Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and Pandora Hearts to Jun Michozuki. This story is written purely for fun.

However, Cain Kruspe and the plot are mine so please respect that.

Author's note: The story is completely written right now so it will not be abandoned. There are spoilers for the Pandora Hearts manga. You have been warned. However, it's also an AU story, so there are plenty of facts that I twisted or ignored. It's also AU for Harry Potter from the beginning of the fifth book.

Remember: reviews are love ;)

Prologue

As the last of his guests arrived, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore looked at the wizards gathered in his office. Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall were looking away from the gathering, having already heard the news and disagreeing with Dumbledore on the way to handle the situation. Remus Lupin seemed genuinely curious as to the reason of being called in the middle of summer to Hogwarts. Finally, Kingsley Shacklebolt, acting as the Ministry of Magic envoy, was settling down in the chair, having just arrived.

'Yesterday, I have received a curious letter from Duke Barma of the Hebrides,' he started slowly, looking at each and every of the other wizards. Remus and Kingsley twitched at the name, their eyes widening a fraction.

'But they-' Remus started, but Dumbledore didn't let him finish.

'They have isolated themselves completely from the outside world after some tragic events took place in the capital of their land, Sabrie,' he said calmly. 'Let me read you the letter and perhaps some of your questions will be already answered,' he added and lowered his gaze to the desk, where the aforementioned piece of paper was resting innocently.

Professor Dumbledore,

My name is Duke Rufus Barma of the Four Great Dukedoms. I write to you on the behalf of the Four Great Dukes that rule this land, asking to speak to you as equals.

'He goes on a bit about how amazing the evolution of magical England is to them,' Dumbledore said, rather than reading the long and boring paragraphs of empty words. 'He expresses their regret that the Four Great Dukedoms have been excluded from that evolution and says that they would like to reinstate the connections between them and us,' he added with a small smile.

'Why did he not send it to the Ministry?' Kingsley asked immediately. Smile widening, the Headmaster of Hogwarts read the most relevant paragraph.

After as many as a hundred years of estrangement, there are many things that will need to be overlooked and understood if we are to reach a mutual agreement. We will not hide that resentment for the opposite side still lingers in many of our citizens as we imagine it must linger in you. Rather than a tedious diplomatic arrangement, we suggest starting by a small scholar exchange.

Children, we find, are the most open-minded of people. We have no appropriate magical education establishment and thus we ask you to accept the heirs of the Four Great Dukedoms as your students at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If our children realise that your children can be friends and companions, they will advocate the case of reinstatement of connections. The same, we believe, will happen on your side.

Furthermore, in order to help you understand us, we propose to send a teacher to your school, to teach your children about the Core of Magic.

Dumbledore looked up at the four wizards and cleared his throat before adding that what followed were technical details and they should first discuss the most important question: should they allow such a "scholar exchange" to occur?

'Don't they have knowledge of magic that we are lacking? What is this Core of Magic that he mentions?' Remus asked back, looking troubled at the news. McGonagall puffed angrily.

'Their isolation was not only their decision,' she reminded them all. 'We chose to not insist on keeping contacts because of the eruption of dark magic that shook the whole world. For all we know, the "Core of Magic" could be more evil than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.'

'Could this be an act in order to get in contact with Voldemort?' Kingsley asked almost at the same moment. 'They couldn't have chosen a worse moment, that with the Deatheaters suddenly becoming more vicious,' he added. Snape didn't waste a second to point out that this, out of all the surprising facts, was the most suspicious coincident.

'I find it hard to believe that the proud Dukes really want something to do with us,' he hissed angrily. 'Do they really believe that we will fall for something as absurd as children advocating the case of reunion?'

'I find that concept quite appealing,' Dumbledore pointed out pleasantly, ignoring Snape's muttered curse. 'Children are the future of this world. This is true for Muggles as much as it is true for the Great Dukes and us, the wizarding society. It has always pained me that we are not united with all the magic wielders in Great Britain.'

'Of course, if we manage to make them into allies before Voldemort attempts to get them onto his side, if could only be beneficial,' Kingsley admitted albeit hesitantly. McGonagall repeated her warning about the dark magic and her doubts about the honesty of the Dukes.

'How many heirs are there?' Remus asked. 'Do they have any conditions for this exchange, which could be problematic?'

'They claim to want to send four children,' Dumbledore replied, knowing that he had already won. 'The four are not to be sorted into Houses, but rather to attend a special curriculum, as to allow them to learn most efficiently what they are lacking. All this could be accommodated without problems.'

'But the armed guards are a different question,' McGonagall countered and Dumbledore was forced to explain that the Great Dukes requested that the children come with two bodyguards who would have to be allowed full access to the castle, as well as the permission to carry arms. This information visibly cooled Remus' already small enthusiasm towards the idea.

'So seven strangers in total,' Kingsley summarised. 'Four of them children, three adults,' he added thoughtfully before commenting that the situation should be easy to control. After all, the Order was going to keep an eye on the school as well, so three potential enemies would be easy to eliminate.

