𝟏 𝐬𝐞𝐩 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟏
two best friends, one, a girl with long light brown wavy hair and the other, a boy with a dark brown — almost auburn — hair colour, pushed large trolleys full of luggage that would last them a year. their faces were full of life, eyes squinted, cheeks raised as they hurried through king's cross station and towards platforms nine and ten. they were being followed by the boy's parents, mr and mrs zhong who were going to see them off to their first year at hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.
"chenle, i swear if you don't hurry up right now, we're going to miss the train." the girl said, trying not to run further ahead, but his sluggish pace was frustrating her by the second.
"yunhee's right. you kids don't want to be late on your first day at hogwarts!" mrs zhong called after them, coming to a leisurely stop. she had a naturally kind face with a bright smile and a very motherly aura to her, so the said girl, yunhee, always felt welcome.
"but muggles are so fascinating... fine." chenle sighed, admitting defeat. he pushed the large trolley in front of him towards the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. "to platform nine and three quarters."
"you went to a muggle primary school. why are you still shocked?" yunhee asked.
"there are so many weird things i've never seen before."
he looked around at the ceiling, the floor, the trains and the ordinary people going about their day without having a second thought about the wizards and witches among them. there was nothing particularly interesting to look at. he was just being — well, dramatic — yunhee supposed would be the most fitting word.
the girl shook her head at the boy then looked over her shoulder at his mum who was silently watching their interactions.
"so, we just run through the—" she began to ask, but before she could even finish her sentence, chenle ran straight through the brick wall, yelling on his way. his yell was cut off so she ended up laughing at how funny it was. "nevermind."
"go on, dear." his mum urged, jutting her head to where he had run into.
the brunette didn't wait any longer and followed after her best friend. she felt a foreign feeling, it was hard to describe, but it was exactly what she imagined passing into a different world would feel like. at some point, she had shut her eyes so when she got to the other side, she crashed straight into another trolley.
"bloody hell, chenle. next time, move out— oh, you're not chenle."
yunhee stared at the boy with dark black hair and circle glasses and he stared back at her with wide, frightened eyes. there was something about him, something that told her he was different to any ordinary witch or wizard. it wasn't just that he looked like he had no idea where to go or what to do — probably raised by muggles — but she felt a sense of familiarity.
"no, sorry. i'm not." he replied, then hurried away to the train before she could catch his name.
she heard chenle's parents pass through the wall and moved away so the same accident wouldn't happen again.
"yunhee, mum, dad, come on!" chenle called from near the train, on his toes, and waving his arms around so that they would be able to find him over the large crowds of students and parents.
yunhee made her way over to him, excited, not only because she was finally going to hogwarts, but also because this would be her first time using a train. new experiences always excited her.
"i expect the train will be leaving in a few minutes. go get yourselves settled and buy lots of sweets. you have the money, right?" mrs zhong pulled her son into her arms, kissing his forehead. "and you'll write to us every week?"
"yes, mum." chenle beamed, hugging her back.
yunhee felt a tad of jealousy. his parents had both come all the way here to see their only child off to his first day at school. her parents hadn't done that. they didn't even want her to go hogwarts. she remembered when a member of staff delivered the acceptance letter — because she was muggle-born — and explained everything about the concealed magic society. she remembered how her parents cursed it. it was practically like they were disowning her when she decided to accept the invitation, so they refused to see her off.
she was glad chenle went to the same muggle primary school as her and that they met their other best friend at the park — he went to a school for witches and wizards — so she didn't feel alone after finding out about magic since they already knew everything.
"thank you so much, mr and mrs zhong for bringing me here."
"it's no problem at all." mr zhong replied, a warm smile on his face. he too was extremely kind to her like she was family.
"i hope you know you're always welcome at our home and can ask for help at any time." mrs zhong said as she hugged the girl. she somewhat knew about her situation. "you best be off now. go on."
"alright. i'll make sure to write to you in case this boy," she threw an arm around chenle. "forgets to."
"hey! i won't! i love you, mum, dad. see you soon. come on." he tugged her forwards, waving at his parents one last time. the two climbed onto the train to find somewhere to sit.
"i almost forgot! jisung!" yunhee exclaimed as they were walking down the train. "we have to find him."
"can't go our first day at hogwarts without our other best friend."
"he should be in one of these compartments," she told him, peering into some of the full ones as they walked past. she stopped at a certain compartment with two people already inside, one was familiar. she pointed at the boy. "hey, that's the guy i bumped into."
