Chapter 9: The Sorting Hat's Song

With a swirl of tossed up leaves and twigs Li Yelan arrived within the crisp clear morning air of Hogsmeed. The cobbled streets of this quiet little country town were still predominantly bare in this early hour. The residents preferring to hide away from the rain the damp air and cloudy skies promised were sure to come. Therefore, there was no one to welcome the powerful force of nature known as the Li Clan's matriarch.

Even still, decades of training ensured the presence of the sorceress was forever poised, and when the beautiful woman walked by with such an aura of power, even the breeze seemed to still in reverent awe of her regal presence. Almost as though she were an otherworldly creature, Yelan walked with smooth gliding steps up the road to the ancient castle that sat atop the hill above the little magical village.

Long black hair that was brushed with one thousand strokes every morning caught the rays of sun that struggled to peek through the clouds, shining iridescently as it drifted down her back behind her. Her skin so white she appeared to glow like a moon within the morning mist that darkened the space beneath the trees and swallowed the world beyond the path she walked. But it did not deter her, and instead only added to her air of mysticism. She could see it in the eyes of the hunchbacked man standing by the iron gates of the castle as she approached.

"Mrs. Li, I presume?" the elderly man called as the woman approached.

"Yes, and whom may I be addressing?" Yelan responded when she got a to a little more comfortable of a distance.

"Argus Filch, caretaker," he informed. "Right this way, ma'am." Turning with a shuffling step, the caretaker pushed open the gate and lead the matriarch inside.

The ancient stone citadel was indeed a formidable sight, looming with tall spires reaching to the sky like fingers grasping upwards. Magic seeping into the very earth the castle stood upon like blood soaking through the soil. It was not an unfamiliar sensation, but unlike the clan grounds that she had come to recognize as home, the magic here was layered and laced like some strange creature's nest, knotted and nearly impossible to discern where one ended and the next began.

Yet though her logic told her it was useless to try, her instincts and training still drove her senses to dive into the mix, to seek a means of making sense of any of it. Even with all her power and control, it was an effort to keep herself centred in all of this, and the pressure was forming a headache. She spared a moment to worry over the welfare of her young son, would he be able to hold his own for an entire year in this place? Or would he loose his mind, and then perhaps his life trying to solve the unsolvable?

But the matriarch held her mask through her worries, as a leader one must never show concern or fear. And so her porcelain face was poised in a calm sort of confidence as she delicately lifted the silk of her skirts and daintily strode her way up the steps and through the large arching doorway. Interestingly enough, the first to greet them upon arriving was not her hosts, but rather a dusty old cat, who sat just inside the entrance as self-important as all cats do. It watched intently as the pair entered, content to hold its ground until the wet of outside was safely locked away behind the thick oak doors before sounding a loud and territorial meow. As it called, it rose to its feet and trotted expectantly to the old caretaker, rubbed itself against his legs and then circled around to sniff curiously at the ground where Yelan had stepped.

It was not a stupid animal, it would not approach the strange woman strait off, her presence bore too much power for it to feel comfortable daring. It instead followed at a respectable distance as the caretaker lead their guest further into the castle. "This is the teacher's lounge," he informed when he finally stopped at a door. "It's customary the Headmaster gathers everyone here before students arrive to introduce new faculty and discuss the year's curriculum."

"So, the teachers are expected to keep up with the curriculum level of their peers?" It was more of a statement than a question regarding policy, however to be polite Yelan raised her tone at the end of the sentence. It was a good sign, regardless, that the staff discussed the subject of the student's learning curve. That way they could address any issues before they became problematic and make sure the students were always being pushed to their full potential.

When the door was finally pushed open, she was met with a small gaggle of witches and wizards, dressed in a verity of colourful robes, and of varying ages. An elderly gentleman with a long white beard and electric blue eyes stood with a smile on his face. He was dressed in full elaborate robes of a rich purple that had stars enchanted to twinkle and sparkle out at those who dared to look. "Ah, my dear Mrs. Li at last, it is an honour I am sure."

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I presume?" Yelan replied in like, allowing for one of her hands to be grasped between his bony old wrinkled ones. His eyes twinkled at her recognition, his smile like that one would expect on a loving old grandfather. "Your reputation proceeds you," she acknowledged.

Oh yes, she had hardly been in the country a day when she made her rounds to the various sorcery clans of Great Britain and on her barely mentioning the word Hogwarts she was treated to much news about the eccentric yet genius man. This was a game she would have to tread carefully in, lest even she be caught. And she could feel in his grasp how strength did not fail him with age, his potent magic would be a dangerous thing should she be forced to cross him.

"Only the true things, I should hope. But I simply mustn't keep such a charming young lady all to myself. Come, let me introduce you!" he then turned to the room, where in which his staff became instantly attentive as any respected leader ought to receive. "Allow me to introduce to you Mrs. Yelan Li, the current Minister of Magic of Hong Kong. She is here accompanying her son during his exchange program."

"It is an honour, I am sure," Yelan supplied, raising her fist to her palm and nodding her head politely to the room at large. "However, it is not just my son, my youngest daughter will be staying with me as well. She is too young to be staying away from me for so long."

"I see, I will ensure accommodations are arranged for the young miss as well," he assured in stride, leading the younger woman over to one side of the line up of teachers in order to continue his introductions. "This here is Minerva McGonagall, my Deputy Headmistress and current Transfiguration Professor."

"I do hope that you are aware that Hogwarts has a policy of treating all students equally, regardless of their background. Your presence or not, your children will not be getting any special treatment," she forewarned.

"My purpose here is to observe the progress of my son in order to ensure he is suitably prepared for his position. I have no intentions of interfering in your work, Professor."

McGonagall gave the visiting matriarch a coy sort of smile, "Well, then, welcome to Hogwarts, Minister Li."

"To the left here is Poppy Pomfry, the school's healer..." Dumbledore began, methodically going through each and every person in the room. For the most part she was met with polite smiles plastered over confused eyes. A few even looked past her to Dumbledore as if demanding some sort of explanation for all of this. Some offered their own words of welcome when it was their turn to be introduced.

The man called Snape, however, eyed her down his long hooked nose with a certain air of suspicion, obviously put off by her trained poker face. He met her dark eyes openly, and held her stare for several seconds before getting to his feet and speaking to Dumbledore with a tone that bore the intimacy of causality. "If that is everything, Headmaster, I have matters to attend to."

"Of course, Severus, your potions mustn't spoil. Thank you for your time, just don't get so lost in your cauldrons to forget when the feast begins," Dumbledore jovially sent him on his way.

However, something in the way that short conversation was carried made Yelan suspect that there was something other than potions amid that man's purpose. However, she was not given the chance to ponder the matter as the introductions continued followed by a rather sudden offer for a private tour of the facilities.

"Is that truly all you have for staff? I must admit, I expected a little better from such a world-renounced school," Yelan criticized as she exited the room.

"I assure you, Mrs. Li, that my teachers are the top of their professions," Dumbledore assured.

"Regardless of their talent, your curriculum is too narrow. My son is to be Head of the Li Clan, and is heir to all that entails. He is to be made ready for his position. He is required to be trained in world history—Muggle history—in politics and debate. My Xiao Lang needs to be trained maths and sciences, so that he understands the world around him. And speaking of understanding, how many languages does this school teach? I expect him to continue his studies into further languages, and that he shan't get rusty in the nine he already knows in the mean time. Further, his body is to be trained and his reflexes honed. In short, Headmaster, I expect perfection, and I expect the faculty to not hinder my son in his pursuit of it."

"Isn't that a little much to be asking of him? He is just an eleven year old child, after all," Dumbledore attempted to reason.

"Headmaster, I have already lost a husband, a brother-in-law, and a father-in-law to assassinations, not to mention the attempts made on my own life and those of my eldest daughters. I will not loose my only son the same way."

The old man seemed a little taken aback by this sudden and unexpected insight, but recovered quickly. "I see, please be assured that any concern parents may have towards our school's policies and curriculum can always be voiced to the Educational Board of Trustees. After all, no matter how great one may become, they can always strive to better themselves further, is that not correct?"

"Indeed, you can be assured that I shall do so."

"Of course," Dumbledore agreed, all smiles once again. "Here we are, this is the Hospital Wing, as you can see our healer is fully outfitted for any and all ailments that may befall our students. And continuing on this direction we shall reach the stairs that lead up to the Astronomy Tower, the tallest tower in the whole of the castle..."

Dumbledore had lead his foreign guest up stairs and down stairs and along every sort of twisting hallway and hidden passage, it would seem, as he spoke with pride about his school and its thousand years of history. Of the great witches and wizards who had graduated from these halls, and the Headmasters that came before and that he hoped would come after. Of the times the school had been damaged or destroyed, needing to be rebuilt as an eternal beacon of hope to the people.

