You won't believe it, but I'm still alive and kicking. Would you look at that? I even decided to upload again. (I won't promise regular updates because university and stuff like that. And Assassin's Creed decided to work on my laptop and now I'm hooked...)

I wish you a happy new year! Hopefully this year will turn out okay for everyone!

At the end a talkative muggleborn witch that believed every word ever written down was the truth came in, followed by a shy boy who had lost his toad. But now they had finally reached Hogwarts.

"Mh," Paris hummed silently. "This doesn't feel like England. Are we in Scotland?"

The muggleborn they had met on the train heard him and started asking questions before one of the nations even understood what he said, "How can a country feel like something? Of course we are in Scotland, it is clearly mentioned in Hogwarts, a History that Hogwarts is somewhere in Scotland. Even the authors of this book don't know the exact location. Isn't it exciting that we can learn so much here? You didn't answer my question."

Luciano couldn't help but laugh when he saw the incensed look on Paris' face. Of course he hadn't answered, he had tried to get a word in when she took a breath, but she could talk a mile a minute and seemingly didn't need air like a normal human. Zao, Oliver, Matt, Viktor, Ludwig and Matthew chuckled quietly at the same thing and all earned a betrayed look from the capital.

Paris looked at her in confusion, before he facepalmed himself, "Merlin, I said that really out loud, didn't I? It wasn't meant like it sounded. What I wanted to say is that the air is different. The smell in it is different to the smell you have in London. So I asked myself how far the next settlement is away from here that know how to use cars and don't use carriages." The witch smiled in understanding, nodding her agreement. The nations only smiled lightly, turning around. A giant man was calling for the first years. Paris changed his posture again and again. Even Luciano's training couldn't hinder him from showing his excitement. The capital grabbed Gillen's hand and dragged him bodily to the giant man who introduced himself as Hagrid. Gillen stumbled slightly, not having expected such behaviour from the capital. As such he nearly fell into Hagrid, who caught him with a surprised, "Huh, no need to hurry so much," and Gillen heard snickering in the background. The Prussian hid his face behind his long hair. The other nations hurried over to Gillen, Paris mumbling over and over, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

The haunted look in Harry's eyes said for all nations they had to keep an eye out for him, as excitement seemed to be a good trigger for memories of his less than stellar home life before Francis had found him. Gillen accepted the twenty thousand apologies from the capital with a soft hug, shocking the other 2p!s as he did so.

"Are all the first years here?" the giant asked for a last time. He got mumbling in response. Nobody was really sure how many first years were to be expected. Fleetingly Viktor wondered if ever a first year was left alone at the train station or if the professor who gathered them somehow had a way to check if everybody was there.

"Mind your step. The stairs are slimy at this time of the year!"

Gilbert snickered. At the raised eyebrows from the other nations he only said, "Who else but me is thankful that Francis did not go with us to the school? He would probably whine that the stairs ruined-"

The Prussian was interrupted by Flavio, who gave a girly shriek as his feet went in two different directions. Al caught him with a swift motion. Shortly after that they heard the blond Italian say, "The stairs ruined my good shoes. It took months to find the right material to make them out of." The voiceless laughter of Gilbert clued them in that this was what said nation had wanted to say about his friend.

"Soon you'll get your first look of Hogwarts," they heard again the proud, booming voice of the giant at the front. Both Russians in the group lifted their head curiously. All of the nations couldn't wait to see the school for the first time. A few gasps were heard from the eleven-year-olds. A castle stood above them, all the lit windows mirroring in the lake in front of them. Ivan and Viktor had to admit that the medieval castle had a certain flair they liked. They admired the buildings in England, they were nice, not that the buildings in Russia were ugly, the Russians were simply used to them so the fresh breath in that sense was always welcome. The other nations and the one capital found the castle breathtaking. It would take a while, more or less the whole first year, for them to find their way from A to B and back, but they found it exhilarating to go to a school that was in a castle of all things. The lake didn't seem like one wanted to take a swim in it, but at least they had one on the grounds.

"No more than four in a boat!" the giant boomed again and only now the nations realised the boats in front of them.

Oliver spoke their thoughts out loud, "Even though we have the same school in our dimension, it's somewhat different to stay at the shore of the lake seeing it for the first time with the knowledge that you are going to be part of it soon."

With that Gilbert hopped into one of the boats. Matthew, Yao and Ivan decided to stay with the 1p!s as long as possible. Ludwig, Feli and Kiku stepped into the next boat, praying for Paris to follow them, only to have Kuro with them. The one following them had Zao, Viktor, Lutz and Roland in it, after that one followed Al, Matt, Oliver and Francois. Paris shared his boat with Gillen, Flavio and Luciano.

"Ne, Paris, how do you travel to Beauxbaton?" Luciano asked curiously. The capital had his head on Flavio's shoulder while braiding Gillen's long, silvery hair. The red eyes of said nation were nearly closed and if he would have been a cat, Prussia would be purring.

"It's easy, really. We portkey most of the time. If we miss the portkey we use the Floo. The worst-case-scenario is that we have to send our Abraxan horses to fly them to school. It's not fancy like the train and certainly doesn't make the best first impression, but on the other hand we couldn't find another way to make it workable," Paris shrugged. At the same time he pulled on a strand of hair from Gillen. Luciano, Ludwig and Roland expected a wince or even a yell because it looked like it hurt, but Gillen only lifted his head a little. Harry pulled a small mirror out of his pocket; France influenced his son just a little, and showed him his masterpiece. Gillen seemed satisfied, a small, insecure smile his answer to Paris' silent question. The 1p!s were confused when they heard the 2p!s gasp. Feliciano asked Kuro about the why.

