The Ultimate Wizards

48 hours later and the day of Kokichi departure has arrived. He’s packed all the essentials. Summer and winter clothes, hair brush, toothbrush and toothpaste, med-kit, snacks and an old gameboy (definitely not stolen from the convention store down the road) and of course, two bottles of Fanta. All of this sat in his school bags, which is black with checkered highlights.

Kokichi woke up just as the sun was peeking out over the horizon. He tried to dress in travel clothes, but his options were limited so he ended up in a gray T-shirt with a white button up sweater left open on top, black shorts, and purple socks that peeked out from his gray shoes. To finish it off he grabs his checkered bandanna and ties it around his neck.

It’s good enough, He thinks before making his way to the kitchen to wait for Snape to come get him. Opting to skip breakfast, all that was left in the apartment was coffee and expired yogurt anyway. Mikan comes in sometimes later to enjoy one last conversation before they’re separated for ten months, heh, ten months. The clock ticks away on the wall. Just as the big hand reaches the nine they hear a light knock on the door.

“Well guess I should get going” Kokichi says with fake enthusiasm

“J-just s-stay safe. O-ok?” Says Mikan with a gentle smile on her face.

“Ok” said Kokichi, letting his facade fall for just a second, before turning on his heel and heading to the door, swinging this backpack over his shoulder as he went.

Kokichi looks at the lock on the door for a moment before slowly turning it open. Wizard school huh. It’s hard to imagine. Maybe, if he’s lucky, he’ll get eaten by a troll and never have to come back here, and Mikan will graduate from Hope’s Peak and be the best nurse ever, and will make enough money to get far, far away from this place.

On that uplifting note Kokichi pulls the door all the way open and comes face to face with the dungeon dweller himself, Professor Snape.

“Good morning Snap!” Kokichi cheers.

“It’s Snape to you boy, Professor Snape.”

Kokichi just brushes him off as he jumps out the door “So where are we going, Snap!”

“Snape!” The professor quickly corrects.

Kokichi ignores him as he makes his way down to the entrance of the apartment building.

“Oh! Are we going to magic or wherever it’s called?! Wait…. How do we get there? Like, do we fly or teleport, Snap?!”

Suddenly Kokichi finds himself stuck to the concrete of the sidewalk, he tries to move his feet but they’re stuck in place, like they’re glue to the sidewalk. He turns around to find a very angry looking Professor with a wooden stick in his hand. Or would that be a wand?

“Sooooo…” Kokichi starts sheepishly “No nicknames?”

“No boy, there will be no nicknames of any kind.” Snape states, leaving no room for debate. “It would do you some good to learn some manners boy, this kind of nonsense will not be tolerated at Hogwarts.”

Damn, and I thought the lady in emerald was strict.

“Okkkkkkkkkk…” Kokichi wines “So, where are we going again?”

“I’ll be taking you to a place called Diagon Alley, and before you ask…again…” Snape cuts Kokichi off, who already had his mouth open to ask another question. “We will be taking the night bus.”

“The night bus?”

“Yes, normally it wouldn’t come this far, but the Headmaster didn’t want to risk apparating or you getting lost in the flu network.”

“Apparting? And hold on, what’s a flu network?”

Snape ignored his question and waved his wand to release Kokichi from the sidewalk before shooting a spark of light into the air.

As Kokichi catches his balance he looks up to see the once empty street now houses a three story purple bus! The doors to the bus open and standing inside is a scraggly looking man who looks to be about 18, behind him is an old guy with white hair who looks older than Dumbledore, and hang on, is that a disembodied head dangling next to him?!

“Well don’t just stand there gawking, hop on!” The bus attendant calls

Snape starts to get on the bus like this is a perfectly normal occurrence (Hello, disembodied head anyone!)
And Kokichi, after gawking a little more, follows him on.

“‘ello there kid! Names Stan Shunpike and ‘ll be your attendant today as you ride the night bus, emergency transport for the stranded witches or wizards. Behind me is Ernie Prang, he’ll be your driver.” The attendant cheers

Kokichi looks up at the man and then the driver “What about the head?”

“The head?” Stan questions, Kokichi nods “Oooh you mean Dre Head! Don’t worry he doesn’t bite. Now if you don’t have any other questions just come take a seat and-“

“How does he pee?” Kokichi asks, cutting him off.

“What?” Stan stutters, off to the side, already in a seat Kokichi can make out Snape rolling his eyes before giving him a look of disapproval.

“How does he pee?” Kokichi restates “I mean, he does eat and drink right? So if that’s the case, how does he pee?