'So it is decided then?' Dumbledore asked cheerfully. 'Shall I write to the Duke Barma that we are eagerly awaiting the new students? I am truly looking forward to learn about the Core of Magic and our estranged brothers and sisters.'

McGonagall scowled and said that some families were meant to stay estranged, while Remus offered him a small smile and a hesitant nod. Kingsley said that he would clear the Ministry end of the affair. Snape muttered that it was dangerous time to have guests, but if Dumbledore insisted then the lives of those children would be his responsibility.

Ch. 1: Inventing lineage

With some worry, Oz entered the Pandora main meeting room, noticing that everybody was already there, mostly sitting around the round table in the middle. They all looked up when he opened the door and he smiled at them all, taking in their expressions.

Worry: that was the predominant emotion in the room. Gilbert, sulking against the wall as it became his habit lately, was obviously worried. Oz could see it, even if Raven's face was almost entirely hidden from sight by his hair. Next to Gilbert stood Reim, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but in the room.

Oz glanced at the table, at his uncle Oscar, who was fiddling with some notes and Lady Cheryl who seemed to be sleeping, although from the frown on her face, Oz could guess that she merely had her eyes closed.

The worried looking Duke Barma was all but pacing the room and Oz wondered how Break could look so unconcerned. Break, in fact, seemed the only happy person in the room, but Oz had long since learned that the clown was hiding his worries behind the mask of cheerfulness so well faked that everybody believed it.

With a sigh, he sat next to Elliot, who was worriedly looking between the adults in the room, his eyes asking for explanation to this meeting. Oz would like an explanation as well, especially when he saw that, except for him and Alice, Elliot and Leo have been summoned.

The latter was sitting stiffly, looking at the table as though it held all the answers in the world. Oz knew, from Gilbert, that neither Leo nor Elliot got used to all the changes implied by their new situation. Oz supposed that Gilbert had hard time coming to terms with the truth as well. Himself, he took it quite hard but, with the help of his friends and family, he managed to acknowledge the truth and more or less ignore it.

Alice, much alike Break, seemed rather unconcerned and Oz had to smile at her annoyed look that said "this is delaying lunch". When Oz arrived, she took a seat next to him and crossed her arms before demanding an explanation in her characteristic, obnoxious manner.

Duke Barma stopped pacing and cleared his throat, effectively focusing the attention of the four teenagers on himself. It didn't escape Oz's attention that the adults in the room seemed to know the purpose of the meeting, because none of them showed any interest in what the Duke was going to say.

'For the sake of the gathered youth, I will start from the beginning,' he said with a pleasant tone, although his face was devoid of emotion. 'We have taken initiative to contact the wizarding society of Great Britain,' he stated. Leo's eyes widened in shock at the statement. Elliot nearly jumped out of his seat, demanding explanation.

'What is Great Britain?' asked Alice, her tone clearly suggesting that she didn't think it was edible, focusing Leo's and Elliot's incredulous looks on herself.

'It seems that we will have to educate Miss Alice in terms of geography,' Break laughed, before explaining that Great Britain was a country to which their island, called Hebrides by most, belonged. He produced a map and pointed out the island.

'Why would we want anything to do with them?' Elliot growled while Alice digested the answer and looked at the map in more detail. Oz was glad that Elliot asked. It was the first time he heard about a "wizarding society" and he was hoping that Break or somebody would explain why it was such a big deal to contact then. Not to mention that he wanted to know just what exactly "wizarding" stood for. There was no magic, was there? He supposed that he missed more than just ten years out of everybody's lives.

'We have reasons to believe that there are beginnings of Chain activity in some areas of Great Britain,' Duke Barma said seriously and all thoughts about wizards and fairy tales flew out of Oz's head. 'As you know, a hundred years ago, we have chosen to cut all ties to the rest of the wizarding world and deal with our own problems. Rather, I should say Jack has chosen, probably thinking that it was better for his plans,' he amended with a bitter tone. Oz looked away from him, forcibly removing memories of Jack from his head.

Why was it that everything turned around that despicable person and the tragic events that he had provoked? Was Oz's whole life going to revolve around those things? He didn't like the answer his brain provided and he was grateful when Lady Cheryl spoke up.

'Shortly after we took that decision, the newly formed Ministry of Magic of Great Britain proclaimed our use of magic improper and reinforced our isolation in order to prevent our knowledge from leaking out,' she continued the story. 'We don't call it "magic" of course, we never did,' she added. Oz suspected that it was for him and Alice, because they were the only ones looking lost in the conversation. 'We call it Chains and Abyss and while there have always been misunderstandings between our way and the others, until a hundred years ago, we got along well enough.'

'Did it change because of Sabrie?' Oz asked, feeling guilty. He was, after all, somewhat guilty of what happened then, even if he didn't particularly have a choice in that matter. Sadness flashed in Break's blind eye, while Lady Cheryl smiled at Oz encouragingly.