"After we got to know your Prussia we made up the theory that Gillen is the socially awkward version because Gilbert is always the centre of attention. Gillen is the exact opposite. He never shows his emotions openly, so even a small smile is like the loudest laugh Gilbert could come up with, and he never speaks if it isn't necessary. He really is awkward in human society, even children bully him sometimes," came the explanation with a shrug.

"Heads down!" billowed their guide. As one the nations ducked when they travelled through a curtain of ivy. Paris mumbled something about hygiene, but it wasn't heard over the excited chatter of other children. Roland rolled his eyes at the capital. Sometimes Paris just said something to have something to say; it annoyed the Austrian pretty badly sometimes. Hagrid guided them to the doors and knocked. After a while the wooden doors opened and revealed a strict looking woman with dark hair in a bun and in a green robe.

"The first years, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take over from here," the woman said in a no-nonsense type of voice. Paris had the feeling that Ludwig and the Professor would get along quite well. On the other hand the Professor would hate Lutz because for him everything was met with a certain "I don't care" attitude.

They were guided through a gigantic entrance hall with moving pictures and torches into an antechamber where they got a speech over the houses, the house points and other things. Paris zoned out after the first few words, followed by Oliver, Al, Matt, Francois, Feli and Lutz. Paris was sure that there were some important things mentioned in this speech, but he sometimes had a little trouble to concentrate on something longer than a minute. Afterwards he always felt bad because he had to ask someone else what was said when he had zoned out. They came out of their stupor when they heard a scream, only to see ghosts. Feli gasped and dove behind Ludwig in fear and shock, Paris only blinked, but said nothing. He may have known about magic, but ghosts were new for him. Oliver rolled his eyes.

"They pull the stunt every year. I don't have the same ghosts in my version of Hogwarts, but my ghosts do the exact same thing," he whispered into Paris' ear. Paris' lips twitched into a small smile as McGonagall entered the antechamber again. Well, it seemed as if the ghosts had a heart for pranks.

As soon as they entered the Great Hall the muggleborn witch they had met during the train ride and again at the train station whispered, "It's enchanted to look like this, it mentioned in Hogwarts, a History."

Feliciano came to the conclusion that someone had looked at the ceiling and sparked an explanation of the bookworm. He really did not have any problems with people who read a lot; contrary to popular belief he loved a good book every now and then, but the girl really believed too much into what she read. In his internal musings he seemingly had missed a catastrophe and a half if the expressions on Ludwig's and Kiku's face were any indicator and the explanation of what they should do to be sorted.

"Abbot, Hannah," McGonagall called. A blond girl with pigtails hurried forward and a hat was placed on her head. Not a second later, said hat opened a 'mouth' and called out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Bilshmit, Gilbert," McGonagall said next. This got the attention of all the nations.

Gilbert frowned, took a step forward and said in a clear voice, "It's Beilschmidt, Professor, don't worry, you'll get used to the name." If he had to go to this school they at least should try to pronounce the name right. If England's role as partner for the exchange students was to be believed the Beilschmidts weren't the only ones with foreign names. Gilbert sat down on the stool and soon he only saw darkness.

Oh my, a nation. It was a long time ago that I last had to sort someone like you, Mr. Beilschmidt, a voice in his head said. Only years of practice with Ivan hindered him from yelling. You are always quite tricky because I have to see the nation apart from the human, otherwise you all would end up in Slytherin. What is this? Oh, the next years will be entertaining to watch. But I really should sort you. Mh, you are not studious enough for the house of the Raven. The house of the Badger would be proud to see such loyalty in you, but this is not for you as your loyalty has to be earned and only a few ever won the challenge. For you, Mr, Beilschmidt, only one house is truly a fitting match. Better be ...

"...GRYFFINDOR!"

The table in red and gold started to clap. His fellow nations did the same and earned confused looks, even the table for the teachers had confused adults at it.

"Beilschmidt, Gillen," McGonagall stuttered through the name. A few girls started to coo at him because of the shy look and the cute braid in his hair, while others flinched back because of the red eyes.

Right the next nation after him, hm? Gillen jumped in shock at the sudden intrusion into his mind. Normally he was more guarded. He felt insecure and the stares from all the girls, the students as a whole, made him feel uncomfortable. He really only wanted to go back to Paris and let him braid his hair and listen to his soft voice telling him stories while ignoring everybody else around him. It's not like he saw Paris in any other light than many of the other nations, but he could always hope to have a place as older brother in the heart of the capital. Said capital always had a soft spot for everyone, even the biggest idiots. Prussia chalked it up to his upbringing in the household of those humans. Let's see... You are not as loud and brash as your counterpart and not as loyal as a badger to put you into Hufflepuff. On the contrary you have trust issues and it's a wonder that you trust the capital as much as you do. You are cunning, you know when to run and when to stay. You weigh your options and decide for the better of yourself. But it's not enough to guarantee that you'll survive in the snake pit. So there is really only one option left. Better be...

"...RAVENCLAW!"

Roland and Kuro gaped in disbelief. Whatever made the hat put this strange guy into Ravenclaw, they wanted to know it, favourably the day before yesterday. They had no doubt that the former sniper was clever and had a certain urge to show people; mostly his brother, that he wasn't a waste of space, but did it really go so far as to send him to Ravenclaw? Wouldn't the badgers be better for him? Before they could think about it too much, McGonagall called the next Beilschmidt forward.

"Beilschmidt, Ludwig."