But, in time, the conversation veered to the subject of her presence here. "The last time the school hosted exchange students was the Triwizard Tournament held just last year, which Hogwarts won, by the way. So the students should be open to the presence of foreigners within our halls already."

"Do not pretend that this is normal, Headmaster. Even I know that Hogwarts does not make routine invites to foreign children to attend. I think it's high time you inform me why you want my son," the matriarch challenged.

"As expected of a mother," Dumbledore nodded sagely. "I assure you, Mrs Li, the only thing I desire of your son—of all of my students—is their safety."

"Then explain to me why you felt so obliged to call my son half ways around the world, away from his guards and the people he knows and recognizes, for 'safety's benefit."

Here, the old man faltered. "Ah, that... That was actually on the request of a very old friend of mine. I value his opinion very highly, and so when he wrote to me requesting your son's attendance in my school, I deemed it wisest to heed his advice."

"And whom, pray tell, is this 'friend' of yours who seeks to position the heir of the Li Clan like some chess piece?" Yelan pressed, extruding an aura of intimidation. This was not a request, this was an order from a powerful person who did not harbour disobedience lightly.

The twinkle within the old eyes faded as he seemed to recognize the level of threat he was being presented with. The whole demeanour of the Headmaster changed from that of a good-natured loony old man, to a genius scholar, a master duellist, a man that the whole of the Wizarding World turns to. This was the true Albus Dumbledore, whom dark wizards tremble at the name of. "I doubt you would have heard of him, he does not publish in scholarly articles despite his obvious mastery level. But, if it puts your mind at ease, my friend's name is Clow Reed."

"Grandfather?!" was Yelan's immediate, flabbergasted response. Of all the possibilities, she was honestly not expecting that one. That over thirty years of being ignored by the man who gave her her maiden name, of centuries of avoiding the famous Li Clan, that the great and powerful god among men would single out her young son so completely. But why him? He, who wished to finally part with Clow Reed's legacy... why was it her Xiao Lang that was the only one so worthy of his attentions?

"Oh, my, how very curious. I was not aware that one of the students I had been requested to summon was his own great-grandson."

"Yes... about that, it would be best if you do not mention it to my son. Xiao Lang is at a stage, right now, where he seeks to discover where he stands by his own merit. Learning that his placement within this school was on the recommendation of a family member—especially that family member—would be counter-intuitive to his goals and may cause him to act rashly," Yelan advised.

"Ah, I see. It is a noble goal, to achieve greatness in one's own name rather than that of one's predecessors, even if it can be a little sad for those that came before. But, very well. It is not as though I speak of my friend to the students to begin with, so there is really no need for me to bring up Clow Reed now," Albus conceded.

Dumbledore then took a moment to direct the matriarch's attention to a very old painting of a famous wizard who had been responsible for setting up the current system of classes that ensured the moving staircases never prevented students from attending. He touched on the old system and how there were times that classes were forced to be cancelled because no one could figure out how to undo the curse that made the stairs move until this genius of a man actually noticed they followed a pattern and devised a schedule around it that made the whole curse irrelevant.

However, it wasn't long before he used the chance of the topic change to breach a new subject with Hong Kong's 'Minister of Magic'. "As the Cheif Warlock of the Wizengamot, I know for a fact that you are not the Minister of Magic in Hong Kong; however, all of my inquiries into you after your acceptance letter had everyone unanimously agreeing that should the Li family wish to claim the position, it would be best to let them have their way."

"...I thank you for not outing me to your staff," Yelan put out, waiting for the catch in return for the favour.

"Given the reactions of those I spoke with, it would appear that the Li family is held in very high regard in China," the Headmaster noted.

"China had a system for it's magic users in place thousands of years before your little British colonists sought to settle and 'educate the masses'. Thankfully for the sake of your people, the wizards who sought new homes there were smarter than to try and conquer a country with more magic users on the Eastern shores alone than the population of your whole kingdom. It has been amusing watching their governments tip-toe around our treaties and land claims. Hong Kong is the Li Clan's ancestral home. The island and it's surrounding area have been in the family for longer than anyone has record. A few pieces of paper signed between some muggles bear no weight on that."

"I see, so that is how the situation stands. Even more so, it seems, I have something to discuss with you. I am sure if you have heard of me then you must know of my campaign against those who would bring harm to my students here. The recent revival of Lord Voldemort is true, as is the amassing of his Death Eaters-"

"Europe's problems with your evil wizards are your own. I will not subjugate my people to a war waged on foreign soil over something that will bring them no benefit."

"The benefit is their safety. To stand united against the common threat and squash it out before he gains too much power and poses a danger to your people on their home-front," Dumbledore attempted to reason.

"If he ever reaches so far as our home-front, as you call it, then we will simply take back the territory he captured and keep it for ourselves. No, Headmaster, my people will not bleed for the sake of your people being able to keep their heads buried in the sand and continue on their daily little lives undisturbed. If I mobilize my army to march on Europe, it will be to take it for ourselves. Are you willing, as the Cheif Warlock of the Wizengamot, to let that happen?" the matriarch challenged.

For a long moment they stood in silence, eyeing each other up in light of this new revelation, before the old Headmaster smiled his cheery, loony old man smile and said, "Have I shown you the library yet?"

The evening had begun falling on the castle before Professor Filius Flitwick lead a young man into the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore put down the paperwork he had been reading over and asked, "Oh, and who is this?"

"He... said you were expecting him," Flitwick squeaked, a slight fluster starting to show as he realized that might not have been the case.

However, the Asian youth showed a dazzling smile before dipping his head and shoulders and announcing in slightly accented English, "My name is Yukito Tsukishiro, I am the translator for Sakura Kinomoto. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"The translator?" Dumbledore echoed, taking in the man's appearance, "I was under the impression that you would be arriving along side your young charge."

"Ah, that was the original intent; however, there was a mix up with the letters and as a result I had to go this morning to buy her book instead," the young man informed, flashing a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard which he held in his pale hands.

Honestly, Dumbledore was not sure what to make of Yukito. He stood comfortably in the most magical place in all of Great Britain dressed in a pair of jeans and a buttoned front, short sleeved, white shirt. With his soft voice and short stature, Albus would have assumed him to be a fourth year before the teenaged growth spurt, but indeed his face was too matured and the golden eyes that stared out from behind his round glasses held too much wisdom to belong to a child.

"How old are you...?" Dumbledore asked, without really meaning to.

Still, Yukito did not seem to take offence at the question and answered readily enough. "I am currently seventeen. I just finished school this last spring. But don't worry, I am fully fluent in both English speech and writing."

"No, I was more merely wondering how such a young person came to choose to spend a year translating for a child like this," Albus explained himself.

The golden eyed boy smiled with deep affection for a moment as his mind drifted back over the events that lead up to this moment. "I owe my life to the Kinomoto family in more ways than one. I would do absolutely anything to repay even a fraction of what they've done for me."

"I see," the Headmaster smiled, content with the answer so full of feeling. "Well then, Mr... Tsukishiro, was it? Welcome to Hogwarts, I pray that your stay is a pleasant one."

With those words of welcome, Yukito was soon lead from the busy man's office and taken on a short tour of the school, highlighting the locations of all the classrooms a first year would need to attend, and finally ending off in the Great Hall where the staff had began to gather. It was when they stepped into the room that Professor Grubly-Plank gave a squeak. "Oh! It's not time yet, is it?! The train—it shouldn't be here for another 25 minutes!" she fretted, checking her watch and turning her eyes to McGonagall to ensure that she hadn't gotten the time wrong.

"No, no," Flitwick spoke up to reassure the panicking woman, this was her first year taking over this position for the half-giant. "This is Mr. Tsukishiro, an interpreter for one of the new first years."

Yukito bowed to the people in the room as a whole, and gave them his best smile. "It's an honour to meet you all, I'm sure."

A thrum of magic caused Yue to force Yukito's head around, to meet the eyes of the one Yue insisted was a potential threat to the Mistress. The woman herself had paused, taking in Yukito's existence and the truth of what lay just beneath the masking shell. Her dark eyes momentarily widened in shock as her mind registered who and what this figure standing before her was, before composing herself once again. Ignorant of the magnitude of this moment, the ever polite and helpful Head of Ravenclaw House repeated the introduction of the one he believed to be human.

"White moon..." Yelan mused, taking in the whole of the humanoid figure once again, "A fitting designation you have given yourself, I must say. It will be interesting to lay eyes on grandfather's young heiress for myself."

"Threats to the safety of the Mistress will be disposed of," Yue insisted.

