Chapter Text
Fenris refused to think that he might have made a mistake.
Sure, going to boarding school where he was away from home for most of the year was a daunting prospect. And his dad had already warned him that the kind of magic they had - 'they' being his family and species in general - was different than the kind of magic they taught at Hogwarts.
But he could do this.
He was prepared. He'd known what he was signing up for.
And he was absolutely not having second thoughts.
Fenris sighed, leaning further into the surprisingly comfortable seat of the otherwise empty train carriage. It was full of sunlight - the window didn't have a shade, but that was fine with him.
The empty carriage was his real problem, because it was leaving him alone with his thoughts and he shouldn't be doubting himself already when they'd pulled away from the station five minutes ago.
You can always call me, y'know, his dad had told him. And Muriel still works there, so you can always go to her if you need help.
Muriel spent most summers at their house, or at least she had for the past few years. Ever since his dad had stopped going to Hogwarts and come home looking like he had before. It was reassuring that he'd have someone he knew so well at the school with him.
But still...
Fenris stretched his legs out as far as they would go. It was an awkward habit that asserted itself whenever he felt out of place.
Only he could manage to feel out of place without anyone else around.
Of course, just as he was thinking that, the door slid open.
"You don't mind if we come in, do you?" The girl at the door said. "No one in any of the other compartments will let us in." She was already in the compartment by the time she finished talking, and even if Fenris had wanted to say no her luggage was blocking the door from closing.
There was an identical, but much more exasperated-looking boy behind her. "Lillian, you can't just barge in here-"
"Well, it's the only compartment that doesn't have ten people in it already!"
"I don't...mind," Fenris said, realizing halfway through speaking that neither of them were listening to him.
"It's rude," the boy said.
"And where are we going to sit otherwise, huh?"
"You could at least ask-"
"I did! He's alright with it! Right?"
Suddenly they were both looking at Fenris, and for two people with brown eyes they felt like penetrating stares.
"Um, I guess it's okay?"
Lillian was hauling her trunk up into the luggage rack by the time he finished saying 'guess'.
"I'm sorry about my sister," the boy said. "She doesn't really know when to slow down. I'm Lysander."
"What's your name?" Lillian had plopped herself down into the other window seat and was looking at Fenris expectantly.
"Fabian," he said. Fenris was too strange - he'd agreed with his dad on that. Added to the fact that a werewolf had been running around with a bunch of maniacs only a decade or so previously with a very similar name, a fake one had been safer.
I used one, and nothing horrible ever happened because of it, his dad told him. But if you befriend anybody you'd better find a good way to tell them because humans generally don't take it well when you lie to them for an extended period of time. Well, neither does anybody, but if you make friends then I assume you're going to care what they think.
"Mum has a friend who's mum had a brother named Fabian," Lysander said, taking the seat next to his sister. "I think he died in the first war, though."
"World War One?" Fenris asked, wondering if he had things right.
The look they both gave him made him shrink back into the seat.
"No," Lillian said. "The First Wizarding War. Obviously."
"Well, maybe he's Muggleborn," Lysander said. "Are you?"
"Um-" What was a Muggleborn?
"He means were your parents wizards," Lillian explained.
"Oh." Well, technically..."No."
"So you wouldn't know about the First or Second Wizarding War," Lysander said pointedly, more to his sister than to Fenris.
"I'm sorry," Lillian said huffily. "Do you at least know what House you want to be in?"
"I don't know the Houses all that well," Fenris admitted quietly.
"There's Ravenclaw," Lysander said. "For the smart ones. But I think most of the time it's people who aren't smart like people think of smart."
"That doesn't make any sense," Lillian told him.
"Aren't there four?" Fenris could sense a potential argument brewing.
"There's Gryffindor, too," Lillian said. "For brave people. And Hufflepuff."
"Hufflepuff's always underestimated," Lysander said. "People always forget how many amazing people came out of Hufflepuff."
"Like Tonks," Lillian said. "She's an Auror and last year she got an Order of Merlin for taking down this group of people trying to imitate Death Eaters and it was awesome."
"She really likes Auror Tonks," Lysander said, leaning towards Fenris as if that would make the conversation secret.
"So what?" Lillian said hotly. "She's cool! And her son's gonna be at Hogwarts!"
"She has a son?" Fenris asked, deciding not to remind them that he didn't know what an Auror was. Lillian immediately brightened.
"Yeah, there was this thing in the papers about him before, 'cause he almost got kidnapped once. 'Cause she's so high up in the Auror force so the people she was trying to track down tried to threaten him. And he's only a year ahead of us!"