You are an interesting person, the third Beilschmidt I have to sort today. You do not really fit into any of the houses, you are brave, yes, but not as reckless as the red and gold house. You are cunning, but the silver and green house would eat you alive. Loyal you are only to those that earn it, you are hard working, but do not get any satisfaction out of it, the house of the badger would find in you no asset. The only thing you can do is using your hard work for studying. Better be...

"...RAVENCLAW!"

The blue and bronze coloured house clapped politely, again followed by the nations, even the sorted ones.

"Beilschmidt, Lutz."

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat yelled before he even touched a hair on Lutz' head. Luciano snickered and Flavio grinned. Oh, the older brother knew which quality it was that brought Lutz into the yellow and black house.

After "Bones, Susan," for Hufflepuff again a nation followed. "Bonnefoy, Francois."

2p!France, it is no wonder that I will sort you where I will sort you. Do tell your friends from the other dimension that you have to not fear that I will tell what you do in your free time. I don't think that you have any questions?

Get on with it, the Frenchman thought with a sour expression. At least he would get to see some of the nations in classes. Three houses were decked after only five of the nations were up here. Their plan had a high chance to really work. Everything to keep his 'son' safe.

"...HUFFLEPUFF!"

Francois thought to hear a stifled laugh when the hat was pulled from his head, but when he glared over to the only ones who would dare such a thing he saw innocent expressions on Harry's and Oliver's faces. With an almost impassive face; the glare not counting; he walked over to join the German at the yellow and black table.

"Braginski, Ivan," the teacher said with her eyes on the list. She hoped that at least this name was pronounced right.

Ivan stepped up, his creepy purple aura around him, a childish smile on his face and only visible for the nations and other not sorted students he held his trusty faucet pipe. The capital was sure that it was his way of reassuring himself that he wasn't alone, that the nation really was strong and not a weakling like many in his past believed. Harry's soft voice carried over the nervous chatter in the hall.

"I bet that he'll be the first Slytherin this year." Nobody but the two Prussians, the other Russia and Paris saw the slight lessening of the tension in the shoulders of their companion.

Oh, well, I never expected to see 1p!Russia in Hogwarts' halls, the hat started the conversation.

Get on with the sorting already, da? The poor Russian thought to the hat. He really only still sat here because the young capital had smiled such a proud smile at him that his heart still glowed in the reassurance of someone really liking him.

I shouldn't let you wait for long, now should I? Better be...

"...SLYTHERIN!"

When the hat was lifted from his head Ivan's eyes fell first on Paris, who gave him a soft smile and applauded for him like the rest of the nations. Russia felt a smile form on his face. Paris' green eyes softened at the sight of the truly happy Russian. If only all the nations that shunned him could see him at the moment, they would never believe their eyes.

"Braginski, Viktor!"

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat yelped before he could touch the head of the sometimes pretty sadistic nation. He really didn't need to see the memories of the 'kid' under him, as his whole aura screamed 'Slytherin' to the heavens. Paris again applauded like the rest. Slowly but surely all the nations gathered in the houses. They got attention even before they settled down in a house, simply because they congratulated a fellow friend of being sorted. It was perfect; they started the plan before they even know where they all would end up.

After the sorting of a Gryffindor, Brown, Lavender, McGonagall stumbled over one of those damned German names again. She sighed, knowing perfectly well that she never really could pronounce German names right. Even Grindelwald was a name she wasn't capable to pronounce right, even after all the time his reign was over. Well, like the young Mr. Beilschmidt had said, she would get used to it over time.

"Edel-," she started, but blinked shortly afterwards. How to continue?

"Edelstein, Roland, ma'am?" Roland asked as politely as he could. Receiving a sharp nod, Roland sat down on the stool, a slight grimace on his face. He remembered Paris mumble something about hygiene when they drove through the ivy. Now, he did not agree with Paris on most accounts when something like this happened, but right now he really hoped that the hat was hit at times with a quick scourgify.

"...GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled without consulting the man underneath him. De-aged they may be, but their mind wouldn't change just because they looked like eleven-year-olds.

Roland stood up, a relieved smile in his face while walking over to the red and gold table.

Kiku and Kuro both ended up in Ravenclaw. The students of said house were certain to have twins, like the red-headed menaces over in Gryffindor, but both refused to acknowledge any relation between the two, stating that the students probably would find out soon the missing piece to their new puzzle.

Al managed to land next to Roland and Gilbert in Gryffindor, glaring dangerously at the red-headed prefect he could see perfectly. Oliver, to the surprise of Paris and America, ended up in Hufflepuff, but it looked like that was a long and hard discussion with the hat, if his ten minutes sorting time was anything to go by. Paris wouldn't be surprised if the hat considered putting him into Slytherin, Oliver had anything needed for the house and more.

Then the for all nation most interesting part took place, "Potter, Harry," McGonagall called anxiously. Whispers started to spread over the hall, everybody curious over the boy-who-lived.

"Potter? Did she say Potter?"

"The Harry Potter?"

"I thought he went missing six years ago!"

Harry straightened his clothes, straightened his hair, corrected his tie and did everything else he could have done while waiting to be allowed to enter the Great Hall. Then he straightened his back and coughed delicately. As soon as he did that the attention zeroed in on him.

He gave a wry smile, "As sad as I am to announce it openly, the name of Potter shall no longer be carried by me or anyone coming after me. The expectations everyone connects with this name are so high that no living being can hope to reach them. As such I would be thankful to be addressed as Mr. Harry James Bonnefoy, Heir Apparent for the House of Bonnefoy."

Shortly a flicker of real sadness went over his face, "This is by no means a degrading of what my parents did for me, but I would like to think that even they, national war heroes, would be hard pressed to rise to the expectations everyone seems to have for the boy-who-lived. I would be thankful for everyone, who honours my parents' death as the sacrifice that it was, and does not bring it up with me. Thank you."