"Here is not the time nor the place for such conversations," Mrs. Li warned, and after a moment later Yue finally allowed Yukito to turn his eyes away. The distraction came in the form of Professor Grubly-Plank getting to her feet and making her way out.

"Well, I'm off to send the carriages on ahead, then it's down to the docks with me to go collect the first years. You said you're a translator for one of them? Will you need to come with me to tell the kid where to come to?" the witch asked of Yukito.

The youth smiled at the older woman, "That shouldn't be necessary. Sakura-chan can understand basic English, it is merely the more complex concepts that she will struggle to understand. So unless you intend to begin explaining school rules or the like on the way here..."

"Oh, no, that would be Minerva's lot. I just lead them to the boats and make sure they get across alright," the witch insisted, shooting the Moon Guardian a wink before bustling off.

"Minerva?" Yukito echoed, looking to his miniature guide for clarification.

"That's right," Professor Flitwick chirped. "The Deputy Headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall." He gestured to the woman in question.

"I see, I suppose I'll be in your care, then," Yukito acknowledged the stern old witch and greeted her properly with a bow. She returned the gesture with something between a nod and a curtsy. Yukito then turned his eyes back to the small figure beside him, "Ano, if it's not too much... would I be allowed to see the room Sakura-chan is assigned to? I would like to be able to take her there after dinner. Is there... a secretary or something I could get that information from?"

"Oh, about that, we won't know where your charge will be staying until after she is sorted into her House. Don't they do it that way in Japan?" Flitwick informed, curious about the cultural differences.

"No, the students who require to stay in the dormitories apply months in advance and all of that is worked out before they ever step foot on campus," Yukito informed.

"But what about their Houses?" the small wizard questioned, trying to imagine how such a system would function.

"Eh? W-well, yes, most students do just live at home or some of the older ones rent apartments, but Tomoeda is a little far for Sakura-chan to commute every day, isn't it?" the Guardian reasoned.

Flitwick just looked at the youth a moment before admitting, "I believe we have a misunderstanding somewhere."

"It seems so..." Yukito acknowledged with a slight worry to his brow.

Yukito looked out across the darkness as the last rays of dusk glinted across the soft lapping of the water against the dock. The deep blue sky swirled with star patterns above and the moon hung low still over the mountains to the south east, waxing as hardly more than a sliver smiling at the one who drew its power. The ivy coiled down in tangling lines that showed gold under the light of the lamp Professor McGonagall had supplied.

A breeze kicked up and ruffled Yukito's bangs and he breathed it in deeply, savouring the cold chill that rushed into his core. This was his element, and he could bask in it for hours if he was allowed. However it wasn't long before a speckling of dark shapes became visible across the surface of the water. Though gifted with exceptional night vision, Yukito could have picked out the boat that held his Mistress blindfolded. The Cards sang to him, 'welcome home', and Cerberus hummed that ever-familiar presence, and Sakura... his Mistress shone in his mind's eye like the moon itself.

And there below the roar of her presence was an older bond, stretched thin and faded but still present. Would always be present so long as both their souls existed. It was because of this that when the boat finally pulled into the light the Moon Guardian didn't even so much blink at it reflecting off a pair of glasses and an all too familiar smile.

He reached for the children as the boat bumped up against the side of the dock, and at once Sakura's hand was in his and he was pulling her up onto solid ground. Xiao Lang was meanwhile placing his small Sun Guardian securely next to her senpai before pulling himself up as well. Eriol took the other hand Yukito offered, stepping nimbly up to stand with his fellow sorcerers, smiling up at the Guardian with a polite "Thank you."

Yukito dipped his head in acknowledgement as Professor McGonagall began to speak, "Right then, everyone here? Come along, follow me." The elder witch turned and lead the children briskly up the stone staircase and through the large oak door into the school proper. The children tailed behind, seemingly instinctively understanding that this was not a woman that one should push their luck with.

She lead the students past the tall doors where the the Great Hall stood and the sounds of hundreds of voices could be heard. Instead took them through a small side door to an otherwise empty little room that was so small the children had to crowd in somewhat tighter than many may have liked.

Yukito stood against a wall, trying to take up as little space as he could while Sakura stood with her back leaning against Yukito's front. Eriol hovered to their left, seeming content about their situation, while Xiao Lang, who had entered the room first, now stood on their right. When he was forced to step back to make room for all the children to fit, his shoulder accidentally bumped into Sakura's, bringing a pink flush to both preteen's faces.

As the girl with the long blond braid who had been tailing behind slightly entered the room, the door pulled itself closed behind her. It was only then that McGonagall began speaking to the room once more. "Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The welcoming feast will begin shortly, but first you must be Sorted into your Houses. The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, each with it's own noble history of outstanding witches and wizards who graduated from there.

"While attending Hogwarts, your House will be something like your family. You will eat, sleep, and attend classes along side your housemates. Your achievements will win you House points, while any rule breaking will result in loosing them. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will be awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to what ever House you belong to.

"The Sorting Ceremony will begin shortly within the Great Hall, I suggest you take this time to make yourselves as presentable as possible as it will be taking place before the rest of the school." With that reminder, McGonagall left and the nervous first years had nothing to do but look among themselves and murmur.

"I couldn't get my mom to tell me how the Sorting worked..." a girl a latte-skinned girl who's crimped black hair was pulled into a half-bun with a pretty flower pin in it admitted to the people around her.

"My cousins told me you have to wrestle a troll," a very freckled girl in thick glasses and untamable auburn hair informed.

"My mom said that wasn't true!" argued Lucas Shacklebolt.

"My sister told me about your cousins, Weasley," a girl with long blond hair in pigtails and glasses over her green eyes piped up. Xiao Lang thought she was one of the ones who had been cooing over him and Sakura earlier. "I wouldn't trust anything those two have to say!"

To Xiao Lang's right a different conversation was taking place. "I called it, there is at least one Weasley in our year, pay up Flint," the Avery girl insisted.

"It's hardly a bet, I mean anyone with half a brain could tell you there'd be Weasleys in the year. They breed like rabbits, after all," Flint argued, but pulled a sickle from his pocket and handed it over to the grinning girl anyway. "Oh, isn't that an Abercrombie? He looks just like the Abercrombie my dad works with in the Ministry. They're only halfbloods, but they're not all together intolerable, and the mixing was several generations back. They're almost pure again."

"One shouldn't be judged by the mistakes of their ancestors, I suppose, especially if they've learned from them," Acelin acknowledged.

"Exactly," Dominic beamed a calculatingly charming smile. "And not to mention—ah, there's Jorkins. So she really did come, after all. Do you see her there? Shall we go say hello?"

"No, if you see her, then she's here, and we'll run into her later. There's no need to go bother with her now," Acelin insisted.

"True, true. That boy there, with the wavy brown hair, I think that's either a Proudfoot or a Fawley. I know the Fawley daughter married into the Proudfoot family and both are supposed to have children around our age. Either way, it makes him a new blood, nothing impressive in their history yet, but at least not an embarrassment to be seen talking to..."

With Yue gone to collect his Mistress, Yelan leaned back against the wall just inside the Great Hall. She needed a moment to gather her thoughts and compose herself away from the questions and polite conversation of the staff table. Her grandfather was the one behind Xiao Lang's summons after presenting him with a pair of Guardian eggs. His own Guardian was also present, meaning his heiress would be here as well. What was his purpose in gathering the players in his inheritance farce together once more?

She had to think this through to ensure the outcome was to the Li Clan's benefit this time. Ensuring you stay one step ahead of your opponent was mandatory in battle, but at the moment there were too many gaps in her knowledge to form any cohesive strategy. The best she could do was build tentative plausible connections between the clues to maintain the illusion of being in control when the situation arises.

The teens wandered in, chatting among themselves excitedly and loudly, as they discussed summer events and the mouthwatering feast yet to come.

This headache wasn't making it any easier to sift out the hidden intent of the great Clow Reed from the near infinite possibilities the future might hold. Yelan's natural attribute was for thunder, after all, a solar element. She had no gift in foresight, and had only her own wits and logic to deduce likely outcomes of the future.

Wait... the teens wandered in? Talking only of the past and their own empty bellies? Yelan furrowed her brow at this. People did not just wander past the Li Clan's matriarch, all-powerful granddaughter of the great Clow Reed. People stopped and stared in awe of her exquisite presence, or trembled in fear of her terrible might. They did not chatter on undisturbed by her presence. It was just not how things were done.

