One
Professor Sanders smiled as he made his classroom ready for the new year. He was so excited to fill the Charms position when the previous teacher had retired. He had always loved children. He readied his roll sheet. Even though it was less reliable than magic, he had a goal to get everyone’s name right on the first try. He read through the list of names, scratching his head at a few of them. He would try.
Patton smiled softly as he started another friendship bracelet. He was going to have so many friends! He wove the blue and white strands over and over and over-
“Patton! Ya ready kiddo?” His dad poked his head in the door. Patton jumped up excitedly. He had finished packing a while ago, and he was practically a ball of pent up happiness and excitement. He was so ready to go to Hogwarts.
“I sure am!” His dad brought him in for a big hug, then let him hug his pops. “I’ll miss you both so much, but I’m glad I got my letter! What house do you think I’ll be in? What’s the castle like? Who’s the best teacher? Do you think I’ll get good grades?” Patton practically bounced his way to the floo, peppering his mom and pops with questions, the unfinished friendship bracelet forgotten in his hand.
Logan adjusted his glasses as his mother helped him do his tie. He had practiced and knew how to do it in theory, but applying the concept had proved quite difficult. But it seemed that he had finally gotten it right.
“I’m so proud of you. What house do you think you’ll be in?”
“Well, given that my house is decided by an ancient magical hat based on characteristics it perceives in me, I believe it is against the point to speculate about what traits this object will potentially see inside of me, as it sounds unpredictable, and from some accounts, biased.” His mother chuckled and waited. “I’ll be in Ravenclaw.”
“Roman! Remus! We’re waiting!” The twins emerged from the house, still bickering. Their parents sighed. “Look guys, we may not really understand this magic school thing… but what we do understand is that you guys will need to stick together,” Their dad said. Roman seemed to consider this, and his mom smiled at him, but then Remus ‘stabbed’ him with his wand.
“OW! You’ll pay for that!” Their mom sighed and started driving. Thank heaven the station was only a few minutes away.
Janus made sure that not a bit of his uniform was dirty or out of place once more in the mirror, and then turned to his father. His mother was away, but she assured him that he would be a wonderful Slytherin. His father glanced at him, then nodded in approval.
“It’s time. Bring honor to the Chloros name.” Janus pulled on his gloves and resisted the urge to scratch away all the heavy makeup on his face.
“Yes father. I will make you and mother proud.”
Deep in the Forbidden Forest, Virgil shook his head as red and brown leaves crunched under his feet. The children would come soon. They always came this time of year. True, they weren’t all bad, but he still worried. Worrying. Something almost every fae would try to avoid. Though he wasn’t like most fae. Most fae were not exiled to the human world. Most fae would not take note of humans. Most fae would find magic coming naturally to them. Virgil sighed. The humans were not as dangerous as the fae.
Still, he shivered at the thought that maybe a student would bring another creature like the giant spiders.