"holy... i think that's mark lee. you bumped into mark lee?!" chenle exclaimed.
"keep it down." she hissed, pulling him away from them so they wouldn't get seen. "i didn't know that was the mark lee you'd tell me stories about. i might have spooked him."
"spooked him? that's not good. we should be friends with him. that would be pretty cool. wait, i see jisung!" he threw his hand in the air, waving. "jisung park!"
"hey guys—" jisung, a boy of average height with dark brown hair, started to say, but was cut off as his two best friends flung themselves at him, crushing him in a hug. "i can't breathe."
"jisung, it's been so long." yunhee said, ruffling his hair once she let go.
"i could hardly remember what your face looked like." chenle joked.
"it's only been a couple of weeks." jisung rolled his eyes and entered the compartment where his luggage was already on the shelves above. "come on, i saved this."
"oi, kid, no attitude!" chenle said as he helped yunhee put her luggage away with much difficulty.
"we're the same age!" jisung argued.
chenle put away his luggage then collapsed onto the seats, sprawling himself on it and letting out a long relaxed sigh. "now these are comfy."
"move up." yunhee pushed his legs off and dropped next to him, across from jisung. "this is exciting, isn't it?"
"sure is." jisung grinned. "i wonder what house we'll be in."
"you're expecting we'll all be in the same house?" chenle asked, sitting up and resting an elbow against the window.
"of course we will! hufflepuff." yunhee said.
she learnt all about the hogwarts houses from her friends and as far as she could tell, hufflepuff was the best. she knew she would fit in. she was loyal, dedicated and compassionate. however, part of her believed she might be put into gryffindor. she had courage and determination. ravenclaw was not the house for her. she didn't deem herself as one of the brightest students nor did she have wit, but she was cunning and ambitious, so slytherin could be an option too, but from what her friends had told her slytherin was a house she shouldn't be associated with.
"hufflepuff would be amazing." chenle agreed.
"well— " jisung started to say as if he wanted to disagree, but an old lady with a trolley stopped outside the doors, interrupting him.
"anything off the trolley, dears?"
"i'll pay!" chenle sprung up, pulling out his money. "what do you guys want?"
"a pumpkin pasty, bertie bott's every flavour beans and a sugar quill." jisung said, already knowing just what he wanted.
"i don't know what's nice..." yunhee told them.
"i know! so make that, three chocolate frogs, two bertie bott's every flavour beans, three sugar quills and a stack of cauldron cakes please." chenle said to the lady, handing her the money. she nodded and gave him everything. "awesome!"
he dumped the pile of treats onto the seats and they crowded around. yunhee picked up the boxes of flavoured beans, examining them.
"be careful with those. i once got an earwax flavoured one." jisung said.
"how lovely." she remarked, tossing it aside and picking up the chocolate frog instead. "are these the ones that jump?"
"yeah, but the cards are the best part." chenle replied, letting his chocolate frog jump out the compartment while he took out the card. "i got ollivander. haven't got any of his cards before."
yunhee bit into one of the cauldron cakes that tasted of delicious milk chocolate. she gazed out the window, watching the scenery pass them as her friends chatted loudly. in the reflection, she saw some students walk past them in their long robes.
"i guess we should start changing. we'll be there soon. hogwarts..."
⚯͛
"now, when i call your name, you will come forth, i shall place the sorting hat onto your head and you will be sorted into your houses. hermione granger."
yunhee watched in amusement as the said girl with bushy hair walked up to the hat, talking to herself and sat down. the minute it was placed on her head the hat called out, "gryffindor!"
everyone from the gryffindor table cheered for her as she sat down at their table, a toothy grin on her face.
"renjun huang."
the hat thought for a moment, talking aloud then finally announced, "ravenclaw!"
renjun had caught yunhee's eye. his smile when he seemed to get the house he wanted and how it got wider when he joined his house table. she couldn't wait to get sorted and have her house cheer for her like that.
"draco malfoy." a platinum-haired boy walked up to the seat and sat down. the hat barely even touched his head when it called out, "slytherin!"
"jaemin na."
a boy with very light brown hair — and a glimmer of blonde — and piercing eyes walked up to the hat. it was the same for him as it was draco and he gladly took a seat next to him.
"donghyuck lee."
"slytherin!"
he had also caught yunhee's eye as he high fived jaemin and sat with a proud grin. it was like every person sorted into slytherin was remarkably confident and walked around proudly.
