12 Chapter 12
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The ride to Hogwarts was rather calm for Ethan and Sophia, as they would lightly chat from time to time, and play with Miyuki when they didn't have anything left to say. Despite being capable of slitting a grown man's throat, Miyuki was very friendly to people she liked, and Sophia happened to quickly fall into that category.
At some point, Sophia brought out her charms book, and fuelled by Ethan's abilities, she tried to learn a spell.
Meanwhile, Ethan could hear the noise outside, most students left their compartments to visit others, meeting the other students. However, none approached their compartment, it seemed the word had spread he was in here.
A few hours later, as the night had already fallen, they finally reached their destination as the students, who had changed into their robes in the meantime, walked out of the train.
As he did, Ethan heard a gruff voice call out, "First years! First years, over here!"
Turning around, Ethan spotted a giant of a man, waving a lantern from left to right. The older students left in another direction as the first years headed for the man. That was Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts.
As the first years formed a crowd in front of Hagrid, he yelled, "Come on, follow me! Mind your step!"
While the giant man led the way, Ethan looked around the crowd, which was bigger than he had expected. His memories of his past life had started getting blurry after 11 years into this world, but he didn't remember there being so many students in the movies.
There were definitely more than a hundred students around him, so spotting any particular student was hard in this crowd.
They followed a long, narrow path, until they took a sharp turn, and were delivered with an astonishing view.
There was a great black lake, on which both the moon and the mountain under it were reflected. And on the mountain, was a great castle. Hogwarts.
They were quickly brought out of their stun by Hagrid though, who shouted, "No more than four per boat!"
Ethan, who was at the front of the crowd, quickly got into one, followed by Sophia, while Miyuki had already perched herself on top of his shoulders.
She was obviously too big to be there, but she was somehow managing to stay stable.
Ethan did not expect anyone to join them in their bark, and he was right, but as he stared at the magical castle, he heard a whisper.
"Is that a real Kitsune?"
Ethan turned around in surprise and saw Hagrid looked down at him, or rather at Miyuki. Ethan nodded and introduced, "Yes, her name's Miyuki."
Hagrid mumbled, "I didn't know they were legal in England. You are lucky to have bonded with such a rare animal, you should treasure that bond."
Ethan nodded slightly, and Hagrid went to tend to the other first years.
In a couple of minutes, everyone got into their boats, and the boats started magically moving across the great lake.
As they reached the other end of the great lake, they got out of their boats before climbing a set of stone steps, before finally arriving in front of a great castle door.
Checking one last time every student was there, Hagrid raised his gigantic fist, and knocked thrice.
The door swung open at once, revealing a tall black haired witch. She looked stern, and as her eyes travelled across the eyes of the students, Ethan saw Sophia smile slightly next to him, silently waving at the professor.
After a couple of seconds of silence, Hagrid coughed slightly and presented, "First years, this is Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
Hagrid nodded, and fidgeted on the spot a bit awkwardly, before walking away. Still, he sent a last conflicted look in Ethan's direction.
Ethan could perfectly understand it, he knew of Hagrid's love for unusual, and especially dangerous, magical animals, and should know the difficulty for a Kitsune to bond with a human.
To think that a Kitsune would decide to bond with Ethan Grindelwald out of all people, it sure was problematic. In Hagrid's eyes, it was probably as if a Phoenix became Voldemort's pet, that was just nonsense.
And honestly, Ethan did not blame Hagrid, or anyone else for that matters, to treat him the way they did because of his name. He knew his name had a history, and although he personally had nothing to do with it, he still had to deal with it. It wasn't fair, but he would have been apprehensive as well as he reincarnated as anyone else and known about a descendant of Grindelwald.
A normal 11 years old child would feel angry at the injustice, but Ethan fortunately wasn't one. Ethan was already in his twenties when he reincarnated, and his life experience now added up to more than 30 years, and he had even gone through life and death, so he understood that the world wasn't fair, and complaining about it would only make it worse.
Of course, like any other human being, he had his limits, but for now, dealing with a bunch of children, he should be fine.
Although Ethan had to admit, McGonagall had done a great job at hiding any kind of different treatment towards him, and so it was with a pleased mind that he followed the woman into the castle.
They didn't have to wait for long to enter the Great Halls. Looking around, Ethan couldn't help but take in his surroundings with relish as he had to admit, despite having lived in a magical world for 11 years, this was like nothing before. Not even Diagon Alley could rival the Great Hall of Hogwarts.
Thousands of candles floated in the sky, lighting the room, and if one looked up they would be astonished to see the starry sky, and because of the location, no light pollution wasted the experience.
Below the candles, four long tables practically went from one end of the room to the other, and were big enough to accommodate the thousand student body of Hogwarts.
At the other end of the hall was one final long table, smaller in size, but just as important as it was where the professors sat.
Professor McGonagall, who had left the students a moment to admire the Great Hall, started moving once again, and the first years started following obediently.
Finally, they stopped at the end of the four long tables, right before the stairs leading to the professors' table. In between, was a stool, on top of which sat a hat.
To every first year's shock, except a few who knew about it, the hat started singing, in a rather deep voice.
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
As the talking hat finished singing, the hall burst into applause, either out of tradition, respect or admiration, Ethan could not tell.
Ethan could hear many whispers around him, of students being relieved they wouldn't have to go through a harsh and difficult test to get into their house. Ethan even saw Sophia sigh in relief next to him, it would seem she too had heard such rumours.
Had he known, he wouldn't have been so mysterious about the house selection in the train.