The eyebrows of many nations lifted because they all knew Harry hated to stand in the centre of attention. When the boy sat down, he seemed to deflate. Every ounce of strength seemed to be used to stand there and talk about his new name and the choice he made.

Harry heaved a relieved sigh when he couldn't see the hall anymore and stared at the dark interior of the hat. The first thing he heard was a chuckle from the hat.

Well, Lord Potter, Heir Apparent to the Houses of Bonnefoy and Williams, you made quite the impression. Maybe a Gryffindor deep inside? No? You are brave enough to master your fear as you just showed when you did not back down. You are cunning, you knew they would use your old name and at the same time wouldn't really pay attention as to what you call yourself now, it will go under in the shock that you don't think of yourself as a Potter anymore. You are loyal to a fault, but only those that treated you in the same way that you want to be treated. Not even some of the badgers would be able to get onto your good side and that means something. 2p!Prussia will be happy to have you with him again, Lord Potter. Better be...

"...RAVENCLAW!"

Silence, then Prussia, the Japans and Ludwig started to clap for him. The other nations joined soon, and finally the blue and bronze table reacted as well.

Harry sat down between the two Japans and across from Gillen, Ludwig on Gillen's right side. Paris' head connected with Kuro's shoulder and a soft sigh was heard from the capital. Gillen gave a soft smile.

"You were great, Harry. Not many would dare to speak so openly about the decisions they made," the Prussian praised him with his soft, caring voice.

"It wasn't planned, or prepared in any way. I feel horrible and I feel like I talked as if I swallowed a dictionary before I went up there. Do you really think I did the right thing, Gillen?"

Prussia gave him again only a smile. It was surprisingly Kiku who gave him the best advice.

"Even if your decision would turn out absolutely terrible, it was your decision. You had to do something or else the magical world would kill you within two years with their expectations. It's not like you could do something against it, could you?"

Paris finally relaxed a little more, none the less his hands still were shaking from the adrenaline in his veins.

After Paris' sorting the only other interesting ones were the last nations. Feliciano ended; to nobody's surprise; in Hufflepuff. Flavio joined the blue and bronze table on Gillen's left side. Luciano was the next green and silver tied nation. Yao joined Feliciano, Francois and Lutz at the Hufflepuff-table. Zao on the other hand joined his criminal partner, Viktor, in Slytherin. Matt joined his brother Al in Gryffindor and the silent and most of the time ignored counterpart of Matt, Matthew, joined the snakes as well.

~O~

After the meal was over and Dumbledore made his speech, while loudly proclaiming that the third floor was out of bounds if one would like to live, Paris was approached by a short man. The whispers of their other year mates in the house of Ravenclaw clued them in that this was Flitwick, their head of house.

"Mister Bonnefoy, the headmaster wishes for your presence in his office," the man said. "As your head of house I will accompany you as you do not know the way."

Kuro and Ludwig raised an eyebrow in question. As long as someone else was in the room it wouldn't be so bad to let Paris have this meeting, but none the less they were curious what the reason was behind the meeting. Kiku just stared blankly at several of the Ravenclaws that stared at Harry as if they wanted to hound him with questions over and over, even after the boy clearly had said that he would like to not be asked questions. Gillen sighed; he felt for Paris.

"May I ask as to why the esteemed headmaster feels the need to meet me, Professor?" Paris asked in an insecure voice he hadn't sported before. The capital would never admit it to anyone but the nations he already had talked to, but the idea of meeting the headmaster terrified him a lot. Only the idea that he was one of many students and there was no reason for the headmaster to see him alone, kept him going.

"Do not fret, young Harry," the professor smiled, "you are in no trouble on the first evening here. We, the staff, are simply curious about your whereabouts the last years."

Paris eyed the professor curiously and soon enough Flitwick had the feeling to be mustered from twenty pairs of eyes from all around the Great Hall. The professor was surprised that young Harry seemed to have a lot of support from people around the hall. He kept his smile on his face and after a while Filius Flitwick had the feeling as if he had passed an important test.

"If all the staff is interested, Professor," Harry suddenly said in a French accent Flitwick hadn't heard before, "wouldn't it be easier to hold this meeting in the Great Hall and I will answer the questions here? I do not mind if the other Ravens hear it, if they have to wait for me."

It would also mean that Dumbledore had less access to him alone and he could get the support of the house behind him without having to relive his childhood more than one time.

Flitwick agreed readily, as that made sense. Paris settled down comfortable and waited for the questions to come.

"Harry, my boy," the headmaster started. The capital suppressed the urge to sneer at the man and say something along the lines that he surely wasn't as desperate as to be Dumbeldore's boy. "Thank you for taking your time to answer our questions. The first question I would like to ask is where you've been for the last six years."

"After my papa rescued me we went to France, sir. Papa lived there his whole life and wanted to return to his family-home." McGonagall gave first Harry an imploring look, and then Dumbledore a dirty one.

"Mr. Bonnefoy, what do you mean when you say 'rescued'?" she asked the first year sitting at the Ravenclaw-table, still between the two Honda-boys.

"Probably nothing. He only wants the attention he gets from what he says," a greasy-haired man with dark eyes sneered darkly. Ludwig couldn't help but feel that there was more to this than solely dislike. Right now he was angry at himself for not asking more about the teachers as long as he stayed with England.

Paris ignored the teacher, even though all the professors could see the tension in him rise, "When I say 'rescued' I mean exactly that, Professor. My guardians before I met Papa treated me horribly. I slept in a cupboard under the stairs. When Papa found me it was cold outside and ..." Paris shuddered, refusing to continue.

