Wings of fire x Hogwarts au

Time for the sorting ceremony! 

The train ride was rather exciting for Tsunami. She was glad to get to know some students before they were even sorted, but she was very conflicted over that Glory girl…”She’s cool, but I hope she doesn’t end up in Slytherin.” She thought as they played exploding snaps.

Tsunami hadn’t actually been to Hogwarts, but she’d been told by her family how dishonest and sneaky Slytherin’s were. Most dark wizards came out of that house and Orca told her sister about her own experience with the house, usually ending poorly. Their houses were natural rivals.

“But most ministry workers are also Slytherin’s.” She thought, wishing this whole thing didn’t bother her as much. “Maybe she’ll end up in Ravenclaw.” Tsunami thought to herself.

They finally arrived at the train stop and the first years were taken by Ivory, a giant woman who towered over everyone. “First years, with me!” She said, her commanding voice beckoning them all to follow. They reached a doc with a ton of boats for the students. “Everyone get a boat! Should fit three or four!”

The five dragons looked between themselves, clearly not wanting to separate when Clay came up with a solution. “I think Sunny’s small enough for us all to fit.” He said, and when they all climbed in, the girl sat in her friend's lap with her legs stretched out to rest on Tsunami’s. It was a little crammed, but they *did* all fit.

“Alright, now we just row.” Tsunami said simply which got a snort from Glory. Everyone but Sunny began rowing, but Starflight had to stop because Clay had the strength of two Starflight’s and they kept turning a bit. 

The castle outline at night was gorgeous, the lights flickering in the windows and the shadow the school cast on them swallowed the first year's whole. Sunny let out a light whistle as Clay was totally mesmerized. “I can’t imagine what muggle borns must feel like, seeing this much magic.” She thought, though Clay was an orphan. He may not even be a muggleborn. “He actually looks like Asha’s nephew, Reed I think?” 

Her thoughts on the matter stopped when something slammed into their boat. “Gah!” The five yelled, bunching up in the middle to keep the boat from sinking. “What was that?!” Tsunami asked, looking around frantically when her voice was lost.

A giant tentacle rose beside them pointing at her, right in front of her face. Tsunami couldn’t even speak as the other students whipped out their wands to come to her defense, though none of them knew any spells that would actually do anything, even Starflight looked unsure. A great howl of laughter ahead of them however made their heads turn. “Put your wands away, kids! It just wants a handshake!” Ivory laughed. “Go on, it’s harmless!”

“Orca DID NOT tell me about this!” Tsunami groaned to herself then looked back at the giant tentacle. It wiggled for a response and Tsunami bit her tongue. “Your family is known for sea travel and water magic. This is YOUR element!” She thought and pushed aside her fears of being tangled by the creature and outstretched her hand, holding the end of its tentacle and shaking it.

To her surprise, the squid moved back and did what Tsunami thought was a wave before sinking under the water. Glory and Starflight looked over the edge of the boat and stared in awe. “Hogwarts, a history, didn’t mention that! Why didn’t it mention a giant squid?!” He looked back to Tsunami, his glasses shining with the water from the lake. “You think it knew who you were?”

She rested back in her spot, trying not to look totally startled from shaking the tentacle of a GIANT SQUID. “Why would it know me? I feel like my sister would have told me if it recognized her as well.”

“I guess, but I doubt that was just a coincidence.” He said then sat back by Clay. 

The rest of the boat ride was mostly filled with Glory and Tsunami grunting with each stroke to keep up with Clay while Starflight and Sunny talked about the school itself. Once they reached the shore, they all got up and set the oars aside then followed Ivory until they were handed off to a dragon named Hvitur.

“We’re sitting together.” Sunny whispered, making sure the others heard her.” Tomorrow, at breakfast. No matter the houses, deal?” and of course she got an agreement. “I just hope I can follow that agreement.” Tsunami thought to herself. They stood just before the great hall and the white haired professor cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.

“Welcome all of you. I am professor Hvitur Scalanus, your transfiguration teacher.” Tsunami knew his name since he had picked Orca to be a prefect. “When you enter, you will all stand in a line single file from A to Z. When your name is called, you will walk down and the sorting hat will be placed on your head which will determine your house.”

“A sorting hat?” Tsunami knew Orca couldn’t tell her, but that felt so…simple. “Doesn’t matter. I just want Gryffindor.” She thought and took a deep breath. Her last name was ‘Oceanus’ so she didn’t expect her name to be called for quite a while. If she recalled, Sunny’s was “Steir”, but she had no idea about the others. Eventually the five had to split but judging from their placements, Clay and Starflight would go before her while Sunny and Glory went after.

Finally, the first years were allowed in and Tsunami’s head turned straight to the Gryffindor table where she saw her big sisters Orca. She looked just as smug and confident as usual but Tsunami couldn’t help but smile at seeing her. “There’s a spot right next to her. Hopefully it’s my spot.” And then the sorting ceremony began.

