A young boy paced back and forth alone in his bedroom. In his hands was a piece of parchment, crumpled and torn slightly from repeated handling. Even though he could recite its contents by heart at that point, his teal-green eyes still darted back and forth and his boyish smile grew wider with each pass just like the day the delivery owl first brought it to him. At the top of the parchment was an ornate coat of arms depicting a lion, badger, eagle, and serpent with a stately black H in the middle. Underneath it, in the neatest handwriting the boy's ever seen, were the words:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Dot Pixis
(Order of Merlin, Second Class)
Dear Mr. Jaeger,
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 September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.
Once he had gotten his fill, he shoved the letter into the pocket of his trousers and proceeded to jump around in utter joy, completely disregarding how many Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans he stepped on or how many disgruntled chess pieces he sent hurtling around the room.
This is it; I'm finally going to learn magic! Eren thought to himself as he bounced his way over to the leather bound trunk in the center of the room. Perched atop the trunk was a bird cage with a barn owl with sleek golden-brown feathers. "Coming through, Sina," Eren said as he lifted the cage and set it beside the trunk. He lifted the lid, revealing a tangled mess of clothes and wrinkled, black robes, with rolls of parchment, scattered quills and broken ink bottles sprinkled on the top. Ignoring the already sordid state of his trunk, he went around the room collecting even more of his belongings and haphazardly throwing them in. Textbooks, a telescope, candy, quidditch cards, cursing chess pieces- all flew one by one into the trunk.
Once the trunk was full Eren took a deep breath and picked his wand up from atop his dresser and unlike everything else he picked it up carefully, as if one wrong move would break it. He paused to stare at it for a moment, his eyes twinkling with childlike wonder. This is it, he thought again. He waved his wand with gusto proudly, only to be engulfed by a cloud of purple smoke with a loud bang. Eren coughed and tried to wave the smoke away while Sina filled the room with angry screeches.
There was a popping sound on the other side of the door followed by a woman's voice.
"Eren, what are you doing in there?"
"Nothing!" he said back irritably, still hacking and sputtering.
"Doesn't sound like nothing. You better not be fooling around with that wand again, no son of mine is missing his Sorting because he was laid up in St. Mungo's with a second nose."
"No, I'm fine, I swear. I just dropped a couple of books on the floor," He answered quickly. He knew this wouldn't quite crush his mother's suspicions but thankfully she let it go for the time being.
"Well, remember to pack your trunk neatly. I don't want you running around in the morning still trying to find your extra socks." He rolled his eyes at this, despite how haphazardly he had thrown his belongings into his trunk he knew that everything he needed was well accounted for.
"Mom! I've got it under control!" Eren shouted back. He could hear her chuckle through the small wooden door which only made him furrow his eyebrows in annoyance.
"Alright then, oh, also your friend Armin was looking for you. He said he would be at the park when you're ready. Don't stay out too long and come back in time for dinner, okay, honey?"
Eren perked up at this and swiftly grunted his approval to his mother. He waited until he heard his mother Disapparate with a faint pop before placing his wand safely inside the trunk, closing it and leaving the room. Eren ran down the stairs taking each step two at a time, trying to ignore the nagging coming from the moving paintings that lined the walls. Although Eren was absolutely fascinated with anything and everything magical, he did prefer the pictures his mom kept of her family that didn't move or speak at all.
"Take it easy, boy. Why are you always in such a rush?" Came the deep voice of his grandfather's portrait.
"Honestly, can't you ever tuck in your shirt? You look like a delinquent!" Came the shrill voice of his father's aunt.
"Oh, leave him alone, can't you see he's in a hurry?" The soothing voice of his grandmother interjected.
Eren silently thanked his grandmother and continued on his way, leaving them to bicker amongst themselves. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he bounded towards the front door but was interrupted by the sound of a man's voice calling out to him.
