Chapter 1
Just a goofy idea that’s been in my head for years. I’m only going to make five chapters, one for each DoD.
When Clay was visited by professor Jerboa, he had thought it was all some great dream. Not only did he not have to go back to traditional school, or ‘muggle’ school as his new friend called it, instead he got to learn magic?! Had he not been taken to Diagon alley with professor Webs, he would have thought it was all a prank.
Luckily for Clay, he didn’t have to hang out with the rather dull professor for too long. When he was getting his wand, he just so happened to meet a girl his age who was also getting her wand. She was bubbly and excited about the prospect, but the more he spoke with her, the more Clay realized she had a hint of nervousness to her. When she learned he lived in an orphanage however, she begged her mother to let him stay till the term started and for some reason, Mrs. Thorn agreed!
The mansion Sunny lived in felt like a gateway to the magical castle Clay would soon be staying in. It had floating lights, glasses with strange creatures that the boy could never imagine, and flying broomsticks! He enjoyed every minute he stayed with Sunny and her mother where he was free to ask questions like what the ministry of magic was (Where Mrs. Thorn worked), and hogwarts. However, he noted that when the topic of magical creatures came up, Sunny looked a bit more nervous.
Sunny was super short, even for someone her age. Her hair was similar to her mothers with it being wavy and thin, but it was a bit darker and her eyes were blue which Clay figured she got from her dad. She almost always had a smile on her face which helped bring out the freckles she had on her cheeks.
Despite that, the two were happy to share everything they knew with him, and Sunny taught Clay the basics of some game called ‘Quidditch’. But, eventually summer would be over and Clay could start his first year at a school that would change his life forever.
Thorn saw them off, showing Clay where platform 9 and 1/3 was and he said goodby as well, carrying Sunny’s Owl, friend (Mrs. Thorn said she named things like her father, who Clay never actually met while he was there due to him being missing).
“Come on! We just need to find a compartment.” Sunny said, leading Clay down the hallway of the train. He saw different students already sitting together, getting to know one another. He heard talks of the houses the students would be sorted into but Clay already knew the house he wanted.
Clay towered over Sunny (Which wasn’t hard for most people if he was being honest), the boy was about twice her height. His biggest fear was breaking his wand on accident if he ever underestimated his strength (Though apparently the wood his wand was made of was very heavy for a wand, which Sunny and Mrs. Thorn pointed out). Though when they entered the compartment, two students were already there. Clay gave them a smile, trying not to look nervous. “Hey, are these seats open?”
The girl on the right had green and purple hair which Clay thought was dyed, though the hair changed to pink and green when she looked up, nodding her head. Clay thought she had to be a…metamorphmagus? That seemed like the right word. “Yeah, I’m Glory. The nerd over there studying is Starflight.” She said simply. Her face looked like it changed about as much as her hair did and her piercing green eyes stood out to Clay just as much as her long hair that reached towards her shoulder.
Sunny took her seat by Glory, leaving Clay to sit by the dark haired boy Starflight. He was already in his robes and looking over something called ‘Standard book of spells’ before he looked up in annoyance at his fellow compartment dweller. “Excuse me for intending to pass my classes.” Starflight was only a tiny bit smaller than Glory and he had pitch black hair that looked well kept. His glasses match his green eyes and had little star symbols on either side
The two chuckled at the slight bickering before Sunny turned the conversation to somewhere else. “So, what houses do you guys think you’ll be in?”
“Gryffindor of course!” Clay turned and saw a dark purple haired girl standing at the open compartment door. “Sorry to interrupt, but this was the first one I found that wasn’t full.”
Sunny’s face brightened when she saw the stranger however, and scooted over so she could sit between Sunny and Glory. “Tsunami!” The shorter girl said with joy, offering a hand for Tsunami to shake which she did. She then looked over to Clay and caught herself. “Clay, this is Tsunami. Our parents work at the Ministry of magic. Tsunami, this is Clay. I met him at Diagon alley and he’s been staying with us before term.”
Tsunami was about three quarters of Clay's height and while her dark ocean blue hair didn't reach quite as far as Glory's, it was still pretty long with a small elastic hair tie that kept it in a long ponytail with eyes that matched.
The two exchanged handshakes and Tsunami looked over the other two students in the compartment. “So you were raised by Muggles?” She asked and when Clay nodded, she looked rather prideful to explain her family. “Well my family is pretty well known. My mother works for the minister herself, and my sister’s a Prefect this year. Try not to get on her nerves though, Orca’s rather stuck up.” She said and chuckled. “Anyway, what houses would you guys want to be in?”
Both Clay and Sunny answered the same, with “Hufflepuff”. Clay reached over to fist bump Sunny before leaning back in his seat. “From what Sunny said, it seems right. I mean, I don’t really consider myself brave, smart, or ambitious.”
“Hey, you belong there cuz you’re super kind!” Sunny said, giving Clay a bright smile that he was thankful to see. “What about you, Starflight?” Sunny asked, turning the smile to the only student wearing glasses.