She kind of ignored a ton of the students being sorted, the blur of “Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin!” rang in her ears as a mixture. At least until she heard a very familiar name. 

“Clay Bronze!” Mr. Hvitur said and Tsunami’s friend walked up to the hat. She waited in anticipation, but…nothing happened. In fact, nothing happened for a good while. There were some whispers about “Hat stall?” by the non-first years but Tsunami was getting worried. “He has a wand. He’s a wizard.” She thought, hoping this wasn’t some trick. She looked at Orca but her big sister was leaning forward, full of curiosity. She didn’t look worried though. “Hopefully he’s fine-”

“HUFFLEPUFF!” The hat yelled for all to hear.

Tsunami let out a breath of fresh air as the table full of yellow crested students cheered. Tsunami looked back at Sunny who was clapping furiously, clearly wanting to end up beside him. Tsunami chuckled at her own worries and clapped as well. “Figures. He’s more kind than prideful.” She thought, then it was Starflight’s turn.

“Starflight Ephemeral!” But unlike Clay, there wasn’t much thinking. The hat rested on his head for about two seconds before screaming “RAVENCLAW!” Which Tsunami figured as well. He had a bright smile and was welcomed by the blue crested students then looked over at Clay who gave him a thumbs up.

A couple more students got sorted before Tsunami heard her own name. “Tsunami Oceanus!”

The Gryffindor students whispered amongst themselves as Orca nodded her head at Tsunami. She wished she had Orca’s confidence. “What if I’m in Slytherin?” Tsunami worried to herself, walking towards the old crumbling hat. She took her seat and closed her eyes, expecting the hat to sting or something. Supposedly it read your mind and heart, wouldn’t that hurt? “What if I’m placed somewhere else…what if I’m not like my fami-”

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Tsunami’s eyes shot open as she looked around in shock. The hat didn’t even seem to rest on her head. She heard the red crested students cheer in joy as she stood up and began walking over. When she got closer, she heard some chanting about “Sealion, sealion!” which Tsunami recognized was Orca’s nickname and their mother and uncle when they were in school. “I’m in Gryffindor!” She thought happily and took her seat beside Orca who playfully jabbed her shoulder. “Ha! And you were terrified you wouldn’t end up here. The hat barely grazed your head and knew where you belonged.” 

Tsunami rubbed her shoulder. She was about as tall as her older sister which Orca never seemed to be a fan of. “Would have helped if you told me what the sorting method was! I thought it would be some kind of test!” She said, but really she was just happy to be in the same house as Orca. “So what happens after everyone is sorted?”

But before Orca could respond, a student across the table grinned. “We eat of course!”

Tsunami sat and talked with her sister and her friends, the beauty of Hogwarts really taking hold of her. She gave a quick smile to Clay then to Starflight before Sunny was finally called forward. Similar to Tsunami, the hat barely touched her as it called out “HUFFLEPUFF!” and Clay was the first to welcome her, cheering the loudest. That left one person in their group.

Glory was still a fair bit away it seemed, so Tsunami got her sister's attention. “Are those the heads of houses?” She asked, pointing to the three dragons behind Hvitur. 

Orca pointed to a tall woman with a green hat and green robes. “That’s Mrs. Kestrel. She’s the head of Slytherin, hopefully you don’t deal with her too much.” Orca said as the defiant looking professor seemed to shift her jaw unhappily everytime Slytherin was called. “She handles potions. The guy beside her is Webs and he’s the charm teacher.” Tsunami recalled Clay saying Webs was the one who took him to Diagon alley the first time. “He’s Ravenclaw, though he seems kind of dull at times. At least he’s nicer than Kestrel.” The blue robed wizard looked optimistically at his fellow house members. “Finally, the witch by him is Asha. She’s the herbology teacher and head of Hufflepuff.”

Tsunami really saw a resemblance between her and Clay, though she figured it might just be a coincidence. “Do I need to take classes with Kestrel if I want to be an auror?” Tsunami asked nervously, biting her lip and sadly for her, Orca nodded. “Great…”

Though finally, the time came for their last member to be sorted. Tsunami’s face turned to the girl she sat beside as her name was called. “Glory Yincemay!”

She walked up with confidence, though her eyes didn’t dare look at the students staring at her. She seemed determined to get there without seeing their questioning looks, which Tsunami could relate to. She sat down and the hat was placed on her head just as Tsunami’s thoughts raced. “Not Slytherin, not Slytherin, not sly-”

“SLYTHERIN!”

Tsunami tried to catch Glory’s look, and for a brief moment they locked eyes before Glory sat beside the members of her house, the house that always rivaled Tsunami’s.

“You ok?” Orca asked, patting her little sister on the back. Tsunami didn’t even realize how uneasy she felt.

“Yeah, just hungry.” She muttered, her thoughts shifting to what would happen tomorrow. “For once, I don’t want to think about breakfast.”