"Off to go meet up with Armin, son?" Eren slid to a stop and turned to find his father, Grisha, standing in the kitchen doorway with his back towards him as he pulled on his long dark coat. A piece of parchment floated in front of his face while a ring of potion vials filled with strange and multicolored liquids circled around him, each one expertly pouring, mixing, and splashing their contents into one another without a single drop ever touching the floor. Grisha adjusted his glasses and leaned in to take a closer look at what was written on the parchment and mumbled something that Eren couldn't make out.
"Yeah, he said he was going to be at the park." He glanced down at the suitcase at his father's feet. "You aren't going to work again are you? I thought you had the day off," he asked cocking an eyebrow.
"Afraid so. Another case of the Archidoxes," he said gravely, not taking his eyes off the parchment. "St. Mungo's needs every Healer on board if we're ever going to be able to replace all that blood in time..." Grisha rolled up the parchment and tucked it into his coat's front pocket. "I'll be back in time for dinner though, don't worry," he said, turning to Eren for the first time.
"Alright, but are you sure you are going to be there on Platform 9 and 3/4 tomorrow to say goodbye?" Eren said, hope shining in his eyes.
Grisha paused for a split second before placing his hand on Eren's head and ruffling his hair, smiling warmly down at him. "Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world." With that said he picked up his suitcase and tucked it under his arm.
The young boy bid his father farewell then whipped around to head outside.
A small, blonde boy with big blue eyes was sitting by himself on a swing-set under a tree in an empty park. The little boy was looking down at a book in his lap and chanting something under his breath. When he seemed to have had his fill he raised his arm which was holding a wand and pointed it at a medium sized rock nearby. The boy looked around to make sure he was truly alone before whispering "Wingardium Leviosa," nothing happened. The boy studied the book again. Did I say it right? he thought to himself. The blonde boy cleared his throat and waved the wand with a neat swish and flick motion. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he enunciated more clearly this time. Now the rock lifted off the ground and hovered two feet up in the air. The boy smiled to himself looking very pleased with his success.
"ARMIN!" a loud voice rang out from behind the blue eyed boy. Armin let out a short scream and jerked forward causing the rock to ricochet off the nearby tree and whiz past his ear. There was a loud thump and the sound of a body falling to the ground. "Ow! Damn it, Armin!" realizing who the voice belonged to Armin turned around and saw his best friend, Eren, laying on the ground with a hand clasped over his forehead in pain.
"I'm so sorry, Eren, you just surprised me," Armin said quickly while getting off the swings and moving over to help his friend up.
"Clearly," Eren groaned and sat up, rubbing his head as Armin offered his hand to him. "Forget about it, I probably should have tapped you on the shoulder or something," he grabbed Armin's small hand and hoisted himself up onto his feet. The brown haired boy kicked the offending rock away and looked at his buddy who was watching him carefully. "What were you doing anyway?" he asked, smiling at his friend who still looked a bit apprehensive.
Armin looked down at his wand looking a bit guilty. "I was practicing some magic, I know we're not supposed to use magic since there might be Muggles around but..." he trailed off.
"Ha, don't worry nobody saw you but me," Eren said waving his hand dismissively and taking a seat on the second swing. "So, are you ready for the big day tomorrow?" Eren said, a wide grin plastered on his face. "I hope I'm in Gryffindor, that's where most great wizards come from!"
Armin retook his seat on the swings next to Eren and nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be," he replied while looking down thoughtfully at his hands. "But I don't think Gryffindor is for me though, maybe Hufflepuff wouldn't be so bad."
Eren snorted and shook his head. "You? A Hufflepuff? No way, you're smart Armin, you'll probably be in Ravenclaw."
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Armin said looking skeptical.
Eren turned to him looking shocked. "Are you kidding me? Who is the one that got me out of trouble when I turned your grandpa's hair pink?"
"Well, yeah, but-"
"And who was the one that kept me out of trouble when I accidentally got that kid stuck in a tree?"