The teachers stared at Dumbledore, expecting answers. Only Snape was still sneering at the boy, but that was cut short by three very dark looks he received from Flavio, Gillen and Ludwig.

"Thank you, my boy, for answering the questions. You may go to bed now," Dumbledore said, a twinkle visible in his eyes, meaning nothing good for Paris and the nations. Paris stood, followed by both Hondas, Beilschmidts and the lone Vargas in Ravenclaw. As soon as they joined the group of other first years that had to wait for them the silver-haired Beilschmidt took the Frenchman's right side, while the lonely Vargas took the left. The blond Beilschmidt took a step forwards, protecting the young boy in the middle. The brown-eyed Japanese joined the German, while the other Japanese man joined the back. Why they felt the need to protect the boy was obvious as one look at the Ravens said that they wanted to study him. Just when he thought he could not be shocked much more, the young Potter called over to the ones in his group but in other houses; in German.

"Morgen vor dem Frühstück treffen wir uns vor der Großen Halle. Legen wir einen großen Auftritt hin. Jemand von uns wird noch heute Abend in Erfahrung bringen, ob wir an den Tischen von anderen Häusern sitzen dürfen."

The professor had no idea what the boy just had said, but the group nodded in acceptance. Well, some nodded, others called an affirmative in a mixture of languages, one sounded like a curse.

Harry called something in that language back and soon an argument broke out. It looked like it, mostly it was friendly banter.

~O~

While the professors were still talking, Matthew followed the pureblooded prefect down into the dungeons. It was cool and damp on the walls, instead if welcoming it felt as if they were led to their death. The real children in their house seemed to not know what to think of them. Canada was quite happy with their uncertainty, as that meant they didn't have to battle right from the beginning for their standing in the house. The upper years meant a lot more trouble for the nations that wanted to help Paris as much as they could.

Zao voiced what every of the nations was thinking in different variations, "I don't think that we are prepared enough to tackle the house rivalry. They don't even trust the people that are sorted into their own house, so how will we manage to get them off the backs of the Gryffindors?"

The other nations had to suppress a knowing sigh. Before anyone could say something they came to a stop in front of a wall. Matthew really wanted to sigh. Walls as entrances were seemingly popular in the magical world. If they even had walls in their homes as entrances, like 'You shall not PASS! Sorry, dude, but you don't have the right password' and if walls could shrug that would be added, too?

Luciano seemed to have read his mind or maybe he mumbled his thoughts because he started laughing. Loudly. The prefect that just started to say something stopped and stared. With that he wasn't alone, even Viktor, Zao and Ivan couldn't help it. Finally Luciano stopped and excused himself. Matthew threw him a smirk, to his surprise he got it returned. Well, Matthew had to admit that he was curious to get to know the 2p!s. He had worse nation in his own dimension. It got him curious as to what the other nations were like and if they were even slightly like their leader. Tomorrow would be interesting in that aspect, that was a given. If they could sit like they desired the magical world of Britain was in for a shock. And in the front would be five first year Slytherins.

"Well, this is the entrance to the Slytherin common room and the dorms. The password changes weekly. It will be posted on the black board in the common room so make sure to look there before such a change is to happen. The password for this week is 'Wolfsbane'."

The wall slid to the side and presented a dark room. The walls were in black, green and silver. The furniture was completely black, the pillows again a dark green with silver linings. What stood out the most was the window in one of the corners that had a view in the lake they had crossed to reach the castle. Everywhere they could look they saw snakes. Either they were on the walls, on the rug, on the pillows; even the furniture itself was not safe from them.

"Now that this is over with, dorms are through these doors, girls on the right, boys on the left. We recommend waking up early and we will show you the way back to the Great Hall."

Luciano murmured, for them to hear, "Don't worry. I remember the way. We should reach the Hall in time for Paris to share his plan with us. Just to ask, though, do we want to go with them or are we doing everything our way?"

Matthew was the first to answer, "We'll do our thing. I'm sure that the others will do exactly the same. If we show the other first years that we're above them they will have more doubt to contest our taking over the hierarchy in our houses."

"Or they could contest it even more as they know nothing about us," Zao said in an argument against it.

Luciano agreed with Zao's thinking. On the other hand it would be even better when the now acting court of Slytherin had no idea of their political power they wielded. So they couldn't tell the children much in fear that they contacted their parents.

"Don't give too much away. For now we will see if the children are going to play with us or against us. If they decide to play the more dangerous game against us, we will try to integrate and walk tomorrow morning with them. If they play with us on their side we will make it clear that they are not worthy enough to be part of our group. Not now, at least. We will be more popular if we don't let anyone in."

"Paris told me while some of these children were sorted, that our biggest political opponent would be Draco Malfoy. The Malfoys hold a lot power within the Ministry and the Lord, Lucius Malfoy, has the ear of the Minister. Draco is his son and as such we will hear quite often over his father, da?" Ivan said from the other end of the line they had unconsciously formed. How Matthew had ended up between the 2p!s he would never understand, but he didn't say a thing about it. Better him than Ivan with his sometimes quite short temper; that would lead to deaths at the first evening.

"You want to tell me that our most competition comes from a child?" Luciano hissed almost inaudible. Viktor raised a dark brown eyebrow in question, his red eyes drilling holes into the blond boy who had entered their compartment.

"Tell me, Luciano, how old you were when you took over the control of the mafia," he finally commanded, his dark voice sending shivers down the spines of some of the children in front of them. The voice was scary as no child should have it as long as he didn't enter the puberty. De-aging spell could only do so much, so the nations that already went through their puberty wouldn't go through it again. As such the already scary voice of the Russian was even more scary when nobody suspected a child to have such a voice.