“He huh, doesn’t need to eat or drink, because he’s a head, so I guess he just doesn’t pee, to answer your question.” Stan says, sounding more and more confused as he goes on

“Oh, well that sucks.” Kokichi said, mostly talking to himself “Like if I couldn’t drink Fanta life would be a very painful experience.”

“Ok, how about you go sit down and will get you to Diagon.” Stan says as he leads Kokichi to a seat next to Snape with a nervous laugh before heading back upfront.

As Kokichi took his seat he swung his bag off his shoulder and pulled out a Fanta. He wasn’t sure how fast the bus would go, but it couldn’t be too bad. Right?

He takes a sip of his Fanta as the bus starts up, just as Stan starts to speak again he plops the lid back on lazily.

“All right everyone, hold on to your witch hats, ‘cause here we GO!”

And with that he bus blasted off the street faster than a jet! Kokichi would have been seen flying forward if Snape didn’t put his arm out to catch him like a seatbelt. His Fanta, however, wasn't so lucky. It’s currently flying around the bus like a ping pong ball.

So yeah, Kokichi was pretty sure the second this deathtrap of a bus stops both him and Snape were going to get blasted with purple carbonated goodness.

Eventually he racked up the courage to glance out the window, and, are they driving over the ocean?! THAT'S SO COOL! Unfortunately Kokichi is forced to duck by Snape as either Stan’s or the driver’s… something sharp that Kokichi couldn’t make out went flying over their heads and crashed out the window. Mostly ended up lost to the sea.

When Kokichi opened his eyes again (when did he even close them?) The bus was parked outside a rigidly looking building labeled the Leaky Cauldron.

“Thank you all for choosing the night bus for you travels an- “

PSST

Maybe Kokichi should think about being a fortune teller, because at that moment his Fanta, which is now foaming out the top of the bottle on the floor, decides to explode.

Right at his and Snapes feet. Spraying both them and their seats.

Now soaked in his favorite drink, he slowly turns his head to face Snape. Who was also soaked, and mad. Very mad.

With a wave of his wand both himself and Kokichi became completely dry.

“Mr.Oma…” Snape starts as he slowly turns to look at Kokichi. “ Do you have any more carbonated drinks that I should be worried about?” He says it so slow it’s scary.

So faced with this very scary and angry professor, Kokichi looks him dead in the eyes as he responds.

“No sir, it was just the one.”

What can I say, lying to Snape and having him be mad is better than losing my drink!

Snape seems to buy it as he nods and gestures for Kokichi to follow as he gets off the bus.

Taking note of the sign hanging above the door, which reads “The Leaky Cauldron” Kokichi walks in, looks around, and immediately notices that this place is a pub and inn. Which means there’s a bar in the back.

“Did you bring me to a BAR!” Kokichi asks excitedly.

“You will, under no circumstance, drink any alcoholic beverages.” Snape states, and with that Kokichi visibly deflates. “Come now, we need to introduce you to the innkeeper.”

They make their way to the back of the inn where an old, and not to be rude but quite bald man greets them. Kokichi can help but think he looks just a bit like a toothless walnut.

“Hello Tom.” Snape greets the walnut man, who is apparently named Tom.

“Severus!” Tom says with a smile “Glad to see you made it off the bus in one piece.” He jokes

“Yes, me too.” Kokichi chimes in with an eye roll

“And you must be Kokichi.” Tom says turning his attention to Kokichi

“The one and only.” He responds with a grin.

“Well, aren’t you a fun one.” Tom says with a kind smile.

“Fun’s one way to put it.” Kokichi just barely hears Snape say under this breath.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Kokichi” Tom continues “you’ll be staying in the inn here till school starts, so if there’s anything you need just ask me okay.”

“Okay,” Kokichi says, smiling back.

“Oh and before you go shopping let me give you your room key.” Tom fishes around in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a key and handing it to Kokichi. “Room numbers on the key, but if you have trouble finding it just ask.” And with that Tom turns back to the bar to help the other customers.

Kokichi looks down at the key, it’s small with the number ten carved into it. It also looks to be made of some kind of gold base off the color. He pockets it before turning to Snape.

The two walk father back into the pub and out the back door and up to a brick wall.

“Is this the part where you tell me you made a wrong turn and then we get mugged.” Kokichi asks innocently

“No.” Snape spits out.

Snape pulls his wand out of his robe as he makes his way up to the wall. He lightly taps the brick that is three up and the two across three times before stepping back. As he does, the bricks peel back to reveal what Kokichi can only assume is Diagon Alley.