"susan bones."
"i know... hufflepuff!"
"i really want that house." yunhee whispered to chenle and jisung.
"you'll get it." chenle whispered back.
"i don't know. hufflepuff seems a bit eh..." jisung trailed off.
"jisung." chenle nudged him with a disappointed look on his face.
"yunhee kim."
"wish me luck." she said, choosing to ignore what her friend had said. she walked up to the seat and sat down, waiting for the hat to be placed on her head. it started speaking as soon as it was placed.
"hmm... not really a ravenclaw." she almost snorted at this. "i see lots of courage and kindness. you would do well in gryffindor or hufflepuff. ah, i see ambition. slytherin would be great for you too!"
"please," she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. "i don't really mind, but i'd like to be hufflepuff, please."
"what's this? no to slytherin and gryffindor? strange... but since you asked so politely, better be hufflepuff!"
she let out a gasp, her eyes flying open. her eyes met with chenle's and he sent her a thumbs up but jisung seemed to avoid her gaze. she hurried off the seat and to her table where she was greeted by everyone as they cheered and patted her on the back. she smiled so brightly that she knew by the end of the day her cheeks would hurt.
"ronald weasley."
"welcome to hufflepuff." a boy with curly black hair said as the weasley boy's house was announced.
"thanks." she replied.
"jeno lee." a black-haired boy, she noticed as being the one hanging out with mark lee on the train, sat down hesitantly.
"ay, another one of you? hufflepuff!"
the boy sat beside yunhee, a nervous smile on his face. "hi..."
"nice to meet you. i'm yunhee." she greeted, holding her hand out to shake.
"i know, i heard," he replied, shaking her hand. he seemed to loosen up a bit. "i'm—"
"i know, i heard. jeno." she copied. he smiled, letting go of her hand.
"chenle zhong!"
"that's my best friend." she said, turning back to the front, watching in anticipation as the hat was placed on his head.
"hufflepuff!"
she stood up, cheering with the others at her table and was one of the loudest there. when he got to the table, she pulled him in for a hug, jumping on the spot.
"we're in the same house!"
he jumped with her, exclaiming in excitement. they both wanted the house and more than that, to be together.
"now, we wait for jisung to join us or maybe he'll get gryffindor... either one is great!"
"you don't think he'll be ravenclaw?" she laughed.
"harry potter." the hat called.
"i didn't say that exactly." he shrugged his shoulders and she softly punched him then gestured to the other boy. "by the way, this is jeno."
"—gryffindor!"
"hi."
"hello."
she laughed again at the awkwardness and turned back to watch the other students get put in houses.
"mark lee." everyone started whispering at the name. the boy yunhee had bumped into at the train station and seen on the train had the hat placed on his head. she couldn't hear the hat speak, but it thought for longer than others. she saw how mark closed his eyes, muttering just like she had.
"gryffindor!" she heard the hat say.
"good thing he didn't get slytherin." chenle whispered.
"hey, slytherin might not be all that bad." yunhee told him as a few more students were sorted.
"every person in slytherin has gone bad, but i'd like to hope it will be different this time." jeno said.
"jisung park."
"it's jisung's turn." yunhee straightened her back to get a better view of her friend who sat down.
she tried to listen to what the hat was saying, but sighed, disappointed. she decided to wait for the hat to announce the house, but it was taking longer than expected. after what felt like an eternity of yunhee hoping he'd join her and chenle, the hat finally yelled the house.
"slytherin!"
both the best friends eyes widened as they observed their friend cheerfully take his seat at the slytherin table, not sparing them a glance.
yunhee's head snapped to face chenle. "what—what now?"
"it'll be fine. don't worry." he told her. "we'll speak to him after the feast."
the two were too focused on wanting to speak to jisung that they didn't get to enjoy their first feast at hogwarts as much as they wanted. yunhee dismissed her curiosity about all the ghosts floating around and rushed after jisung before he left with the other slytherins.
"jisung!"
"yunhee?" he asked as she came to a stop next to him, with chenle. "what's wrong?"
"you're a slytherin.."
"chenle!" she warned then faced their friend. "you'll still hang out with us, right? we'll still be friends?"
"why would you even ask that? of course we'll still be friends!" he held out his pinky making her grin and hook hers with his like they did when they were younger. chenle was quick to join them, brushing off his upset feelings for the moment.
"promise?" he asked and jisung nodded.
"friends forever."