"I was nine," Luciano finally gave up and answered. "I had to do it! Do you know how many idiots think they are good capos, only to fail right after that? Don't give me that look, Matthew," he protested when he saw the raised eyebrows of the Canadian next to him.

Matthew gave a good natured nod that stated a clearly disbelieving "Suuuuure," but none the less Canada decided to leave it be and entered the hallway to their dorm. The Russians, the Chinese and the Italian hurried after him. When they entered they saw that all the boys were already there, while they tried to do their best to be inconspicuous. The sudden silence said more than a thousand words that the children were not sure how to react to them. Malfoy should be able to name them, but Matthew was sure that his brain shut down somewhere in the middle of introductions. Not that he would hold it against him, he would, too. Paris wouldn't listen to such a lengthy introduction, too. The capital confided that he simply did it because he couldn't stand the kid. But back to the silence; the children looked the nations over, the nations waited for a reaction.

"Hello. I'm Blaise Zabini," a kid with tanned skin and violet eyes introduced himself finally. "Heir to the House of Zabini and many more."

Luciano, who just wanted to ask himself what the kid wanted with that, had a moment of perception. Ah, this was the game the boy wanted to play. Well, all in this room knew how to play, so why not?

"Nice to meet you, Heir Zabini," Luciano said, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice, "I am Luciano Vargas, leader of the Italian mafia."

Four pairs of eyes dulled in a way that showed they had no idea what that was. Zabini's eyes widened in recognition and a little in fear. So the little pureblood had heard of them, hm? Interesting. Luciano decided to pay a little more attention to the little Italian who wanted to play with the big people. The man turned child gave a 'cheery' smile and the boy flinched slightly.

"Theodore Nott, Heir to the noble House of Nott," another boy decided to play. He didn't understand the danger he was in. The children may know more about magic and all that fun, but while the nations knew what they could do with their wands, the children had no idea what damage a well-aimed shot could do or even how a shovel looked like. Again Luciano wondered why someone so into subtlety and manipulations like Viktor would use a shovel of all things as a weapon.

This time it was Viktor who introduced himself in return, "Viktor Braginski, leader of the Russian mafia, pleasure."

A strangled noise escaped Zabini. First the Italian and now the Russian mafia, too? That was more dangerous than he thought possible.

"Vincent Crabbe, Heir to the House of Crabbe," one of the meanest looking kids in the room said. Why this became a game of who could shock the others more, Matthew did not know and that was scary for the nation.

"Zao Wang, drug dealer supreme," the Chinese man introduced himself, a sinister gleam in his eyes. Matthew worried slightly that he got out of hand and no Paris was there to control him, but those worries were unfounded, when the man turned child earned a cough from Viktor. Ivan and Matthew exhaled in relief. It was good to know that most of the 2p!s had someone with them that could control them.

"Gregory Goyle, Heir House Goyle," the other one looking like a fat bully introduced himself without using too many words. That he didn't use any grammar rules was overlooked by both the boy and the nations.

"Ivan Braginski, Head of the House of Braginski," Ivan said with a weary sigh. This whole situation was just laughable. Because he couldn't laugh it was more tiring than anything else.

Before Draco could open his mouth, Matthew took it upon himself to introduce him first. He really knew everything that was needed over the boy. Paris didn't like him and he didn't like Paris. Paris didn't like making the life of someone else a living hell; Draco would do it, just because Paris denied any relation to Harry Potter and at the same time Draco's hand in friendship. The nations in Slytherin knew that this meant to keep an extra careful eye on him.

"Matthew Williams, Head of the House of Williams, half-brother of Harry Bonnefoy-Potter."

Luciano, Viktor and Ivan gave him a strange look, while Zao just observed the reactions. Matthew decided that it was true enough. When he was young he grew up with Francis and called him until this day on occasion 'Papa'. As such he could be called brother of Harry, but because that would raise questions he went with that way. Of course they really were related in a way. When Matthew accepted Francis as his caregiver and called him Papa he formed a bond with the French nation. Paris was the capital of said French nation and called him papa, too. He had a bond formed with France, too. The ways this bonds worked a bond had formed between Canada and Paris as soon as they both accepted that France had another son, for both of them not that long after they knew of the other, and now they were brothers in the eyes of magic. He only said to Paris to call him uncle because otherwise it would get really complicated at times to keep track of the family. Through the bonds formed with America and England, the whole Kirkland family had bonds with the capital, too, without them and him even realising it. America had a twin-brother bond with Canada, through this connection a bond with Paris as brother, a bond with England as a big brother, even though he never acknowledged it these days. England had brother-bonds with North Ireland, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Sealand and America and new connections as brother to Paris through America, who was connected to the capital through Canada.

A yawn interrupted his inner musings and he looked up. The real children were tired and waited only for them to start getting ready for bed. Well, if it was that easy to take over control of the first years they really didn't have that much work to do. Matthew and Zao were the first to search their trunks and get ready for bed.

"Good night," Matthew wished them all in his soft voice. Shortly after that silence reigned and only the soft breathing of ten children was heard. It seemed that at least the first year Slytherins accepted that the nations had a right to act almighty and arrogant. Good for them and for the nations.