She turned her eyes, as blue as the starlit skies, to the children who entered the room in pairs and small clusters and felt her culture face an unexpected shock to its system. These children were horrifyingly unaware of their surroundings as she had seen several small groups stride past before even the first took notice of her existence. That one child, a boy in probably his third or fourth year at the school, merely gave her a cursory glance before turning away once more with some comment about "new DADA teacher" to his friend as they walked on.

That was not a wholly unique reaction from the students who did take note of her, as the room slowly filled with mutterings about it and those teens already sitting at the tables now craned their necks to see around their neighbours and get a better look at the mysterious woman they had failed to notice as they first entered.

There was something of the blind enamour that all powerful sorcerers eventually become accustomed to facing. A pair of twins with hair like a pair of bright flames, for instance were rather loud about the matter. The one on the right let out a whistle that nearly bordered on being a catcall. "Who do you think that is? New teacher?"

"I hope so!" the other twin agreed. The dark-skinned boy with them just nodded mutely.

"Are you nuts?!" accused the blond that walked a few paces away from them. "Look at her, she looks as strict as Snape!"

"Ah, you're paranoid of everything, Towler! Don't you see? When the face yelling at you is that gorgeous, who cares if you're getting yelled at?" the second twin insisted.

"It's just one more excuse to look!" agreed the first.

"I'm paranoid of everything because I had the misfortune of having to share my sleeping quarters with the three of you for the last seven years..." Towler grumbled, after which point their conversation had moved too far away to overhear what the group continued to say on the matter.

Then, abruptly, the flow of youth trickling into the room came to a sudden halt. Though voices still raised beyond the door, growing in irritation, nothing entered. Turning to examine what the issue was, she met the wide-eyed stare of a boy in his late teens rooted in spot in the doorway and unwilling to cross her path. His eyes were bright like silver water, a colour and nature to them not found in normal individuals and alerting Yelan at once to the fact that this boy was a fellow sorcerer. As she took in his form more completely, the boy seemed to almost pull back, as if attempting to give her a more respectable distance.

However, before his body could do more than shift its weight in preparation of a step back, a hard shove from behind hit him squarely in the centre of the back and sent him stumbling forward. "Move it, Hawke, you're blocking the door!"

Hawke, one of the local sorcery clans, though she had not seen this boy in particular when she had gone and introduced herself to the head family. She tacked his movement on instinct as the boy caught his balance somewhat ungracefully after a few steps, using the inertia to turn the stumble into an awkward scurrying run down the isles and away from the Li matriarch, only to trip and face-plant part way along. Yet though some part of her brain was aware of the young sorcerer's actions, the vast majority of it was preoccupied by the one who had given him the shove in the first place.

That was no human, any sun aligned sorcerer worth half their weight in salt could tell you as much. Though it wore a human body and masqueraded the face of one, Yelan instinctively knew what this creature that smirked at her was. But how was it possible? Yue was famously known throughout the world as the only one, her own son's audacity not yet public knowledge. No one would dare be so brazen as to alter the form of a preexisting Guardian into such a form, the very idea of what one must think of humans to do such a thing—it would draw the attention of the whole of the community.

Yet this could not be the great and famous creation of her honoured grandfather for she had shared words with the beast not an hour before. So for this to be neither altered Guardian nor Yue left only one disturbing option: this was another new Guardian, as of yet unheard of by the world at large, and far closer in power to the terrifying might of Yue and Cerberus than her son's own creations. But then, to whom was such a Guardian bound?

The strange Guardian stared at the last of the Reeds for a moment with hungry eyes—how dare it see her as nothing but a meal!—before turning it's attention away without further thought, dismissing her as a non-threat with all the casualty one would an ant on the sidewalk. It made its way over to one of the long tables and sat, talking excitedly to those around it, maintaining its facade of humanity regardless of the midnight eyes that studied it.

For the Guardian to be so casual in the face of one such as herself, its Master must be terrifyingly powerful. Even Yue had expressed caution, and its Mistress had mastered Clow Reed's unique magic. Most sorcerers spend decades studying in order to cast even basic spells of Clow Reed's design and would never even dream of the possibility of controlling something on the level of a Card. Yelan was no fool, she knew someone capable of mastering such magic in only a year must be exceptionally talented and powerful, even if they were born to a lost bloodline. No, probably even more so because of it. Yet that Yue saw her as a potential threat and this strange Guardian didn't? That did not bode well for the future of her Clan, nor for the safety of her son.

Her eyes scanned the faces of the students as the last of them finally came in and settled into their seats. None looked exceptionally powerful, and the Guardian seemed to be the only other force in the room drawing any level of enamoured stares. Did that mean the Master wasn't in the room? Or were they powerful enough to block the senses of others seeking their presence? She dared not put too much effort into seeking a presence in this tangled mess of magic, lest she be lost within, but it was so terribly tempting.

Before further contemplation could be spent on the matter, the door to the Great Hall swung open once more and the Deputy Headmistress lead in the procession of first years. The first few passed without incident, mixtures of nervous and excited energy as they tried to look in all directions at once. Their wide eyes seemed almost incapable of blinking as they tried to take in the sights before them and not miss a single thing.

While several of the children noticed Yelan standing beside the door, they did not observe her with the same curiosity that the older students had. In their innocence, they did not know that hers was a position one did not generally stand in and so assumed that she was just supposed to be there.

As the line began to reach the middle of the new first years that were making their way in for their sorting ceremony, in came the two new students Yelan was most interested in, surprisingly walking together. Yue's sealed form stood out blatantly against the the stream of eleven-year-olds standing an easy head and shoulders over the lot of them. From his hand hung the one that could only be the new Card Mistress: Kinomoto Sakura. She wasn't really what Yelan had been expecting.

Small and practically glowing with innocent wonder, she met Yelan's eyes with a quiet "Hoe?" She was far from the schooled, infallible master of the arts that Yelan had unconsciously assumed she would be to capture the Clow Cards and make them her own as she had. If anything, she looked more curious and—dare she say it—in awe of Yelan, rather than expecting it to go the other way around.

Xiao Lang, who followed the young sorceress in closely while shooting daggers at another boy for some reason, paused upon entering to bow to his mother, as he had always been taught. Though the other boy did not even spare her a glance as he kept walking past, Yue stepping back away from his Mistress to give the black haired boy the room to walk. Sakura, for her part, saw Xiao Lang bowing to Yelan and hurried to follow suit.

Jiao Yang, fulfilling her assigned roll as the youngest child, squirmed free from her Master's side and latched her tiny toddler hands onto Yelan's outer-most skirt, reaching no higher than the matriarch's knee. Beyond the doors, the procession had come nearly to a stop as the first years that hung back eyed the bowing children and turned calculating eyes onto Yelan. She could read their questioning stares easily, wondering about who she was and why she warranted such a reaction.

"Xiao Lang," Yelan acknowledged, so not to detain him. At once he straitened and took note of the Kinomoto girl with a look between exasperation and confusion.

Before anyone else could act, the moment was penetrated by a pointed voice from beyond calling back an expectant "Sakura-san." The boy who Xiao Lang had been glaring at had paused and was waiting for the Card Mistress up ahead. The girl straitened at once and met the boy's gaze without concern, though seemed hesitant to obey the obvious summons, eyes first turning in question once more to Yelan, before finally landing on Xiao Lang.

He wordlessly gave her a little nudge towards the far end of the room, and she turned and happily hurried on to catch up to the boy that had called for her. The Clan heir followed along more sullenly, going back to glaring at the bispeckled boy, and the remaining first years trickled in after.

"Syaoran-kun," Sakura started as he caught up, "who is that pretty lady?"

"Haha-ue," Xiao Lang informed her.

"Hoeeee?!" Sakura cried in surprise, bringing her hands to her mouth before turning and looking again at the woman in question. "She looks so young... Don't you have four onee-san?"

"Yeah, but Haha-ue is also a sorceress, so she doesn't look her age. Just look at Hiiragizawa, who is your Otou-san's twin."

"Ahh... that's right..." she muttered, looking curiously at Eriol.

When all the first years stood assembled finally at the front of the room in something that more or less resembled a line as they spread themselves out to get a look at the Deputy Headmistress and the hat she had just brought out on the three-legged stool, the Sorting Hat opened it's rip wide and began to sing a long and rambling song.

In times of old, when I was new,
And Hogwarts barely started,
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted.

United by a common goal,
They had the selfsame yearning
To make the world's best magic school
And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach"
The four good friends decided.
And never did they dream that they
Might some day be divided.

For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,

So how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there, so I can tell
The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
Whose ancestry's purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name."
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot
And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife
When first they came to light.
For each of the four founders had
A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,
For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning just like him.

And only those of sharpest mind
Were taught by Ravenclaw
While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest
and taught them all she knew,
Thus, the houses and their founders
Maintained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony
For several happy years,
But then discord crept among us
Feeding on our faults and fears.

