Changes
Anthony J. Crowley. Thats what the sign on the bag read. The bag, which had been tossed from hand to hand by some older hogwarts students who made it a game to throw around other peoples belongings.
The bag, which hat landed directly in front of Aziraphales feet and apparently had no present owner.
Unsure what to do, he bent down, picked up the bag and put it on top of his own luggage, heaving it into the train with the help of a friendly smiling Girl with a prefect badge pinned to her hoodie.
He took the bag with him on his search for a free apartment. Unlike the other first years, Aziraphale had arrived early and already said goodbye to his parents.
After a long family hug and some last amazed glances at everything that was unusaly not muggle like, his parents had left through the gate and he had stood on the plattform, unsure weather to cry or jump from exitement.
Hogwarts. He would go to the best magic school and learn about things like transfiguration or phantastic beasts!
But before all the exciting lessons came the hard part: making friends. Aziraphale hadnt exactly been an outsider at his old school, but after people looked at him like he was weird when he talked about his favourite books, he started to isolate himself. None of the other kids had had any problem with that and that had been the first six years of school.
Now however he would visit a new world without his parents for support. He needed to change his habits.
He looked at the small cage in his hand. The furrball chewing on a carrot inside, named rabbit, seemed almost as unnerved as he felt. Maybe he didnt need to rush that much with the friend thing. He walked to the end of the train in hopes of a little privacy.
Outside, families started saying their goodbyes and he could hear people chatting and walking down the corridor outside his compartment.
As the train started moving and the noise grew more quiet Aziraphale let out a relieved breath. No one would bother him here. One second later the door was slammed open and he heard a loud yell: "I HATE YOU!", after a furious read head with dark sun glasses came through his apartment door and stopped dead in his tracks, as he saw him.
The boy stood there for a long time and didnt say a word, just starring at Aziraphale, who waited until the other would remember what he actually wanted to do. After a while the other boy stretched out his hand.
"Hi, my name is Crowley and I want to be friends with you because youre like the first person today who actually seems nice."
Aziraphale felt something click inside him.
"Crowley? I think I found your bag at the train station."
He reached out and put the back into Crowleys outstretched hand. Crowley, obviously quite puzzled put it down.
"I didnt even realise I lost it." And after a moment:
"So... You dont wanna be friends with me?"
Aziraphale jumped and quickly shook Crowleys hand.
"Oh, sorry of course I want to!"
Crowley gave him a small smile and sat in the seat opposite of him.
Aziraphale offered him some chocolate and leaned back, observing his opponent.
"So... What was all of that yelling about?"
Crowley sighed and started eating and talking at the same time.
"Its my big cousins. They wont shut up about all that house sorting stuff and always pressure me because every pureblood needs to be in Slytherin and everything. My parents told me that theyd be proud of me anyway but my other family..."
He stared out of the window, his eyes fixed on something that wasnt actually there. Aziraphale felt quite sorry for him, but didnt know what to say to make him feel better.
"If it helps: My parents are muggles. So they dont even know what the four houses are."
Crowleys eyes snapped back and he seemed to want to say something but thought better of it.
"If you want to I can tell you about them."
They spent the rest of the long trainride talking about all sorts of magical stuff. Aziraphale was introduced to Quidditch, magic chess and sweets as the nice lady with the trolley passed by. He also tried to get Crowley to talk about their subjects, teachers and Hogwarts in general but Crowley wasnt exactly interested so they barely scratched the surface of those topics.
They did however find a common thing in history (magical or not) and classical literature. At some point they both just took to reading their books and enjoying the peace and quiet.
As the sky outside was already dark an older student poked their head in to tell them to change into their robes and so they did, not without grumbling a bit about the impracticality of the long, wide clothes and pointy hats.
As the train arrived they left their luggage in the train and followed the other students outside.
Aziraphale heard a booming voice float over the heads of the students coming out of the train. At the end of the station stood a gigantic man who apparently tried to gather all the first years around himself.
Crowley, who was bigger than him, grabbed Aziraphale by the hand and lead him through the crowd towards the man.
And the man lead them to a huge lake, where they got to see the castle of Hogwarts for the very first time. Windows lit up, their light reflected by the water and their little boat swayed gently on it.
But even though the view was astonishing, it was still quiet cold and as Crowley mumbled something about starving to death, Aziraphale didnt say anything but quietly agreed.
Half an hour later hunger and cold where forgotten. Something much worse was ahead of them: The sorting ceremony.
Aziraphale had spent a long time thinking about which house he would prefer and for what reason. Ravenclaw, he had concluded, would be his most preferable choice. After all books were his most favourite thing in the world.