“Well come on” Snape calls as he makes his way into the Alley.

Kokichi rushed after him, taking it all in. “So where are we going first?” Kokichi asks

“To Ollivanders, they sell wands, getting a wand can be a very time consuming process. So it’s best to get it out of the way.” Snape informs.

As they make their way through the streets Kokichi spots several candy shops and stores selling magical creatures and items. There’s a bookstore with a very long line, a tailor, an Owl Emporium, whatever that is, and, oh look! Ollivanders.

Snape ushers him inside and they walk up to a counter. The store itself is filled floor to ceiling with shelves that houses rectangular shaped boxes of different sizes behind the counter. With all the wood in the store being dark and polished, Kokichi can just make out someone racing around on a ladder towards the back of the shop.

“Mr.Ollivander, a moment of your time please.” Snape calls from the counter.

Mr.Ollivander quickly rushed up to the front upon hearing Snape's voice. He was creepy. Ollivander is an old man with pale, wide eyes that shine like a full moon in the small shop. Kokichi felt like the man was picking him over. Look through him and at his soul. So yeah, Ollivander is super creepy. Kokichi makes it a mission to never come back to this shop if it means seeing him again.

“Hello.” Kokichi says awkwardly after about another 30 seconds of Ollivander just staring at him.

“Hello there young man.” Ollivander greets. “I assume you and Severus have come here for your wand.”

“Uh… yeah.” Kokichi says.

Ollivander rushes back into his maze of wands before coming back with two wands. “Let’s start with these, shall we.” He opens the box and hands the wand off to Kokichi. “Unicorn hair, oak 10.2 inches, well, go on, give it a wave.”

Kokichi swings the wand in a small circle starting from his wrist. Nothing happens. He tries again a little faster and harder, but it yields the same result.

Ollivander snatches the wand back and trades it for a long one. “Dragon heartstring, pine, 12.6 inches” Ollivander states.

Kokichi gives this one a flick to and sparks erupt from the end and shoot into the ceiling. Ollivander snatches the wand back up again. “Ah, now we’re getting somewhere!” He packs both wands up and retreats back into his maze of wands, coming back a moment later with five more boxes.

The first four were flops. They either exploded like the second wand or were unresponsive like the first. Ollivander hands Kokichi the fifth wand from the stack.

It’s not too long but not too short either. It has an elegant snake carving that transitions to ivy and then fades into the wand as it makes its way to the tip. It’s on the thinner side, but not too thin to the point that Kokichi needs to worry it will snap. The wood, which looked to originally be a lighter color, is now stained a beautiful dark brown. Kokichi can’t help but notice the two small lilac gems sitting in the small snake’s eyes at the butt of the wand.

He gives it a quick wave. A sudden rush of warm air rustles his hair as tiny golden sparks gently fly off the end of the wand.

“Peculiar, yes very peculiar.” Ollivander mutters to himself.

“How so.” Snape asks as both he and Kokichi turn their attention back to Ollivander.

“This wand, Dragon heartstring, Japanese lilac tree, 11.3 inches, is quite a strange one. I think it’s been sitting in my shop for over 30 years now. Yes that sounds right. Not only are most of its materials quite hard to come by here, but it's also quite a deceitful wand.”

“Why’s that?” Kokichi asks, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Well you see…” Ollivander starts “this wand looks quite elegant, most, at first glance, would probably think it to have a unicorn hair core. Which are known for their faithfulness, but generally do not make for very powerful wands in terms of fire power. But this wand has a dragon heartstring corn, which are very powerful and are capable of easily casting very flamboyant spells. This makes this wand deceptive by nature. Curious that it would pick you Mr.Oma, would you say.”

Kokichi looks down at his wand, and then back to Ollivander. Well, that’s really creepy.

“Remember Mr.Oma…” Ollivander says “the wand chooses the wizard.”

Kokichi looks over to Snape, who looks to be deep in thought. He pays for Kokichi’s wand with his mouth pressed into a fine line, and both he and Kokichi make their way out of the shop.

It’s only after they leave and are heading to the tailor’s, that Kokichi realizes that he never told Ollivander his name.

*****

Kokichi is sitting on a bench by the door inside Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions bored out of his mind. Snape gave him his wand but won’t let him try any spells. Which is probably the responsible thing to do, but has left Kokichi dying of boredom. Speaking of Snape it looks like he just finished requesting and paying for his school robes. He passes some coins over to Madam Malkin, then turns to face Kokichi.