The Houses that, like pillars four
Had once held up our school
Now turned upon each other and
Divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school
Must meet an early end.
What with duelling and with fighting
And the clash of friend on friend.

And at last there came a morning
When old Slytherin departed
And though the fighting then died out
He left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four
Were whittled down to three
Have the Houses been united
As they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here
And you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
Because that is what I'm for.

But this year I'll go further,
Listen closely to my song:
Though condemned I am to split you
Still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfill my duty
And must quarter every year
Still I wonder whether sorting
May not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes.

And we must unite inside her
Or we'll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you...
Let the Sorting now begin.

The older students and staff table all clapped politely, and some of the nervous first years followed suit unsurely. Then Professor McGonagall took a long roll of parchment from where it sat at the staff table atop a silver platter and unrolled the top of it from which she began to read. "Abercrombie, Euan!" she called, pronouncing each syllable clearly so that all in the room could hear.

Slightly shaking, a blond boy who's wavy hair was in a bowl cut stepped forward out of the crowd to be the first sorted of their school year. Sakura only got a glimpse of his slightly wide, deep blue-grey eyes before the singing hat was placed on his head and slipped strait down over his vision. He sat there for only a moment, barely beginning to fidget with the edge of the stool when the hat opened at the rip and shouted out in a gravelly voice that made a few of the nervous first years jump slightly in surprise, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Seeming to give a shaky sigh in relief the boy took the hat from his head and made his way over to the red-adorned table that lined the far right wall where the students were clapping and cheering just a little bit louder than the other three tables. Sakura made sure to commit to her mind the fact that the red table was "Gryffindor" just as she was determined to memorise the names and faces of all her fellow first years so she would not be made to make a blunder in etiquette against them. (1)

"Ackerman, Alejo!" was the next name called. What looked like a tanned girl with frizzy strawberry blond hair and pretty brown eyes was the next to step up to the stool. This raised a few shocked murmurs of "That's a boy?!" from the other students, earning them a scathing glare from the boy in question before the Sorting Hat hid his eyes as well.

This time the hat took a little longer, and a few of the more impatient older students started ticking off time before finally the hat called out once again "GRYFFINDOR!" in the same gravelly voice that that got fewer surprised reactions this time due to the first years more expecting it.

Once the not-a-girl had joined the first student at the red table, Professor McGonagall read off the next name on the list. "Avery, Shanel!"

She walked to the stool and sat down, the perfect image of sugar and spice and everything else that characterized little girls' innocence. However, the hat had barely touched her baby-blond hair when it shouted out "SLYTHERIN!" and the young lady was allowed to go and sit among the cheering mass of students at the green adorned table.

The sorting then continued with "Banks, James!" making his way up next. The boy looked a little tight around the edges of his features, but still managed to grin out bravely with excitement before the hat plunged his eyes into darkness, hiding much of his spiky, dirty blond hair. His body seemed to almost hum with the strain of remaining poised and still as he sat there in front of everyone before he, too, was sent off to "GRYFFINDOR!"

After Banks was "Barnwell, Oliver!" who was the reedy red haired boy who had looked like he would be sick earlier. He was so nervous that his arms and legs moved together in synchronization as he moved up to take his seat. He was another fast one to be sorted, the hat suddenly calling out a new name of "HUFFLEPUFF!" not long after it was placed on his head. The boy took the hat off and handed it back to the Professor politely, before stalling slightly as he looked confusedly out at the four tables with his striking cobalt eyes. After a moment, the Deputy Headmistress pointed him towards the yellow table, and he thanked her with a nod before hurrying off, cheeks bright with embarrassment.

There were many rolls of eyes as a whispered word of "Mudblood" swept among the first years, too quiet for the staff to hear, as the next name, "Black, Corvin!", was called.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Harry perked up from his daze of inattentiveness at the sound of the familiar last name. "Wait, I thought Sirius was the last of the Black family," he whispered out to his two friends in confusion.

"He's the last of the Main Family," Ron explained quietly in return even as the Black in question was sorted to Slytherin, "but there are still members of the branch families and descendants of the disowned members wandering around."

Lavender and Parvati from further down then squealed as "Brown, Natalie!" was called upon.

"Oh, I hope your little sister ends up in Gryffindor too," Parvati could be heard confiding.

"I do, too," Lavender replied as she watched the blond girl take off her glasses so they didn't get in the way of the Sorting Hat.

However, Lavender and Parvati's wish was not granted as the young Miss Brown was instead sent to Ravenclaw. "Don't worry, Lav, I'm sure Padma will look out for her," Parvati tried to comfort, earning a smile for her efforts.

"Carrow, Mckay!" McGonagall then called up. The Sorting Hat took a bit of time with this one, seeming to take its time to sit and think over its decision before announcing that the boy belonged in "RAVENCLAW!"

Sakura couldn't suppress a shiver as the Carrow boy brushed passed her on his way over to the blue table, which Xiao Lang attentively honed in on. "Is everything alright, Sakura?" he asked.

She nodded to her crush, pinkening slightly at his attention towards her, though reminding herself that it was really nothing new. "Yes, it's just..." she trailed off, not sure how to phrase it without seeming too rude. "That boy, it just seems like something's not quite right about him..." she finally admitted. At this, Xiao Lang turned his honey eyes to glare distrustfully at the aforementioned student, much to Sakura's regret.

She had been so busy with her thoughts that she almost missed "Collins, Renae" (a confident looking girl who's black hair curled away from her face, giving her the impression of eternally facing in to a strong wind) being sorted into Gryffindor. Reminding herself of what she was supposed to be doing at the moment, Sakura mentally shook herself as Professor McGonagall called up "Dawlish, Dzi!" next.

The Dawlish girl seemed more calm, having witnessed those before her putting the Sorting Hat on, and moved with something of ease up for her turn. There was a hint in some of her features and darker complexion of having some ancestry outside of Europe, but given her frizzy red hair and blue-green eyes it wasn't likely to have been recent. By the plethora of brightly coloured jewellery and the half pigtailed look she adorned, she gave off the impression of creativity and a comfort with self that Sakura just couldn't imagine feeling at the moment. She even smiled at the Deputy Headmistress as the woman placed the hat on her, earning a tight and strained one in response.

It wasn't long before the self-confident girl was made a Gryffindor, nor Kyle Dobbs, a boy with sandy brown hair, after her. Next up to the stool was one Miss Hazel Edgecombe, who's long dirty blond hair was pulled back into a loose braid that almost matched her golden-hazel eyes. The nervous, shy seeming girl was after a moment sent to sit at Hufflepuff table, and she shuffled off without trying to pull too much attention to herself.

The next to be called up was "Figg, Zaley!" who was a girl with shaggy blond pigtails who gave the overall impression of a puppy from a pet store. She giggled a little, like she was trying to chase away her nerves as she hopped up on the stool and jiggled her feet and drummed her fingers through the entirety of her time under the hat. It took just long enough for Professor McGonagall to start levelling the girl with an annoyed glare for her fidgeting habits before the Sorting Hat announced once more "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Flint, Dominic!" McGonagall called with the air of one who really just wanted this to be over, but was sadly realizing that she wasn't even a quarter of the way through the alphabet yet. The third blond in a row stepped up. He passed a thoughtful glance over the student body with his dark blue eyes before they vanished beneath the hat. He sat patiently for nearly a whole minute before the hat finally called out "SLYTHERIN!" He sat still a moment longer while the hat was removed from his head before moving with a practised calm and reserve to sit down near Miss Avery.

Following Flint was "Gibbon, Gaines" who had shoulder-length black hair that shone red in the candle-light and a mysterious glint shining deep within his hazel eyes. The foxish boy sat obediently on the stool, but flopped his head this way and that as he waited for the hat to call out his placement. As he began to tap the toes of his shoes together and even giggle to himself, the hat finally decided to cry out "RAVENCLAW!"

"Greengrass, Xanthia" was the next on the list. She determinedly marched up to the stool, where she sat with an air of superiority. The hat had barely even brushed against the girl's bangs when it announced to the whole hall, and to the surprise of very few students, "SLYTHERIN!"

As Miss Greengrass stood and walked over to the clapping table decked out in green, Professor McGonagall looked down once more at the student list in order to call out the next name and, for the first time in remembered history, the Deputy Headmistress faltered. Her brow contorted into one of confusion and concentration for a moment before she began trying to figure out how to pronounce the next name. "...Hi-" she started, as if she were to say 'his', "...Hee-?" she tried again "...High-?" she struggled.