~O~

Al looked around. The walking and talking portraits on the wall were scary, but at the same time Al couldn't help but feel intrigued. The torches were a reminder that technology didn't work around here, even though he shortly wondered what security measures were taken that none of the students got the silly idea to burn them with it. When they started to walk up the stairs a kid stumbled and suddenly he yelled. Al's interest was piqued. When he turned around he saw that said kid was knee deep in a stair and couldn't move. The American blinked in confusion. What the hell? Shortly followed was a scream by all the first years when the staircase suddenly decided to move. The Prussian at their side stared over the banister. He seemed to ask himself the same question that Al wondered over before: What security measures were taken so that the students didn't sail over the railing when the stairs moved? With the moving of the staircase the boy could free his leg and they were moving again. For the first time Al was thankful that Oliver had blackmailed Matt and him to join Paris in the school. It wasn't like he didn't like Paris, the capital was an okay bloke, but Al had better things to do than going to school.

After a lot of stairs the nations finally reached a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress.

Al couldn't help himself, he muttered a, "Oliver would love her dress," and the other nations that knew Oliver snorted in amusement.

"He would," Roland agreed, only half listening to the prefect that had annoyed them on the Express.

"The password for the common room is 'pig snout'. Contrary to other houses our password only changes once a term, so remember it. No giving away the password to someone who is not in our house," here Al, Matt, Roland and Gilbert earned a warning look, which all the nations answered with an innocent blink of their eyes. After that they crawled through a hole in the wall in a place of red and gold. The walls were a deep red, the couches, chairs and pillows around the common room were red with gold lining and even the rug was red and gold.

"Urgh, if all the common rooms are blatantly in the colours of the house? I'll die if I have to be in this room for longer than necessary," Gilbert groaned seemingly in pain. "Red and gold only work in combination with black to look good without looking obnoxious."

"You only say that because it's the German flag," Al sighed in annoyance, but the small smile on his lips stated that he somewhat agreed with the Prussian.

"It's the old German military uniform, you dolt! Where do you think came the idea for our flag from, huh?"

"Wait, the German flag is orientated on the colours of a German uniform?!" Matt asked incredulous.

"Don't talk about the creativity, please," Gilbert said when they started to follow the other first years to their dorm.

"I won't," Al said. Unsaid, but heard from all, was the 'because there is none'.

"It wasn't West's decision," Prussia said in the defence of his brother. "Damn politicians decided that it was a good idea and it kept the Germans at that time happy. Nowadays most don't even know anymore why the flag is coloured like it is."

The red-head that had entered their compartment had listened in on their conversation and now sported an idiotic expression on his face. The half-bloods and muggleborns looked amused because they knew what they were talking about.

"Well, I personally want to forget this. It's somewhat strange to know," Gilbert said shuddering. "I wish a good night and a good night's sleep. We see us in the morning."

With those words Gilbert closed the (red) curtains around his bed and soon they heard soft breathing.

Roland, Al and Matt decided to follow his example, wished a good night and soon the first year room in the Gryffindor tower was silent.

~O~

Oliver sighed in annoyance. Why again had he decided to talk the hat into putting him into Hufflepuff? The happy-go-lucky attitude of everyone around him drove him crazy! He was most of the time a nice guy who loved to laugh and smile. So, normally he would fit in perfectly. But not here and not now. The prefects were nice enough, but the smiles and the mothering were ridiculous! Lutz glared annoyed at the table, Francois looked at the ceiling with a longing expression that Oliver knew well enough to know that Francois wanted wine and maybe one to ten cigarettes, Yao decided to have a mood swing and now looked depressed at the table and Feliciano whined because they didn't serve pasta.

"So, what do you think the teachers wanted from Paris?" Oliver finally started a conversation when they left the hall. He skilfully dodged any attempt from the other Hufflepuff-firsties to start a conversation because he was curious. Lutz was surprisingly the first to react to the question.

He simply shrugged and then answered, "The headmaster probably wants to know where he spent the last six years of his life. It could be that it wasn't only the headmaster, as I think that all staying behind were the ones interested in the answers. That was the whole staff."

Oliver and Francois nearly fell to the ground in shock. Lutz was not known for talking much and then to make such an astute assumption was mind-blowing for the two 2p!s.

"Ve~," they heard Feliciano and they all looked over to him. "Shouldn't we pay attention to our prefects?" he asked and Oliver sighed. Yes, yes they should, but he couldn't really bring himself to do it. Why, oh why did he choose Hufflepuff over Slytherin? Paris had made it clear that he wouldn't be one to judge them on their house and to be honest the little capital had told him that he wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in the green and silver house.

It was an absent-minded Oliver who entered the green (plants), black and yellow common room. The nations stared in horror around the room. Others would describe it as comfortable and homey. Yao, Feliciano, Oliver, Lutz and Francois would describe their nightmares as the common room. The yellow outweighed the black, thank goodness for this one, but the yellow was such a bright colour that it nearly hurt their eyes, the black accents at wall and rug only accentuating it. Right now Oliver really hated himself for choosing Hufflepuff over the snakes. The badgers might have been a nice group, but the room was a living nightmare for all of them. Even Feliciano who always saw something good in any situation couldn't find nice words to describe the common room.

"Let's use every single minute we have to study in the library," Yao suggested in a weak voice. Oliver nodded in agreement, followed by Lutz and Feliciano. Francois simply shrugged.

"As long as it's warm we could use the time to go outside and do our homework there," Lutz whispered, too, in a weak voice. It seemed that this horror of a room stole all of their voices.

"A fantastic idea," Francois agreed in an almost inaudible voice. "The rest of the time we simply go to bed early so we don't have to be in this room."

The other four nations nodded in agreement, following the male students to their dorm room. Excited chatter greeted them when they entered. Oliver plastered a tired smile on his face, and Yao followed his example. If the Chinese learned one thing then it was how to manipulate people, even children, into something. In this case it was a clear signal for them to leave them be and go to bed. The children reacted at once and wished everyone a good night.

