Tickling the Giant Squid and other Grand Adventures

1. Karou

I was a very small eleven year old, barely four foot two, and was dwarfed by all the other first years surrounding me. On the bright side, it meant that I could stand in the middle of the crowd and go relatively unnoticed. Which was particularly nice since I was regretting shaving half my head and dying the other half blue. It had seemed like a good way to celebrate my last year of Muggle school getting out and had been a huge hit with my Muggle friends, but among all these wizards, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Internally, I was screaming. Curse Marissa a thousand times. Karou, you'd look great with blue hair. The shaved side is so punk Karou, you should get it.

My dad, ever the Gryffindor prankster, thought that my hair was perfect. "Especially" he had said, "if you get into my house. The best, of course."

Father was in a wizarding band, which he called Hell's Angels after the Muggle biking gang. He was a total emo dork, but I loved him all the same. He was currently touring in Japan, and had promised to bring me back cosplay presents from the Muggle world.

Mother had objected. "Slytherin is, of course, perfect. We have a checkered past, of course, but no one is perfect, are they? Except for us, of course." She smiled then, realizing she had made no sense.

She worked as both a Muggle Studies professor at Durmstrang Academy and wrote the Wizarding World's leading textbooks on the subject. She loved it so much I had been in muggle schooling for three or four years until last June. Though she was in an intensive study of American Muggle Culture for Ilvermorny's newest textbooks, she had insisted I go to Hogwarts and sent me off to London with my older sister, Marissa, who proudly sported the Slytherin colors.

Headmistress McGonagall had been standing before us for ages, calling out name after name. This class was a good size. Perhaps I'd find a friend this year. That would be nice, although I'd miss my Durmstrang friends. Even if they were all older than me and treated me like a baby sister. Ivanov had insisted we owl back and forth, and I had agreed heartily.

Finally, finally, I heard my name. "Montgomery, Karou!"

Though I was nervous, I strode forward, mimicking Marissa's confident swagger. I sat on the stool and the hat went on my head, blocking out my view of everyone else.

In my ear, a voice started whispering. "Brave, no doubt about that, what with that hairstyle and I remember your father, ah yes, I do remember John quite well.

"You have your mother in you too, I can see Imogen's determination a mile away.

"You have both their minds, a great wit lurks in this brain. You'd do well in Ravenclaw, I think."

"But-" I stopped, closing my mouth as my mind finished the thought. Those are all wonderful. You can't make me choose.

"Oh," the hat chuckled. "Well, then - HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Great Hall burst into applause as I walked toward the sea of yellow scarves in a daze, unsure of what had just transpired. I heard Marissa's supportive whoops and screams from two tables over and flashed her a grin and double finger guns. She stuck a tongue at me, flicking out from between her snakebites, like, well, a snake.