Within the assembled students, a slow and arguably evil smile spread across Eriol's face as he began to move as smoothly as flowing water and with a poise of one that owned the universe and had nothing to fear from anything in existence. As he passed his young heiress, he touched her shoulder in a motion of reassurance that was infinitely reminiscent to her of Fujitaka. He stepped up before the teachers as McGonagall still attempted to work out the proper pronunciation of his name and smiled his most mysterious smile at the woman. "Just Eriol will do fine, thank you," he informed her calmly as he took the Sorting Hat from her hands and placed it upon his own head as he sat himself down.

I would like to go into Ravenclaw, please, the reincarnation thought pointedly the moment the hat was on his head.

"Oh, um, well, yes... Yes, that does seem to suit you, so then I suppose it had better be RAVENCLAW!" the hat responded, shouting only the last word out for anyone but Eriol to hear. Sweeping the hat from his head and returning it to McGonagall with a gentlemanly bow in one smooth motion that spoke volumes about his good breeding and manners, Eriol wasted only one moment longer to spare a loving smile at the nervous Sakura before sweeping over to his chosen destination.

The confused eyes of the whole room only followed the ancient soul a moment longer before the woman turned her gaze down to the parchment held within her hands once more. "Jorkins, Jasmine!" she called with far more confidence.

It turns out the illusive Jorkins was a girl with reddish brown hair that layered down her back and almost matching brown eyes. She pulled herself up onto the stool with only a minimal show of nerves as she sat and waited through the ten or fifteen seconds that the hat sat on her head before it announced out "SLYTHERIN!" she slipped from the chair with a smile breaking out across her face as she went to join her new House.

"Kinomoto, Sakura!" the stern looking witch called, making the little sorceress jump slightly. Xiao Lang quickly and quietly slipped his hand around hers for a split second and gave it a reassuring squeeze to comfort her.

Taking a deep, gulping breath, and letting out a quiet "Hoeeee~" she moved up to sit herself alone in front of everyone. She got a momentary look of a room full of curious faces looking up at her before her eyes were covered by a fall of black fabric.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a voice seemed to whisper in her ear.

A sudden chill shot up the Card Mistress's spine at the disembodied voice and before she thought twice about it, she gave a shrill scream and bolted from the chair. She heard Xiao Lang call out to her, surprised and confused as he moved to try and protect her from whatever unidentified threat had startled her so, but at the moment for as much as she loved Xiao Lang, there was only one person that she wanted to find comfort with.

With tears in her eyes and trailing down her quickly reddening cheeks, Sakura ran strait passed all the assembled first years and down the isle. With her arms outstretched, the sorceress all but flew into the awaiting arms of her Moon Guardian's sealed form, Yukito, who she met part way down the room and was immediately enveloped into a tight and protective embrace. "Mistress! What is wrong, Mistress? What do you need?"

She cowered for a moment in the warmth that surrounded her. Like a blanket of protection that right down to her very soul she knew would always be there for her and keep her safe from anything that could ever do her any harm. She let out a sob that shook her whole frame as Xiao Lang placed a hand on her leg. "Sakura...?" he questioned in concern.

Embarrassment welled up within the young girl for the spectacle she was making of herself, and she swallowed down another sob to try and explain herself to the pair that worried over her. However, all she managed to choke out was "G-ghost..."

Xiao Lang let out a sigh of relief at this, while Yukito rubbed circles on her back. Eriol stood from his place at the Ravenclaw table and held out a beckoning hand towards the worrying Guardian. With his Mistress upset and giving no indications on how to correct the issue, the Moon Guardian submitted to the familiar tug of his old Master's will. He moved forward and knelt before the ancient soul that had once been the most powerful of sorcerers.

Eriol placed a hand tentatively on Sakura's light brown hair and spoke in a soothing voice,"Yoshi, yoshi. Daijoubu, Sakura-san. It's not a ghost, it's just a spell on the hat. Nothing more, it won't hurt you."

Sakura soon sniffled her way to quieting down after that, soothed by the presence of so much love and concern blanketing her from all sides. The thought occurred to her that she should probably give the Sorting Hat another go, and Yukito responded at once by standing and carrying her back to the front of the room, content on his task now that orders were forthcoming.

Xiao Lang lingered for a moment, eyes locking with Eriol's in mistrust and discontent, before they lowered of their own accord. Once again, he had been useless when she had really needed someone. She had looked to Yukito, who he remembered had once been her number one, and to Eriol—to Clow Reed who had tricked her and manipulated her in the past—and his heart was heavy with the all of it. He slowly made his way back up to the other students and watched with a tired sort of melancholy as Sakura sat nervously upon the stool, clinging to Yukito's hand for support as he knelt devotedly at her side.

"Are you quite done running away now?" the Hat was saying in her ear.

"Hai, I'm sorry about that. Y-you really aren't a ghost... right?" Sakura replied quietly.

"You don't need to speak aloud, I can hear your thoughts clearly enough. And weren't you supposed to be working to get over your fear of ghosts, anyway?"

"Hoeeee..."

"Indeed. Well, where shall we put you? I see you have a courageous heart, willing to put yourself in harm's way for others. You have experienced many selfless moments, far more than most children your age, and have proven you can stand your ground against such adversities. So shall we send you to Gryffindor? You are also very clever, thinking your way through your problems and finding innovative solutions to the challenges you face. Your observant nature has enabled you more than once to work out the solution even without the prior learning one would usually require. Though school work may not be your forte, your creativity allows you to problem-solve and you think quickly on your feet, which is all very Ravenclaw...

"Ah, but no, I see the true face of your soul is love. It is your friends and family that motivate you, it is for them that you would face even your deepest of fears, and those fears are none other than loosing those you care for. You are open and accepting towards others, making room in your life for even the most unlikely of members. And when those you love choose a path that does not lead to you, you do not turn them away and instead stand by them loyally. You are, without a doubt, an exemplary choice for HUFFLEPUFF!"

With the announcement made of the Hat's choice, the tattered old cloth was removed from the young girl's head and without prompting the Moon Guardian scooped his Mistress into his arms once more and carried her down the isle to where he sat and soothed her. At once the pair became surrounded by the coo of the older girls, asking if she was alright and pressing their advantage at being the first to meet her handsome caretaker.

Professor McGonagall gave a moment to direct a reprimanding stare at the sixth and seventh year Hufflepuff girls before turning her attention once more to her roll of parchment. "Li, Xiao Lang," she called, and the little heir stepped forward. By the questioning, measuring looks filling the eyes of the assembled instructors, Xiao Lang knew that once again, his name had proceeded him. He was being judged, critiqued, scrutinized. My, what a familiar sensation. He sat before the masses, undaunted by the sea of faces looking up at him, and put on his most regal continence that he could muster as the Hat fell over his eyes.

"Well, well. Now this IS a complicated little one. Where oh where shall we put you? Will you take Gryffindor? You have the courage to stand up for what's right, even when others oppose it, and will fight for your beliefs, even when against seemingly unbeatable odds. You are not one to falter easily, and rise to challenges when they are presented before you. Or is Hufflepuff your home? You're loyal to those who you have given your trust to, and honest with yourself and others. Not to mention that one in particular there holds your heart, and how greatly you long to be near her..."

That's beside the point, we're in the same school, there's nothing that will stop us seeing each other. My future can't lay teetering on my current affection for one girl.

"Very well, very well. Then what of Ravenclaw? You are quite smart, and you value what that means for you have seen first hand the worth of one who lives by their wits. You even idolize her, working in your own quiet way to become more intelligent yourself so that you can do all that she does. Or do you reside among the Slytherins? You have such a vast amount of untapped potential, and you chase the top with an unyielding ambition. You understand the importance of connections and making smart allies to bring about the best allegiances for the future, even if you are still learning about how to do so."

Watch your tongue, hat, I happen to be a young lord.

"Yes, I am very much aware of exactly what you are. And that makes this process all the harder. So then, where would you like me to put you?"

Aren't you supposed to be telling me that?

He heard the hat chuckle within his mind. "Most students who arrive here have some predetermined notion within their minds of who they are and where they fit. Even if they can't narrow their placement down to only one, they have already narrowed it down to two main choices that fit them the best. All I do, then, is explain in greater detail what aspects they have to fit into either category, and they decide which they value more strongly."

Isn't that kinda, I don't know, cheating? Aren't you supposed to choose off of what the founders of the school would have chosen?

"Stories and methods change over time, your lordship, you know that. The honest truth is that who a person is is not determined by what they are when they walk into this building—for every person has every one of the traits to fit into each house—but rather what choices they make upon the moment. The saying 'actions speak louder than words' has not stayed around so long for nothing."

So then why all four for me?