He looked over at Crowley, as they stood side by side between the other first years. Crowley only gave him a tight smile, and even though Aziraphale couldnt see his eyes, he felt the nervous energy radiating off of him.
He thought back to the few minutes they had waited outside the great hall. Out of impulse he had grabbed Crowleys hand and looked at his dark shades. "No matter in which house we land, we will always be friends, okay?" Crowley had held out his hand and theyd made a pinky promise.
That promise was the only thing that kept him grounded at the moment. The first children had already been called out and his insides felt like they were forming a complicated knot. Professor McGonagall, who had welcomed them at the castle, now stood at the side of the teachers table and read out name after name. Then the inevitable happened.
"Fell, Aziraphale"
He gulped and slowly made his way over to the chair. The sorting hat covered his eyes and a tiny voice spoke in his ear.
"Hmm, interesting. Havent had someone like you for some time. Lots of goodness, a strong sense for equity. But also leader material and a huge hunger for knowledge?" He didnt dare open his eyes and thought "Please just not Slytherin. Please everything but Slytherin..."
The hat seemed to smile "You do have a love for the small things. I think youll feel just right in
HUFFLEPUFF"
Aziraphale hadnt even noticed he had held in his breath. The knot in his stomach slowly untangled itself. He jumped off the chair and left the hat behind, walking towards his new house table. The hufflepuffs welcomed him with loud applause but as he looked back at Crowley, he saw that he looked down, his expression seemed sad somehow. After a couple more students, Professor McGonagall called out
"Crowley, Anthony",
and Aziraphale saw his friend sit down on the chair. There was complete silence in the hall, which was quite odd, since people had talked during any other first years sorting. After what must have been at least two minutes, the hat exclaimed
"HUFFLEPUFF"
Aziraphale clapped the loudest and almost didnt notice the murmuring that could be heard everywhere. "Why is everyone behaving so weird?", Aziraphale asked a fourth year student who had introduced himself as Newt before.
He sighed. "Im afraid that has something to do with everybody thinking he would be in Slytherin due to his families reputation. Complete bollocks if you ask me, but its 'tradition'. Im still happy we got him here. Sets a good example. Maybe people will finally start realising that blood doesnt define who you are."
Aziraphale felt a bit uneasy hearing those news but as Crowley walked over to him he couldnt help but smile and wave.
"Crowley, we're in the same house! Can you believe it?" Crowley smiled back and sat down next to him but the smile seemed a bit tight again.
Aziraphale, who thought he knew why, followed Crowleys gaze towards the Slytherin table, where a bunch of older people had stuck their heads together and were talking rapidly, not sparing Crowley one look.
Newt, who had apparently witnessed everything that had happened, patted Crowleys shoulder. "Its not easy to disappoint your family, I know, but dont blame yourself. And if any of those dudes are giving you a hard time you come to me or the prefects yeah? And our house Professor, Madame Sprout also always has an open ear."
Crowley just nodded but at the next moment moment his face lit up at the sight of bowls and plates of food that appeared in front of him.
Aziraphale had a hard time keeping his mouth shut. There was so much food. For his taste, there was way too much meat and he would have wished for some more vegetarian options but he still got his stomach full. And as the deserts appeared, he wished he wouldve left some more space for all the delicious tiny things in front of his plate.
After McGonagall, the head mistress of Hogwarts, had given a short but informative speach, they were to follow their prefects to their common rooms.
Aziraphale hooked his arm around Crowleys and they followed their group down some stairs and a long corridor that smelled wonderfully of salted caramel and pastries.
They stopped at a pile of barrels and the prefect showed them a door behind it. She knocked in some kind of code and they entered into what looked like something he wouldve called heaven.
There were small, cuddly armchairs and sofas and the walls formed low, round shapes. Aziraphale could not help but fall in love with their new home at the first sight.
As he looked to the side, he found Crowley gaping and slowly walking over to another corner full of plants. He seemed to be in some kind of trance, until the prefect girl told them how to get to their dormitories.
As he realised soon, they would share their room with two other boys. One with short brown hair who seemed a bit shy but introduced himself as Leslie and an outgoing, charismatic guy named Pat, who immediately started showing them his magic tricks, until Crowley patted his shoulder and politely told him that hed need some sleep.
Soon they were all quiet and had mostly drifted off. Aziraphale could hear Crowley turn in his bed a few times but sleep overcame him as well and he dreamed of friendly snakes and daysies and a huge piece of cake who sat next to him at the house table and told him it would be his new best friend.