"Next thing you know, you'll be signing Teddy Lupin trading cards," Lysander teased. "What next? Are you going to buy a poster of Tonks and get mum to enchant it so it looks like him?"
"No! Shut up, Lysander." Lillian shoved at Lysander's shoulder lightly.
"What about the fourth House?" Fenris asked. They'd wandered off the subject of Houses, but he was still curious.
"That's Slytherin," Lysander told him. "Some people still don't like Slytherin, because so many people from that House were Death Eaters. Um, I mean they were on the other side in the Second War. The bad guys."
"Slytherin was a bad guy, though," Lillian said. "The original one. He didn't like Muggleborns 'cause they weren't born from magical families."
"They just get a bad rap, though," Lysander said. "Slytherin's been dead for ages. The original one, I mean. He's not still going around telling people to hate Muggleborns. Slytherins are just ambitious and sneaky and that makes people not like them."
"I'm going to be in Ravenclaw," Lillian announced. "Like mum. I'm smart enough and then I'll get smarter and be able to pass the Auror test easily."
"You want to be an Auror?" Fenris was still hesitant to ask what an Auror was.
"Of course!" Lillian seemed scandalized at the idea that he would question her ambition.
"She's always wanted to be an Auror," Lysander said. "If 'always' is since she was four."
"Being an Auror is cool, Lysander."
Fenris didn't remember humans being as in-his-face as this.
He had to turn down the offer of a card game with cards that exploded if you didn't stack them carefully enough (no thank you) and Fenris was really glad neither of them had sat next to him, because it meant he could stretch out across the whole seat without getting worried about crowding someone.
"You're really quiet," Lillian told him at one point.
"I know," Fenris said. Jormungand's quieter than I am.
"You're really, really, quiet." She repeated.
"I know."
"How come?"
"Lillian," Lysander hissed in what he probably thought was a quiet voice.
"What's your wand made out of?" Lillian asked him later.
"...Why?"
"I'm just curious."
"Beech," Fenris said after a moment.
"And?"
"...Unicorn hair?"
That seemed to be what Lillian was looking for. "That's cool," she said. "What did Ollivander say when you got it?"
"I don't remember...?" Was he supposed to remember what the wandmaker had said?
"Mine's chestnut and phoenix feather." Lillian went off on a mostly rambling story of how she'd looked up the symbolism of it with her mum's help, and how there wasn't much written on people who had chestnut and phoenix wands but that was probably because phoenix feather wands were so rare and sometimes chestnut meant the owner was a good flier which she hoped was true because she'd never flown before but she'd like to even though first years weren't allowed to be on their House teams, which was stupid, right?
"I guess so?"
It was getting dark out, and the lights inside the carriage weren't enough to stop Fenris from uncomfortably shifting to the side of the seat furthest from the window.
It wasn't that he had a problem with the dark.
He was only a little afraid of it.
There were lamps outside of the train as well, when they eventually disembarked. Fenris still shifted uncomfortably, wishing they could just go inside as fast as possible.
The boats they were apparently supposed to take up to the school made him very, very glad it hadn't been Jormungand who had wanted to come. The dark water made him nervous, too; Fenris gingerly clambered into the closest boat and tried not to look too closely at what might be under the surface.
The giant man leading them across the lake didn't really help his nerves.
He didn't like people who loomed over him like that.
They were led up a winding path, to a huge pair of double doors, and then inside to another huge pair by Muriel, who smiled at Fenris when she saw him but didn't say anything, since they were both surrounded by a crowd of eleven-year-olds.
Fenris waved, trying to be subtle about it. Muriel's presence was reassuring - and she taught Transfiguration, which meant there was one class he wouldn't have to worry as much about asking for help in.
"If you don't mind, could you all line up in two rows?" Muriel called out. "Two equal rows, no, a few of you from over here will need to go to the other line. There we go. Alright, everyone ready?"
There were a few nods and a few more hesitant looks.
"Chin up, all of you, you'll all be fine." Muriel turned. "Follow me, please."
The second pair of doors led into a hall that was absolutely packed with people.
They were all watching the group of first-years be led in. Fenris tried not to fidget under the attention and looked around the hall instead. Candles hovered in the air, creating a massive golden-yellow glow that lit the hall as well as a chandelier would have - or better, maybe. Fenris wondered where the wax went when it dripped off of the candles. Did it just fall onto whoever was sitting underneath them?
The ceiling was what caught his attention. It looked like it was open to the sky, constellations sprawling across the invisible rafters. It was still pitch-black outside, but from inside the candlelit hall it was less intimidating.