"Ah, because you entered with an open mind, spotting and understanding the true value of each signature house traits and accepting your place within any of them equally well. So now the choice is up to you: you do not need to loose any to become another, but those around you will help lead you to your future. Among whom do you place your values the greatest, young prince?"

If it doesn't matter which place I go, they are all good in their own way, and all speak to who I am... then I choose to go where it will help my Clan the most. They need me to be a strong, powerful leader—one who will ensure enemies will tremble before my might and think twice before challenging... Hat, make me great!

"Very well, then. For you, it seems the only place that suits what you want would have to be: SLYTHERIN!" and with that cry, the young heir slipped the hat from his head and made his way to his new house table.

Following Xiao Lang was a rather boxily built girl by the name of "Maddock, Rebecca ("Becky, please,")". There was a moment of awkward setting of the Sorting Hat on her head as she wore her long, curly dark brown hair up in a high ponytail. However, once the Hat was on her, it wasn't long for girl to be sent on her way to Hufflepuff as well.

As "Mason, Kismet" was sent to join Ravenclaw, the Flint boy slid over across the few spaces to speak to Xiao Lang. "Fancy seeing you here, stranger. So who's that girl that had the freak out up there? Your girl?"

"No," the golden eyed boy was unfortunately forced to admit.

"Then is she with the black haired kid with the glasses? What was his name, Ariel?"

"Definitely not!"

"But, you all know each other?" Flint pressed again, completely ignoring Wayne McGuffin—an auburn haired boy built like a refrigerator with legs—being sorted into Hufflepuff. He did however glance up when the name "Moon, Corabelle" was called, lingering a moment more on the girl's pretty face and elegant posture.

"We were in school together last year," Xiao Lang admitted.

This caught the attention of the students sitting around them, several completely turning away from the pretty brunet being sent to Ravenclaw in favour of eyeing the young heir. "School? Before Hogwarts?" the Avery girl questioned.

"Oh, right, you lot don't start your magic study until now, huh?" Xiao Lang mused as he watched the chubby Toby Munsch get sent off to Gryffindor.

"You've already had magic training? Since when? How much?" quizzed the curious Black boy, his blue-grey eyes lighting up with the eagerness of one addicted to gossip.

"Since I was physically able to go through the motions," the young heir informed. Several of the Slytherins looked impressed, while others appeared more envious than anything.

They were silent for a moment as a curly haired blond by the name of Victoria O'Hare was called up for her turn on the stool. "So, does that mean your little sister is already learning magic, too?"

"Yes," Xiao Lang responded, already growing bored with this line of questioning. Sensing his disinterest, Flint reluctantly conceded to giving the Li boy his solitude and they went back to watching the sorting in silence. This girl took nearly a full minute before being sent on her way to Ravenclaw, and then finally came a name that pulled the attention of almost the entire Slytherin table.

"Parkinson, Acelin," Professor McGonagall called and the pretty boy stepped up. Xiao Lang could see the older girl that had been escorting the kids around earlier sitting further up the table with the prick. She was almost beaming with pride as her little brother vanished for a moment under the fabric of the hat before he was sent on his way to join them within Slytherin. The boy did his best to glide to the table and when he sat down Flint slid up next to him right away and whispered something in his ear. By the way Parkinson studied the Chinese boy for a moment, Xiao Lang had a pretty good idea that he was being updated on what he missed from his friend.

By this point the Sorting was nearly two-thirds done and those still standing up front had thinned out considerably. The new first years, aware of this, had began to grow increasingly nervous and fidgety, save for one girl who was still spaced out staring at the enchanted ceiling with her mouth hanging slightly agape. Some of the oldest students had begun getting a tad restless, and the occasional person was even turning their smitten attention back to Yelan instead. At the Ravenclaw table, amid her group of friends, Nakuru had begun to whine about how she was hungry.

"Payne, Francis" was a platinum haired boy who heaved a large sigh, obviously knowing that his name was going to be called soon as he seemed to shake off his nerves the best he could and step up hurriedly to the stool, intent to get the whole thing over with. Seemingly intent to not be outdone by those who had been called up before him, he set his jaw and straightened his posture just that much more as the hat fell down over slightly-too-wide brown eyes.

After a few moments of quiet, Payne asked aloud with enough volume that the teachers and students sitting closest could hear "What? Why!?" and then seemed to get into a muttered argument with the Hat before finally the hat called out "RAVENCLAW!" and the boy was sent on his way.

After that, "Perkins, Theodore" was called forward. The poor shaking boy was easily the smallest male of the year, and had a round face and drooping hazel eyes that made him look more like he was a tall seven year old than a short eleven. His fretful little pout earned a chorus of "aaawa"s from many of the more mature and mothering of the girls. All too quickly, the Sorting Hat had him on his way to Hufflepuff where it was clear he would be coddled in the coming weeks.

Next up was Pepper Princeton, a girl in braided bright orange pigtails and enough freckles that she could have been mistaken for a Weasley. She stepped up shyly, with her head ducked down between her shoulders and her steps a little too fast to be casual. Looking at the young girl, Harry couldn't help but recall his own nerves during his Sorting Ceremony when the Hat called out the name of Gryffindor.

"Proudfoot, Brandon" McGonagall called, and a mature looking boy with wavy dark brown hair down to his shoulders stepped up. Adding in the fact that he was one of the tallest of his year, the boy really looked closer to 13 than 11, though Harry didn't really know what made the boy appear so much older than he was. Still, when the Hat declared the boy to be a "RAVENCLAW!" Harry supposed it must have been some deep-rooted wisdom that Harry had observed in the boy's dark green eyes.

As the young Brandon took a moment to take off the Sorting Hat and straiten his hair before stepping down, being replaced on the stool by Lydia Rosier. She sat there playing with the ends of her long hair until finally the Sorting Hat called "SLYTHERIN!" to no great surprise for anyone familiar with her family name.

"Rowel, Maegan" who followed next was a cute little girl with platinum pigtails held up with bright blue ribbons. The small girl gave a nervous little hop when her name was called on, as if she were taken by surprise, and all but ran up to the stool.

A few seats down from Harry, Ginny leaned across the table and said to the boy sitting there, "Awa, Todd, your baby sister's adorable!" He returned the off-hand compliment to his family with a grin, his eyes flickering to the brunet beside her to see if the other girl agreed with the sentiment. However, Janell's eyes were one of the ones glued marvelling at the woman and toddler standing at the back of the room. Her eyes had actually only ever left the woman for the spectacle of the crying girl and for the Chinese boy who had been sorted after her.

When the Sorting Hat declared the young Rowel girl to be another "GRYFFINDOR!" Ginny and her friends all clapped especially loud, Todd giving his little sister a thumbs up as she came to join her fellow first years further down the length of the table.

"Shackelbolt, Lucas," Professor McGonagall called over the clamour of her house.

"Go Gryffindor," Harry cheered quietly.

"Oh?" Hermione perked at hearing what Harry said. "You think he'll be in Gryffindor?"

"C'mon, Hermione, his dad's an Auror, and a member of the Order, where else would he go?" Harry argued back.

"Harry, there's a lot of good qualities that go into making an Auror that fit into the other Houses, and there's plenty of examples of children ending up in different Houses than their parents or siblings. Just think of the Patil twins from our year, or Sir-Snuffles and his family. And those are just two examples of the top of my head..."

"That's just because Snuffles is good and the rest of his family are, well..." Harry argued back, eyes skimming over to the Slytherin table where Malfoy sat watching the ceremony with an impossibly bored expression. Harry still couldn't believe that Malfoy of all people was Sirius's cousin. "So that's why he ended up in Gryffindor instead."

"Harry Potter! Do you listen at all to anything the Sorting Hat says each year about the strengths of each House?!" Hermione finally exploded quietly at him in exasperation.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Sorting Hat cried and the faces of Ron and Harry both fell into slack-jawed expressions in response.

"Way to ruin a perfectly good wizard," Ron grumbled, as the next young witch, a shy blond with glasses named Ulyssa Urquhart, was called up for her turn.

"How is Hufflepuff going to 'ruin him' exactly?" Hermione grumbled.

"Well, obviously, it's where you go if you're not strong, brave, smart, or evil enough to get into any of the other Houses! It's the House for losers," Ron argued back.

"You do realize that Tonks was in Hufflepuff, right? And that she's an Auror, just like Mr. Shacklebolt," the bookworm pointed out.

"Well, yes, but... you have to admit, she's not one of the best. I mean, she admitted herself that she barely managed to pass her tests..." Harry put in.