"Has anyone of you remembered the way to the Great Hall?" whispered Yao when the children were asleep.

"I have," Lutz and Feliciano said to the surprise of Oliver and Francois.

"When do we stand up?" asked Francois the next question.

"Seven o'clock. Then we have enough time to get ready and meet with the others," Oliver suggested. The little Italian nodded his agreement.

"Well, then we should go to bed. It won't do that we are too late for the meeting with the others on our first day when we want to shock everybody in the school with our continued friendship even though we are in different houses," Yao grinned, excited about shocking the whole school.

Shortly after that the last of the nations fell asleep in the garishly yellow and black beds.

~O~

Ludwig and Kiku shielded Paris from the hungry looks their housemates sent him; Kiku for the first time looking more intimidating simply with his expressionless eyes and the emotionless face. Gillen on Paris' right side grabbed said child's arm in uncertainty, but at the same time the long-haired, silver-haired Beilschmidt was determined to keep their housemates as far from Paris as he could manage. Flavio on Paris' left side sported a feral smile that clearly stated to keep away from Paris or else... Kuro in the back of the capital sported a similar expression to Flavio's, only his dared them to come near. The Japanese really wanted to test his skills again and who would be better than some annoying brats that didn't know what privacy meant?

Paris ignored the protective behaviour of his companions, at least it looked like it for the rest of Ravenclaw, but the nations knew that he was thankful. Only a minimal twitch of his eyebrow, but it was enough to express what Paris wanted to say. All the nations knew that Paris had enough control over his emotions to not allow even this twitch if he didn't want to tell them something. At least most of the times. Paris was someone who could get excited over nothing or anything and at such times his mask was nearly completely down. Luciano was many things, but he was a good teacher even if he was bipolar. After the Ravens climbed a lot of stairs and rounded a few corners the stood in front of a knocker in form of ... a raven. Paris liked it, even if the form was a dead giveaway which common room lay behind it. Kuro, Flavio and Gillen seemed to share this thought, as they all snorted quietly. Paris' lips twitched in amusement. Finally the prefect knocked once and the raven opened its beak.

"If you have me, you want to share me. If you share me, you haven't got me. What am I?" it croaked a question. Kiku and Paris had to suppress a sigh at this riddle.

The other first years exchanged confused looks. Ludwig instead asked himself if the knocker insinuated that the other houses were too stupid to answer a riddle. If it did then it was no wonder that there was house rivalry in this school.

"To enter our common room you have to answer the riddle the knocker asks of you. If you don't know the answer you have to wait until the next one comes and answers the riddle for you or someone leaves the common room. Now, does someone know the answer to the riddle?"

Paris and Kiku exchanged one look. Finally they sighed at the same time, "A secret."

The prefect looked stunned that two first years could be that much in sync, but none the less he smiled in agreement. Finally the door opened and the nations and capital entered a room in blue, bronze and dark wood. It was a dream come true, the wall wasn't seen at most places because of bookshelves. The blue couches and chairs sported bronze accents and the fire in the fireplace made it look very homey.

Flavio couldn't help but whistle in appreciation, "I like it."

Ludwig, Gillen, Kiku, Kuro and Paris agreed silently. When the other first years went to their dorm, Paris went to the bookshelf and looked for the Hogwarts Charter. He pulled the book out, looking it over.

He sat in one of the chairs, Gillen still on his side. Absent-minded Paris started to pat Gillen's hair while he read the Charter. Flavio silently pulled out a camera and shot a lot of pictures of this cute scene. Shortly after the 2p!s decided that they wanted to go to school with Paris Flavio had decided what he would give Paris as a Christmas present and the pictures were necessary as a photo album without pictures would be simply stupid. A lot of the older female students still in the room started to coo at the scene, but Paris was oblivious to that, as was Gillen.

"We can sit with the others if we want. We only have to sit with our house when there is a feast, like Samhain or the Welcoming feast," Paris said, looking up, meeting the icy-blue eyes of the German, then the dark brown ones from Kiku, followed by the magenta-coloured ones from Flavio and the red ones from Kuro.

"That's great. I still have to give Luciano his books, the parchment and ink he will need," Flavio said drily. Harry snickered amused.

"Let me guess, he didn't pack his things the evening before and had to hurry. Because you are a responsible big brother sometimes you only made him pack his clothes and took everything else in your trunk."

"Yes, somewhat like that," Flavio agreed, flashing white teeth in a grin. Ludwig and Kiku snickered in amusement as they pictured that scene.

"Oh!" Paris said suddenly as he had read on, "Look at that. If all the students of a house agree, we can enter the common room of this house as well!"

Ludwig and Kuro read over the shoulder of the capital and agreed silently that this had to happen as soon as possible for them.

"That is nice and all, Paris," Ludwig started in his deep voice, "but we really should go to bed now. We have to be up early."

Paris sighed, put the book away and after wishing everyone a good night, the last nations in the group of nations went to bed.

~O~

Morgen vor dem Frühstück treffen wir uns vor der Großen Halle. Legen wir einen großen Auftritt hin. Jemand von uns wird noch heute Abend in Erfahrung bringen, ob wir an den Tischen von anderen Häusern sitzen dürfen. (German) - Before breakfast tomorrow we will meet in front of the Great Hall. Let's make a big show out of it. Someone from us will look into it if we can sit at the tables from the other houses.

Oh, Jesus, I have finally the sorting written! Now I only have to remember that the Sorting Hat decided to put Lutz into Hufflepuff and not Gryffindor like I originally planned. -.- Stupid mule-ish characters. Never do like I wish. -.- Well, I hope that my sorting at least surprised you a bit.^^