CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

The Hogwarts Express screeched as it slowed to a stop.

They had arrived.

His three companions rushed to bring down their luggage.

The twins were the first to leave.

"We have to help our little brother, guys… book us a carriage, Lee," Fred said, placing his Pokémon on top of his trunk and pushing both outside.

"See you at the Great Hall, Magnus," George said, following his brother out.

Magnus just sat there watching as Lee carried his trunk out.

He stopped when he noticed Magnus had not made a move yet.

"Hey, are you coming?"

"Oh, sure… I just need a moment."

Lee gave him a look like he knew what he was thinking.

"You don't have to worry, you know… I mean, whichever house the hat puts you in will be cool."

It wasn't the house that he had been worrying about. It was what Pokémon would hatch from the egg he chose.

But now that Lee had mentioned it, it seemed worth wondering.

"Just don't be sorted into Slytherin… it will be weird to be friends with one of them."

'Yeah… totally consoling.'

"I will try."

Lee patted his shoulder before walking out of the compartment.

Once the door was closed, Magnus took a deep breath, hoping to calm his racing heart.

What Lee had said was messing with his mind.

Initially, he had thought that no matter which house he got sorted into, he didn't give a damn. Now he wasn't so sure.

He wanted Gryffindor… heck, he already had friends from Gryffindor.

Ravenclaw wouldn't be so bad, and Hufflepuff might even be tolerable.

Slytherin, on the other hand… well, it was a big no.

One might just think it was just a house in Hogwarts, but to Magnus, who knew how things had panned out, he wanted nothing to do with it.

He already had his plans… plans that had nothing to do with the Dark Lord or his Death Eaters.

For instance, Pokémon evolution.

From what he knew, evolution, which was one of the things he planned to research, was greatly affected by emotion and aura that surrounded a Pokémon.

With Voldemort as an alumnus of that house, it was one place he would rather avoid.

Not to mention that Snape was the head of Slytherin. That guy was practically the most accomplished mind reader in this Harry Potter world. He would not survive a term under him.

This actually led to his biggest fear—

The Sorting Hat.

That thing would look inside his thoughts. It would see.

Everything he had tried to hide so far… it would see.

That he was not from this world… that he was from a place where all this was just imagination… all he was planning to do at the school.

The Sorting Hat would know.

Now the only question was: would it tell?

In both the books and the films, he had not known the Sorting Hat to share others' secrets, but that still left little comfort.

What if Dumbledore had a way to see through it?

What if the Ministry wanted him questioned? He recalled what he had read on the hospital clipboard. The Ministry had no record of him in their registry.

True, they had not come after him all this time, but what if Hogwarts was their plan? It only made sense that the Ministry would want more data on anyone in the magical world.

The compartment door opened, and a head peered in. It was Percy, the twins' brother.

He had the Prefect badge pinned on his chest.

"Hey, you should be down with the rest… you are holding up everyone."

"Oh, sorry…"

Magnus pulled out his trunk and rushed out of the compartment.

He had thought it would take some time for everyone to disembark, but it looked like he had been lost in his thoughts, and he was practically the last student to leave the Hogwarts Express—with the exception of Percy, who was behind him.

Most carriages had left, and Magnus hurried to catch the few remaining ones.

"Aren't you a first-year?" Percy called behind him.

"Yes," Magnus answered, still heading for the closest carriage.

"Then it's down there."

Magnus stopped to look at where Percy was pointing.

"Oh crap."

He had forgotten that first-years had to ride across the Black Lake into the castle.

"Leave your trunk with me, I will have it sent to the castle."

Magnus mumbled a quick thanks before hurrying to where Hagrid was waiting for him.

He could see all the students were already in the boats, and most of them were looking at him. Almost every boat was full—each only carried four.

"Took yer long enough," Hagrid said, scanning around for a boat that was not full.

"Magnus, over here!"

It was Ron.

He awaved him toward their boat, which was actually the only one he could join, as there were only three boys.

I mean, there was Hagrid's boat, but the giant was probably more than four just by himself.

Magnus easily waddled into the boat and mumbled a greeting to his three companions.

Ron was already introducing him, though he already knew all of them.

There was Harry, whom they had helped earlier, and Neville, all of whom he had served at the Leaky Cauldron.

He noticed the three were staring at him expectantly, like they wanted to ask something—which was funny since they had Harry on the same boat. He should be getting the staring… heck, Magnus himself wanted to have a look at the famous lightning bolt scar, but he thought it would be rude.

"Is it true that you support the Silver Griffins?" Ron finally asked.

Magnus looked at him uncertain. "No… why?"

"Oh… just that Fred said you wagered on them with three Galleons and won seventy-two… of course, I knew they were lying. Nobody would have known they would beat us… and nobody in their right mind would stake on them."

Magnus wanted to say he had known all along and that he was in his right mind.

He, however, decided otherwise.

By 'us,' Ron meant the Manticores. That meant he was a Manticore fan like Fred.

 Why he had not attended the same match, he did not know… maybe their father didn't trust the twins to look after him.

Magnus had not decided which team he supported anyway… he barely knew a handful of them.

Something, however, told him the Griffins, stupid as they were, stood a good chance in his book. They had, after all, come through when he needed them most.

He did not mention this to the three… it would make the conversation weird, as they were the ones who had denied the Manticores the trophy.

"So, who do you support—"

"Forward!" Hagrid's voice boomed, and he was saved from answering Ron's question as all the boats surged forward in unison.

He noted that they barely made a sound as they tore through the black waters.

He clasped the edge desperately.

Boat rides were something Magnus had never had in his whole life, and just imagining them capsizing into the invisible depths made it even worse.

He was not the only one, though.

The conversation had died, and all his three companions had their eyes cast on the floor of the boat.

From the films, Magnus knew there had been nothing life-threatening here, but this was a different version.

What if there were some huge untamed Water-type Pokémon in the lake? I mean, could Hagrid even handle that?

"Heads down!"

Before he could look up, he felt the curtain of reeds sweep across his face as the boats broke through the barrier that clung to the cliff.

Someone was already waiting at the edge of the lake.

It was Professor McGonagall.

***

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