"Because she is clumsy, which has absolutely nothing to do with magical skill. And again, how is it 'ruining' a student to end up in Hufflepuff? The House of hard work, determination, loyalty, acceptance, inclusion... the House that Cedric Diggory—the Hogwarts Champion that the completely impartial Tri-Wizard Cup chose without tampering—was in!" Hermione argued at the two boys as the Sorting Hat sent the blond girl up front to Slytherin House.

Ron shot an unsure look at Harry when she brought up the events of last year. It was clear he hadn't been convinced by the argument, but would let the subject drop for the sake of avoiding another blow-up from Harry-the-ticking-time-bomb in the Great Hall. Hermione held her accusing glare on him a moment longer, trying to out-stubborn him, but eventually even she let the subject drop.

Harry, meanwhile, was still too busy with his own introspections to notice the battle of wills by his friends. He was angry at Hermione's insinuation that he was not a real Champion of Hogwarts, despite all he had been through, and a nasty little feeling in the back of his head even gloated that he had survived while Cedric had not, so clearly he was the better Champion to begin with. He did his best to squash down that voice, as it had been the same one that had made him unfairly jealous of Ron. So instead, he focused on the other voice that pointed out that Hermione was right about Cedric's House and how he had been a wonderful, powerful wizard, and so perhaps he should concede that little Lucas Shacklebolt may not be as lost as his first impulse had implied.

Harry's thoughts were pulled back to the here and now when he heard McGonagall's voice call out "Weasley, Quentina!" He spun around in time to see a girl with spikey auburn hair and a pair of square glasses step nervously up to the stool.

"Weasley?" Harry echoed, looking to Ron in bafflement.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. She's my... second cousin, I think?" Ron waved off, "What, did you think my family was the last Weasleys in existence? There's even other Weasleys in the other Houses. We're actually one of the most common Wizarding families in Great Britain."

"Oh...?" Harry trailed off, suddenly taking a moment to scan the rest of the room to try and see if he could pick out anyone that looked like Ron or his brothers.

"There used to be more of us. In the last war, you know entire families were wiped out for not doing what You-Know-Who wanted, right? Well, a lot of those families happened to be Weasleys. That's why mum and dad were so ready to join this fight..." Ron reflected.

Harry's mind flashed back to the night where Mrs. Weasley had challenged the bogart. The lifeless corpses of her children spread out before her on the ground. Harry's own body among them, as precious to her as any other of her children. The stricken look on Sirius and Lupin's faces upon seeing it. And suddenly, he thought he understood a bit more why those fears were so prominent in the matriarch, and why she was so desperate to protect her little ones from danger for as long as physically possible.

Ron's young cousin was soon enough sent to Ravenclaw, and Ron just nodded and said something vague about suiting her. And then, McGonagall was moving on to the next student. "Whisp, Acacia," she called clearly to the room. The room waited in silence, eyes on the last four students at the front of the room. No one moved. "Whisp, Acacia!" McGonagall repeated, an impatient edge entering her voice.

Of the four still standing up there, the two boys eyed the two girls questioningly. One of the girls, of obvious mixed ancestry, was similarly eyeing the other girl, and so soon the whole room was staring expectantly at the little girl with cropped sandy curls as she stood zoned out and staring at the ceiling. The girl apparently didn't notice.

The blond boy, who wore his hair in a loose tail down his back, tugged at his sleeves and began inching away from the girl beside him so as to remove himself from the range of fire. The other boy, who had short fluffy, layered brown hair, stared at her around the other girl with round, incredulous baby blue eyes. "Miss Whisp!" McGonagall snapped, still getting no response from the child.

Tentatively, the other girl standing up front beside Whisp reached out and poked her in the arm. The young curly-top turned her slanted black eyes onto the darker skinned girl blankly, who quickly proceeded to point nervously at the stool in front of them. Whisp turned her gaze to the empty stool and the stern witch shooting daggers at her for her inattentiveness. Whisp sighed and walked unhurriedly up to the stool, turning on her heel and plopping down unceremoniously. Her eyes already returned to the ceiling in a bored sort of detachment.

McGonagall lowered the Sorting Hat over Whisp's head, and Whisp leaned forward and down in order to continue to see the ceiling beyond the rim. You could see the blood vessels popping out on the Deputy Headmistress's temple. You could see the disbelieving stares of the staff table. You could see Dumbledore struggling to contain his amusement. Many of the students in the audience didn't manage to as laughter began to pick up across the tables. McGonagall forcefully cleared her throat as she all but shoved the Sorting Hat down over the girl's eyes and with a resigned sigh the girl pushed herself back up to a slouched position.

The room fell silent after a few residual snickers as everyone seemed keen to discover where the oddball girl would end up. The Sorting Hat seemed to be taking its sweet time, but the student body did not wane in interest after the show put on so far. Finally, after almost a whole minute, the Hat declared the girl to be "GRYFFINDOR!" which caused poor McGonagall to turn a little green around the edges.

"Woodrook, Jayce" was called up as Whisp drifted her way towards the red table, and though he was still giving the spacey girl an incredulous look, he did not make the Deputy Headmistress wait. His obedience seemed to unruffle a few of the witch's feathers and she managed not to shove the Sorting Hat onto his head as well. It didn't take very long before the Hat had the boy headed off to Hufflepuff as well.

"Yaxley, Ignacio," McGonagall called, looking down at the blond boy expectantly. The boy tugged at his sleeves once more—obviously a nervous habit—and put on his best defiant face as he stepped up to meet his fate.

Snape watched carefully as Yaxley sat stiff-backed on the stool. If he wasn't mistaken, this was the son of Corban Yaxley, though Snape had not personally ever met the boy. Though he wasn't to the point of the Rosiers who were so wrapped up in themselves they seemed to forget they had a child, Corban was definitely not the overly doting and spoiling type that the Averys were, nor as proud a parent as the Parkinsons or Malfoys who insisted on parading their children around and making everyone else fawn and coo over them to be polite. Therefore, at the formal events—which were the only ones Snape ever bothered to attend—the young Yaxley boy was never forced to make an appearance, and so never had.

Still, Snape knew enough about what Corban would instil in terms of morals and values in the boy to not be surprised in the least when the child was soon sorted into Slytherin. The Death Eater's son sat still as the Deputy Headmistress removed the Sorting Hat from his head, tugged at his sleeves once more, and made his way over to where the rest of the Death Eater's children had been grouped together by their elders.

And finally, there was only one last name to be called upon. Her dark, mixed ancestry skin was blanched with nerves and her poor limbs trembled slightly as all eyes honed in on her expectantly. She dipped her head forward slightly and let her long frizzy mane of not-quite-black hair fall around her shoulders in a curtain, her flower hairpin catching in the candlelight with the motion. "Zeller, Rose!" Mgonagall articulated for the benefit of the audience. Rose attempted to swallow, but her mouth was abnormally dry, so instead she set her square jaw and stepped forward to face her fate as bravely as she could. Once seated, she closed her round brown eyes and awaited what would come next.

The Hat had barely began to sink down over her brow when it called with no uncertain terms or hesitation "HUFFLEPUFF!" and Rose quickly swiped it off her head once more and slid to her feet. She handed the Sorting Hat back to Professor McGonagall with a polite curtsy before turning and hurrying to her new table where she sat between the puppy-like girl and the muggle-born boy who had been the first sorted into Hufflepuff.

With all the students sorted and seated, the Ceremony had officially come to a close and the Hall gave one last round of applause as the Deputy Headmistress set the Sorting Hat back on its stool and carried them away to the side room once again.

(1) – In Japan, it is considered extremely rude to not refer to a person by their name after they have been introduced to you. Sakura, being a good, polite child, doesn't want to cause any problems with her classmates by not remembering how to address them.

Oh, how that chapter did not want to be written. Computers dying, corrupted save files, and more lead to large sections of this story (as in 5 to 10 pages worth) having to be rewritten in entirety no less than three times, plus being a full-time med student means free time to focus on expressing my imagination is very limited. But, finally, I present this to you. I decided to cut it off here and save the welcoming feast for next chapter as to ensure that my dear readers did not have to wait another year or more to see what happens next. I know some people will be impatient about how I handled the Sorting Ceremony, but unlike Harry, Sakura's the sort to actually pay attention to her classmates and so I took this opportunity to introduce you to the main 37 kids that will be the backdrop for her adventures in the chapters to come. If you're interested in them, I have a picture of them that I posted to DeviantArt. I would supply the link but this page deletes links, so just go to the page and search "Deck Master Class Picture" and you should find it no problem. Up next is the start of term feast, where we meet even more new characters (older students from the different houses) and get a few more mandatory plot points out of the way. And as always, ask questions and tell me your thoughts, if you manage to inspire me with something you say, I'll send you one of my bonus scenes. See you all in *starts singing the slinky tune* Everyone Loves Yuki-to!