"That wasn't really-"
"What about the time when-"
"Okay, fine, I do get you out of trouble a lot but do you really think that's enough?" Armin cut him off.
Eren shrugged his shoulders. "It's enough for me," he paused then added, "And if they don't let you in, I'll hex every last one of them!"
This earned him a chuckle out of his friend. "You don't even know any hexes yet," Armin said shaking his head but smiling nonetheless.
Eren scoffed. "Then I'll shove my wand up their noses and kick them all they way up and down the halls," the brown haired boy swung his legs back and forth. "Besides you could probably teach me a thing or two on the train, you've already mastered the art of hitting people with flying rocks," he laughed.
Armin's face grew red with embarrassment. "Oh, shut up it was an accident," he said kicking out at Eren's leg.
Eren quickly dodged by pulling his legs up and then settled down in the seat of his swing once more. He looked up to the darkening sky and sighed. "We've been waiting for this practically our whole lives, Armin. We're ready!" he said reaching up to the sky and balling up his hand into a fist. "We can do this! We just need to stick together and everything will be okay. Just like we always have."
Armin hummed in agreement and looked up into the sky as well. He really was excited to go to Hogwarts, finally they were going to be around wizards and witches their age. Finally they were going to have things in common with other people, no more would they have to endure odd looks and quiet whispers behind their backs. They were going to be taught to control and harness their magical powers by professionals. Armin wasn't just excited he was fired up and ready to go. Suddenly Armin jumped to his feet and yelled "Hogwarts, here we come!"
Eren jumped to his feet too and shouted into the night sky. "They aren't going to be ready for us!"
A house elf was roving around a large kitchen in a hurry as it was trying to set up a table and prepare dinner simultaneously. This house elf was no bigger than three feet high, wore a towel like a toga, and had jagged grooves in his ears like someone had carved them out with a knife. Plates, forks, spoons and knives hovered and flew through the air with the flick of the elf's wrists and gently came to rest themselves down on the table. The elf swiveled around to face the stove and gasped in horror at the sight of the pot of boiling water overflowing. He hastened to reach the knob to turn the heat down but was beaten to it by a young girl with long dark hair and calm black eyes.
"You know you could always ask me to help you, Squeaky." The girl spoke softly to the apologetic looking house elf. "It wouldn't be any trouble at all."
The elf shook his head vigorously at this. "No, Miss Mikasa, it is Squeaky's duty as this house's servant and Squeaky's alone." He cast his eyes around the room nervously and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Squeaky doesn't want Master Kenny to think Squeaky was slacking off," he said while visibly shaking. He then grasped at his torn ears desparingly and snapped his eyes shut. "He'd punish poor Squeaky and-"
"Well then I'll just have to order you to let me help you," Mikasa insisted gently, placing her hands over the shaking house elf's own and pulling them down to their side.
Squeaky stood there staring up at her, his eyes wide, conflicted. He however soon stepped aside obediently to give her access to the counter.
Mikasa flashed the elf a small reassuring smile then began expertly balancing the delicious smelling dishes of food in her arms and bringing them over to the table. Minutes passed in silence as the two worked in tandem until a loud cracking sound like a gunshot suddenly rang through the air without warning. Mikasa froze in place while Squeaky let out a yelp and dropped the plate he was holding, causing it to shatter. The kitchen door slammed open with a heavy clanging sound and a tall man in a bowler hat with a long, gaunt face strode into the room, unabashed by the commotion he had just caused. This man was Mikasa's uncle, he was a tall middle aged man with short, coarse-looking dark hair that reached down to his neck with a thin beard along his jaw line.
Without even glancing at Squeaky he snarled, "Pick it up you incompetent beast," as he walked over to the head of the kitchen table and sharply dragged his chair out to take his seat.