There was a ratty-looking witch's hat that was sitting on a stool in front of the teacher's table. Fenris assumed it was the teacher's table, at least - there were only adults sitting there, all wearing colorful robes that didn't look anything like the black student ones.
There was an imperious-looking woman at the center of the table in a thronelike chair, spectacles perched on her nose. She looked like she'd been there for ages and wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon.
Fenris's attention was drawn back to the Hat when a rip at the brim opened and it began to sing.
...What?
He had a feeling he knew why his dad hadn't told him about this bit.
Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,
Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,
Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,
Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.
They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,
They hatched a daring plan
To educate young sorcerers
Thus Hogwarts School began.
That at least explained what Lysander and Lillian had meant by the 'original' Slytherin. Fenris wondered what people had done before there was a school. Had they just taught themselves?
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were
Most worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Slytherin
Loved those of great ambition.
'Power-hungry' sounded a bit ominous. Though if Slytherin had the reputation Lillian said he did, Fenris guessed it wasn't really that much of a surprise.
...Yet how to pick the worthy ones
When they were dead and gone?
Twas Gryffindor who found the way,
He whipped me off his head
The founders put some brains in me
So I could choose instead!
Who decided that a sentient Hat was the best way to decide where students should go?
Fenris decided to ask Muriel if all of Gryffindor's decisions had been like that.
"Listen up, please!" Muriel called as the Hat fell silent. "When I call your name, could you please come up here, and the Hat will decide where you belong." She unrolled a long piece of parchment. "Abercrombie, Lydia!"
A girl who looked nearly as nervous as Fenris felt climbed up to the stool and let the Hat be put on her head. Fenris watched curiously as the Hat shifted on her head. The wrinkles in it almost made up a face, which moved as though in deep thought.
His dad had already told him about the Hat - it didn't look into memories, per se, but it did skim over them to get a judge of a person's character.
Fenris was not looking forward to that bit, but at least he knew that the Hat wouldn't be able to see anything he didn't want it to see.
Or anything he didn't remember.
Fenris squashed the thought back into the recesses of his brain and tried to pay attention to the Sorting of 'Boot, Justin'. Someone tapped on his shoulder and he jumped badly enough that some of the people around him looked over.
"Calm down," Lillian hissed from behind him. "It's just me. What House do you think you're going to be in?"
"I don't know," Fenris whispered back. "The Hat's supposed to decide."
"Guess," Lillian huffed. "I wish they'd get to the L's faster. What's your last name?"
"It's an L name."
"Oh, okay. Would it go after or before Lovegood?"
Muriel calling for Gonzales, Marisol interrupted Fenris's answer. "After," he told Lillian under his breath. "It's L-y."
"Huh. That's funny. How's it spelled?"
"Quiet down," said a boy with a blue tie at the table next to them. Lillian made a rude noise that was probably accompanied by her sticking her tongue out, but Fenris just turned back to the front, feeling blood rush to his cheeks.
A minute later, Lillian hissed, "I think I see Teddy Lupin," and Fenris couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "He's got ginger hair look at it that's so cool."
After several more students joining the tables to wild cheers and clapping, Muriel got to the Ls. "Lovegood, Lillian!"
Behind him, Fenris heard Lillian heave a relieved sigh. He glanced back at her, puzzled, but she was already scooting in between people and elbowing them out of her way to get to the front.
The Hat sat on her head for all of five seconds before declaring, "SLYTHERIN!"
The table to Fenris's left clapped loudly, but Fenris could see that Lillian looked almost disappointed when she joined them.
Lysander got called up next - apparently there weren't many people with last names that started with L. He was sorted into Hufflepuff just as quickly, the table on the other side of the Slytherin table bursting into enthusiastic applause.
And then-
"Lysmith, Fabian!" Muriel had a small grin on her face that was probably because of the last name. Fenris didn't need to push to get up to the stool; enough students had already been Sorted that the rest of them could move out of the way easily.
The Hat dropped over his head far enough that it slumped over his face - the brim blocked most of his view of the Hall. Then, it was like a voice was speaking directly into his mind.
Well, well. And here I thought Hogwarts had gotten its fill of unusual guests.
Fenris jumped again, hands gripping the stool.
No, no, don't worry. I can tell you don't want me prying. Let me see..you're quite brave, coming this far on your own without much family to support you.
It wasn't that scary, Fenris thought defensively.
Indeed not? The Hat sounded amused. You are quite used to being around family. And you'd do almost anything for them. Oh...I see you're used to a more difficult life than you've had recently! You're much older than you look, aren't you?
Fenris knew he was pretty old - probably older than the bespectacled woman.
Most definitely, the Hat said. Now let me think...you'd do quite well in-
"HUFFLEPUFF!"