He set down his book and made a talon gesture with his left hand. “The house of the raven clawed bird, and home of the eagles. Ravenclaw.” He said sort of smugly. “Those of open mind and-”
“We get it.” Glory said, rolling her eyes as she cut Starflight off. “You’re smart.”
He grumbled and went back to reading his book, saying something about his mom being in Ravenclaw. Tsunami relaxed in her seat and yawned. “So far so good. What about you, hair changer?” She asked, smiling at Glory. “You look like a Ravenclaw as well. You good with books?”
Though Clay felt a shift in the air when Glory gave the girl a vague look, seemingly no emotion on her face at all. “I don’t think you’re going to like my answer.” But when Tsunami looked more interested, though losing her smile, Glory continued. “My brother broke the curse, but my whole family’s been in Slytherin like how yours have been in Gryffindor.”
There was a deadly silence as the two seemed to be sizing each other up. Clay knew the two houses were rivals, but he wasn’t sure just how deep this went. “Surely they can put that aside?” He thought. “Well, I don’t think it matters.” He said, his voice carrying despite him trying not to be very loud. He felt all of their eyes turn to him as Starflight set his book down to watch the showdown. “I mean, we’re all going to be in school together. Even if we aren’t in the same house, can’t we still like, be friends?” When all he got was silence, he felt a lump form in his throat. “Maybe this school won’t be as fun as I thought.” He thought to himself. “What’s the point in sorting us by personality if we’re just going to be with people who think the same as us?” He wished he didn’t think like this, that the five could just hang out. He barely knew them but…he felt some connection. “Not like I had many at the orphanage.” He had always been either way older or way younger there. No one was around his age. “At least I’ll have Sunny.” He thought. “Or, not. I mean, how often do we even have time to hang out?”
Surprising Clay, it was Starflight, the one who he thought was the most distant, who spoke up. “We’ll have plenty of time. We’ll likely have classes together, we can sit together at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and study together. We don’t have to hang out in the dorms.” Clay thought he saw a hopeful spark in his eyes.
Sunny nodded her head in excitement, then looked between Tsunami and Glory who weren’t looking at each other. “Yeah! We don’t need to be in the same house!”
The three looked at the two girls who finally made eye contact again. Glory gave a skeptical look to Tsunami, who returned one. “Think you can set your pride aside and get along with a snake?” She asked without much emotion.
Tsunami just rolled her eyes, resting the back of her head on her hands. “Eh, we’ll see. Maybe you’ll end up with the nerd.” She said, a slight smile forming on both girls' lips as Starflight groaned and went back to reading. Despite their agreement in dissing Starflight, the air hadn’t gotten any less tense.
Luckily, the tension was broken when Starflight looked out the window as a whistle from the front of the train blew. “Well you two can get along while you change in another compartment. We should be at the castle soon.”
“Why don’t you two leave?” Tsunami asked, tilting her head down at the hopefully-to-be-Ravenclaw. “It’s three against two.”
Starflight gave a low smile at this. “Yeah, but *I* got to this compartment first.”
“That’s not a rule.” Glory remarked, but the two were actually outvoted as Sunny chirped up in favor of Starflight. “Ugh, fine. But you two owe us.” She said, and the trio opened the door to head to the restrooms.
Clay was left alone with Starflight, both sitting in their seats beside each other. Clay opened his mouth to speak but stopped, looking through his things for his robe when Starflight looked out the window. “Thank you for that.” He said, and when Clay looked confused, he expanded. “I um, am not exactly the best at making friends.” He said with much less confidence than before. “So you wanting us to hang out…that means a lot.” He gave an innocent and warm smile that Clay returned, offering a fist bump.
“To be honest, I’ve never been around too many kids my age. Even at school, I was kind of more focused on not failing my math classes.” He laughed.
Starflight looked hungrily at the idea of taking that class, as if he was jealous. “Well lucky for you, math is optional here. Though I don’t see why you wouldn’t take it.”
The two continued to talk about muggle school until the girls returned in their robes. It was odd, explaining stuff that was so trivial to him but was totally foreign to his new friends.
“Friends.”
That word was something Clay only hoped to have, but he was optimistic. Tsunami the Gryffindor, Glory the Slytherin, Starflight the Ravenclaw, and Sunny the Hufflepuff. What would Clay be? He *said* Hufflepuff…but in truth, looking at the four students before him, he wouldn’t mind being in any of their houses.
He figured he’d be willing to take a…not bullet, since wizards don’t use those, but if there was an equivalent, he would take one for any of them. But he also had an ambition to keep them together and stay friends even after school. He wanted to learn more about them all and try to understand their favorite subjects so they had someone to talk to. But he was also someone who never thought he would be accepted, and wouldn’t want to turn down a friendship from someone who needed one.
“However they determine the houses, I’m going to go where they think I belong. It won’t matter, because I’ll be most at home with them.” He thought with a smile as Tsunami pulled out a box of some different bean flavored candy.