The house elf let out a short yelp and promptly did as he was told. Squeaky immediately dropped to all fours and frantically scrambled to pick up the pieces as fast as he could. "Squeaky is so very sorry, sir. It won't happen again, Master Kenny, sir. Squeaky is so so so very sorry, so very very sor-"
"Quietly," Kenny hissed, his dark, sunken eyes narrowing. He noticed Mikasa was in the room for the first time and his eyes stopped at the plate in her hands.
"You helping him again? It's this fool's job to get dinner ready and you know it." Kenny observed Mikasa with a cold glare.
"I do know that and he was doing a wonderful job by himself," Mikasa responded stiffly. "I just ordered him to let me give him an extra hand."
Her uncle clicked his tongue. "You spoil this dirty little mongrel too much." Kenny leaned back in his chair and removed a cigar and his wand from his jacket pocket. He placed one end of the cigar in his mouth then pointed the tip of his wand at the other. "Incendio," he muttered as his wand sent out a tiny burst of fire. The cigar lit successfully as he took a drag from it, blue and green smoke billowing out of his mouth and nose. He took the cigar out of his mouth and addressed Mikasa in a coarse voice. "So where is that midget brother of yours?" He gestured lazily around the room. "It's time for dinner."
Mikasa was saved from answering when, as if on cue, the sound of the front door opening and closing reached their ears. A short boy with straight black hair styled in an undercut and sharp, intimidating grey eyes nonchalantly strolled into the kitchen.
Kenny leaned forward and turned to the boy. "So, Levi, where have you been, shorty? I was just asking Mikasa about you, I was worried sick," he said sarcastically, a wicked smirk playing at his lips.
Levi glanced at Mikasa with an expressionless face as she sat down across from him before turning his attention back on his uncle. "Is that so?" Levi scowled at Kenny. "I never knew you cared, old man. Maybe you're getting a bit soft." He held up his hand and signaled to Squeaky. "Could you possibly bring me some tea, Squeaky?"
"Yes of course, young master. Squeaky has it already made for you, just the way you like it, sir!" Squeaky piped up eagerly from his corner. He snapped his fingers, causing the cup of tea on the counter to disappear and reappear in the air in front of Levi.
"Thank you very much," Levi said politely, taking the tea out of the air and setting it beside his plate.
Kenny let out a short bark of laughter, picked up his fork and dug it straight into a chicken leg to put it on his plate. "Soft, eh? Nonsense, boy. I'm your uncle and I should know what my brats are up to, that's all," he said continuing the conversation and biting into his chicken. With his mouth still filled with food he turned to Mikasa and spoke. "Ain't that right, Mikasa?"
"Ugh, could you not talk with your shitty mouth open," Levi spat in disgust as he neatly piled food onto his own plate. Kenny ignored this comment and continued to watch Mikasa with an expectant look.
She barely nodded her head. "I suppose so," she said quietly, playing with her own food.
"What's wrong? Something eating you?" Kenny asked. "I know you're quiet but you haven't even touched your food. You should be happy, you get to leave this dump and finally go off to Hogwarts."
Mikasa shrugged her shoulders. "It's not that big of a deal."
Kenny let out a low whistle. "You hear that, Levi? She says it's not that big a deal!" He laughed mirthlessly and leaned back in his chair so he could put his feet on the table. "I remember you couldn't have been happier to have been going off to Hogwarts."
Levi took a sip of his tea before replying. "Yes, just imagine my joy when I found out that normal people don't put their dirty feet on the table when they eat." And with that he nudged his uncle's feet off the table with his elbow. Squeaky suddenly popped up beside him and handed Levi a cloth which he took and used it to wipe the vacant spot clean. He handed the cloth back to Squeaky and the house elf scurried away to tend to his corner.
Kenny shook his head. "You care more about cleaning this house than the damn elf does. I can see why you're so fond of him though. He's the only living creature in this house that's shorter than you," Kenny chided him with a sickening smile.
"No, actually, I treat Squeaky with respect because he does his best every single day and would you have possibly guessed that he has feelings?" Levi said keeping his composure. "I may be expecting too much from someone with a tiny, black monkey heart though."