'Sabrie was just a show of how destructive our powers can be. We are not even sure if the other wizards realised what happened then,' Duke Barma said quietly. 'No, their attitude towards magic changed, as far as we can tell.'

'After all, we never managed to infiltrate their society until now,' Break butted in, earning a murderous glare from Duke Barma, which he couldn't have seen. He went about unwrapping a lollipop and biting off a piece. The sound of the cracking candy echoed in the momentarily silent room.

'And you want us to spy on them?' Alice asked, shocking most of the room's occupants. 'I hope you are not just saying this for the sake of talking,' she added with irritation, when Break chuckled.

'Not quite,' he said, leaning against the table as his lips twisted into a sweet smile. On him, however, it looked creepy more than anything else and, despite knowing the man as a friend, Oz shuddered.

'You said you attempted to contact the wizarding community,' Leo said, speaking for the first time since Oz entered the room. His voice was cold, as always since he discovered who he was. Oz wondered if it was the knowledge itself or whether Leo had changed. He didn't have the chance to ask because everybody made sure that he didn't get to spend too much time with the Head of Baskervilles, lest something happened. This really was ludicrous, since he, Leo and Elliot have decided to change the way history went. Right?

'Indeed,' Duke Barma said, clearing his throat. 'We have suggested that we want to reinstate our connections with them, which of course is not true, but we cannot afford to let them know about Chains.'

'They don't know anything about Chains?' Oz asked in surprise. Even though, when he was fourteen, he didn't know much himself, now it seemed like the whole world revolved around Chains and Abyss. Finding out that somebody had no knowledge about something that was his daily life was weird.

'No,' Uncle Oscar said firmly. 'And that is the way it's supposed to stay. That's why we need to send people in and remove the Chains that might be there,' he added. For once he seemed serious and concerned.

'But if they think our, uh, magic is inappropriate then why would they want to have anything to do with us?' Leo asked, pointing out the obvious flaw in the plan. Much to Oz's surprise, the expression on Duke Barma's face mirrored that of Break's. It was a rather frightful sight, those two men who hated each other smiling like that.

'We appealed to the right person,' the Duke said smoothly. 'The Headmaster of the Britain's wizarding school, who is supposed to be known for his desire to reunite the wizards,' he added.

'And we gave him the right bait,' Break added, sounding delighted. Uncle Oscar scowled, saying that he shouldn't call "them" bait.

'And the bait is?' Oz asked with hesitation, although he had a fair idea already, since they were talking about a Headmaster of a school. He realised that there were four potential students in the room and his eyes widened.

'You of course,' Break laughed out. 'The heirs of the Four Great Dukedoms who are delightful and innocent and open-minded, as children should be,' he added, continuing to laugh. Oz glanced at Alice, Elliot and Leo and wondered how in the world they would ever manage to pass off as innocent and open-minded, never mind delightful.

'We are not all-' Elliot started, but he wasn't allowed to finish.

'There are things that those wizards don't need to know about us and we certainly cannot let them get a hint of the power the Baskervilles possess,' Duke Barma said seriously. 'We have chosen you four for one reason: you can all protect yourself should need arise. The wizards outside the Great Dukedoms have no idea about the lineage of our families and thus it should not be difficult to fool them.'

'We have enlisted you to their school as Elliot Nightray, Leo Barma, Oz Vessalius and Alice Rainsworth,' Break informed them cheerfully. 'You should practice your new names so that you don't slip. Myself and Raven will be accompanying you as bodyguards,' he added almost as an afterthought, pointing at himself and Gilbert, who was simply observing the conversation with crossed arms. Oz grinned at his childhood friend.

'Your only task is to stay in the school and learn as much as you can about the wizarding community,' Lady Cheryl said with a smile. 'You may also have to make up alibies for Hatter and Raven if they are away dealing with the Chains. With any luck, your mission will be completed during the school year and you will not have to return to the school.'

'So we have to stay there a whole year?' Elliot asked, visibly not liking the idea. 'How can we leave this place for a whole year?'

'Things will be taken care of in your absence and you will remain in close contact with the person governing the family in your name,' Lady Cheryl replied, reminding Oz that Elliot was no longer the heir to the Dukedom, but an actual Duke, since his father had been murdered by the head hunter, or rather Vincent Nightray. He shuddered at the memory.

'Lady Sharon will keep an eye on us using Eques and also, the wizards use owls as communication method, so Owl will be able to carry messages without much suspicion,' Break commented. 'Like that we don't lose any of the fun.'

'So the six of us leave when?' Leo asked.

'Reim will also join you, as a teacher,' Oscar informed them. Oz turned to the Pandora officer right in time to see him blush. 'He will teach the wizarding children "our magic" and pose as the biggest threat out of your group, so that the wizards focus on him, leaving Hatter and Raven to do their work undisturbed.'