“I’ll be leaving you here to go buy your other school supplies for the sake of time. Behave for Madam Malkin and don’t leave the store till I come back.” He commands. And with a dramatic flair of his robes he walks out the door.

Madam Malkin usher him over to one of her stands and starts to take his measurements, once she is satisfied she scurry’s into the back of the shop to start tailoring his school uniform.

Kokichi looks over to his side and nearly jumps off the stand. Next to him seems to be a boy this age. He has short dark teal hair and dark yellowish-green eyes. He’s taller than Kokichi, (just like most their age) but looks to be the average height for a 12 year old. And he’s wearing what can be assumed to be Hogwarts robes. They're a little baggy in place, but almost fit perfectly, so the tailoring must be almost done.

“Can I help you?” The Teal haired boy asks

“What?” Kokichi responds intelligently

“It’s just… you’ve been staring for a while.”

“Oh! Sorry! I just didn’t realize you were here and then I looked over an…” Kokichi stammers our

“Oh. Huh. Ok then…” the boy responds

Well this is awkward.

“So you're going to Hogwarts.” Kokichi asks.

“Ah! Yes I am. How did you know?” The boy asks

“I’m a mind reader!” Kokichi proclaims

“Really?!” The other boy gasps

“No, that’s a lie!” Kokichi says with a grin

“Wha-” the other boy starts but Kokichi cuts him off

“I just look at your robes and guess.” He states gesturing to the boy’s clothes.

After another moment of silence the teal haired boy spoke up.

“Do you do this to everyone you meet?” The boy questions

“Do what?”

“Lie to them about little things like how you know where they go to school?”

“What! No. I never lie.”

“But you just did.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes, you literally yelled, that’s a lie, to the whole store!”

“I think you’re just misremembering.”

“Now you gaslight me!” Boy cried.

Kokichi burst out laughing. He could help it. Teal hair over here just has some of the best reactions to his shenanigans.

“Kokichi Oma.” he says, extending his hand out.

“Hum?” the other boy hummus.

“My name, Kokichi Oma, now do I get to know yours?” He asks

“Oh! Shuichi Saihara, nice to meet you” Shuichi, now understanding what’s going on, reaches over and shakes Kokichi’s hand.

Saihara? Where have I heard that name before?

“So are you also going to Hogwarts?” Shuichi asks.

“Yup, I’m one of the four exchange students from Japan.” Kokichi states.

“Really! Me too!” Shuichi says excitedly.

Kokichi looks at him with shock “No way!”

Shuichi nods his head with a smile. “Have you done any reading on Hogwarts yet? The school history is really quite fascinating! I’m already almost done with Hogwarts-a-history.” He says

“No, I can’t say I have.” Kokichi said.

And for the next 20 minutes Kokichi received a very long summary of Hogwarts-a-history. But to sum up the summary… back when the school was first founded these four old witches and wizards decided to create four houses, each one embodying their most important traits to them, for the school students to be sorted into. Gryffindor for the stupidly brave, Ravenclaw for the book worms, Hufflepuff for the children who are softy’s, and Slytherin for the ambitious or brats who pay for everything with daddy’s money. This system is still in place today. There are also seven core Hogwarts classes, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA), Astronomy and Herbology.

Also Shuichi informed me (Kokichi) that we will not be starting a year behind as first years, but second year with an extra class on Fridays.

Eventually Madam Malkin comes back to finish Shuichi robes and get started on Kokichi. Just as Shuichi was about to head head out he turn back to Kokichi and waved

“Bye Kokichi, see you at school!” He says with a grin before turning back to the door and leaving.

Kokichi smiles and stares at where Shuichi just was moments before as Madam Malkin works on his robes. Maybe Hogwarts won’t be so bad with some like Shuichi Saihara there.

Wait. Saihara! Like the famous movie star couple! Kokichi knew he’d heard that name somewhere before. If he remembers correctly, their super famous actors. And well, they're super rich too, but he’s never heard about them having a kid before. He’ll have to ask Shuichi about it when he sees him next.

Eventually Madam Malkin finishes his robes and sends him on his way too. Waiting just outside the store is Snape in all his grumpy glory. Standing next to a truck full of school supplies with an owl cage sitting on top. The owl inside is a tiny thing, with a beautiful grayish brown feather and big yellow eyes.

Snape passes his new belongings and bird over to him after he’s put his new robes in his trunk.

“Come boy…” Snape orders “All that’s left is your books.”

And with that the two start making their way to Flourish and Blottes.