"Are all kids these days as disrespectful as you are?" Their uncle demanded while taking another drag from his cigar. "I can't wait until you two are out of my house." Although he now fixed his nephew with a piercing glare that would have most men quaking in their boots Levi ignored him and went back to eating his food.
Fed up with his nephew Kenny turned to his silent niece. "Anyway you better be sorted into Slytherin like this one or I'm disowning you," he raised his voice slightly. "And if you're sorted into lousy Hufflepuff, don't even think of coming back this summer."
Mikasa nodded although she thought being sorted into Hufflepuff would be a much better fate than being in Slytherin with her older brother. This year Levi would be in his fourth year and for the past three years Mikasa has seen hundreds of owls visit their home with the news of his unruly behavior. He trash talked professors, hexed fellow students, and purposefully broke school rules just to get detention (where the punishment was usually cleaning). It was a wonder that they didn't just kick him out but to be fair he was a very gifted wizard for his age.
Kenny looked satisfied and then pushed his plate forward to signal he was done. "You lot better have everything ready for tomorrow," he said putting on a serious tone. "I don't want any shit tomorrow, got that?" he added, pointing a slim finger at the both of them.
Levi and Mikasa both grunted in acknowledgement.
"The Ministry of Magic owes me a favor so they are going to be sending us a Muggle car," he continued. "Unfortunately, I won't be joining you on the platform so, Levi, you're in charge. Make sure Mikasa gets on board alright."
"Wouldn't be the first time I've had to take care of her by myself," Levi muttered under his breath.
Kenny snapped his fingers causing Squeaky to Apparate to his side with a small pop. "Clean this up," he barked at the house elf before he got up, roughly pushing his chair aside and leaving the room without another word. The elf obeyed the command at once and took his plate and utensils over to the sink.
Levi turned his head to make sure that their uncle was gone before speaking to Mikasa. "I'm warning you right now, you're on your own once we get to the castle. I'm not going to be your babysitter, brat," He hissed at her. "But if I hear about you getting into trouble-"
"Like you're one to talk," Mikasa snapped back at him. "I don't need you looking after me, I can take care of myself."
The boy paused, giving her a calculating look. He knew all too well by now that his little sister was a capable young girl. "Look, I just don't want you getting caught up in my business or anybody else's for that matter," with that said, Levi picked up his plate and took it to the sink before leaving the room as well.
Mikasa stared down at her still full plate. What does he mean by getting caught up in his business? Is there something I've missed? Something I have yet to know about him? Mikasa thought to herself. No, it couldn't be... Mikasa was jolted out of her thoughts by Squeaky tugging on her shirt sleeve.
"Miss, you have not touched your food at all. Squeaky believes Miss needs all of her strength for tomorrow's journey," Squeaky implored her.
She shook her head at the concerned looking house elf. "I'm not hungry right now, I'll make sure to eat before I go tomorrow," She offered her plate to Squeaky. "You could have it instead if you like." Patting Squeaky's head Mikasa lowered her untouched plate into his arms.
Squeaky took the plate and gave Mikasa a wide grin. "Thank you Miss Mikasa, you and Master Levi are very kind, Squeaky is sad to see you both go." The elf's ears drooped a little.
Mikasa reached out and patted the elf's head again. "I'll make sure to write to you whenever I can, Squeaky," the young girl got up from her seat and began to leave the kitchen. "Goodnight," she called over her shoulder as she left Squeaky alone.
"Goodnight, Miss Mikasa."
A.N. - And that makes the end of the first chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it and there will be more to come. Review so I can get some feedback because this is the first story I've ever written. If you've got any questions feel free to ask and I'll answer them to the best of my abilities. Have a nice day~
Edit: 12/23/2019 - It's been years since I've updated this story but hopefully in the New Year after all this time I can actually work on this story again. In the meantime I'm going back through the chapters that are already up and tweaking them slightly.