur demanded.

Alfred opened his mouth as if to protest, but he suddenly paled. "There are ghosts here?"

Arthur had to laugh at Alfred's adverse reaction to ghosts. The ghosts walked right through the walls, and Alfred gave a squeak of terror and clutched at Arthur's arm.

"They're harmless, you bloody git," Arthur hissed.

"But they're ghosts!" Alfred watched them approach with wide eyes.

"They can't harm you. Look, that's the Gryffindor ghost. He's Nearly-Headless Nick. That's the Fat Friar, he's the Hufflepuff ghost. And the Grey Lady, she's Ravenclaw's. The Slytherin ghost's over there, he's called the Bloody Baron."

Alfred paled even more. "He looks like he can hurt someone," he whispered.

"How many times do I have to tell you that they're harmless?"

Their conversation was cut short as Professor McGonagall, the teacher who had led them into this room, reentered and told them to form a line and make themselves presentable.

The Sorting was about to start.

~~

"Adnan, Sadiq." A boy with a mask stepped forward and sat down on the stool. The Sorting Hat was placed on his head and it took a few moments before it yelled:

"SLYTHERIN!"

The table decorated in green and silver greeted the masked boy.

"Arlovskaya, Nataliya." The girl who had been latched onto the tall boy's arm detatched herself from him, brushed off her skirt and sat down on the stool. The Hat barely touched her hair ribbon before it placed her in Slytherin as well.

"Beilschmidt, Gilbert." Almost Albino was placed in Slytherin.

"Beilschmidt, Ludwig." The tall imposing blonde sat down on the stool and ended up in Hufflepuff.

"Bonnefois, Francis." Frenchie sat down on the stool and winked at the room at large. The Hat placed him in Slytherin.

"Braginskaya, Yekaterina." The girl with the prominent chest was placed in Hufflepuff.

"Braginski, Ivan." The tall boy sat down on the stool. The Hat took a while with him, but it finally placed him in Hufflepuff. As he walked towards the table with yellow and black hangings, the Nataliya girl at the Slytherin table glared at the other Hufflepuffs as if they had kidnapped him from her.

"Carriedo, Antonio." The Spanish boy from the train was placed in Hufflepuff.

"Desmarais, Madeline." The girl that Francis had been hitting on was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Edelstein, Roderich." A dark-haired, bespectacled boy came forth and sat down on the stool with an upturned nose. He was placed into Ravenclaw.

Arthur watched as more people were Sorted, equally anticipating and dreading the moment when his name would be called.

As a Japanese boy named Kiku walked calmly to the Ravenclaw table, Professor McGonagall called out: "Jones, Alfred."

Alfred eagerly sat down and the instant the Hat landed on his head it yelled "GRYFFINDOR!"

Arthur watched him head to the Gryffindor table.

"Kirkland, Arthur."

Arthur walked up and sat down on the stool. The Hat was placed on his head, dropping down to cover his eyes.

Hm, you've got all the traits of each House, a voice said in his ear. Bravery, loyalty, intellegence, and cunning. I see that you've dabbled in black magic before coming here?

"Hey, I was curious, okay? And Liam's book of curses was lying there..."

Most prominently I see Gryffindor and Slytherin. You'd do well in both, you know.

"I don't bloody care at this point, because there's a frog in Slytherin and an American in Gryffindor."

Ah, really? Well then I guess I'll put you in SLYTHERIN!

Arthur felt the hat being raised and heard the silver-and-green table cheering for him. He chanced a glance at the Gryffindors. Arawn was gaping at him. And next to Arawn was Alfred, who was looking as if Arthur had betrayed him.