Chapter Text
Akk could not be happier as he stepped onto the Hogwarts Express.
He loved his parents dearly and always missed them when he returned to school, but as a Muggle-born wizard, Hogwarts was the one place where he truly felt he belonged. Now, starting his third year, with the Ravenclaw prefect badge gleaming proudly on his chest, he couldn’t stop the small smile tugging at his lips.
He had worked hard for this.
“Hey! There’s our prefect!”
Akk sighed before he even turned around.
Khan’s voice echoed down the corridor of the train compartment hallway, far louder than necessary. The Gryffindor boy waved enthusiastically while pushing through a crowd of students. Wat, their friend from Hufflepuff, followed behind him with a quieter smile.
“Khan,” Akk said when they reached him, lowering his voice, “you’re being too loud.”
“Oh, look at that,” Khan grinned. “Already doing your prefect duties?”
Wat laughed softly. “Let’s find a compartment first. More students are getting on board.”
The three of them nodded in agreement.
Despite being from different houses, they had bonded on the very first ride on the Hogwarts Express in first year, and the friendship had only grown stronger since then.
“This one looks empty,” Khan said, sliding open a compartment door.
It wasn’t.
A student was already inside, stretched out along the seat, fast asleep.
Wat hesitated. “Umm… should we find another one?”
Akk studied the sleeping figure for a moment before shaking his head.
“I don’t think he’ll mind sharing. Just keep the noise down.”
Khan and Wat exchanged glances before shrugging and stepping inside.
They settled into the seats opposite the sleeping boy, quietly pulling out their trunks. Soon enough, the three of them began changing into their Hogwarts robes and catching up on each other’s summer holidays.
“So my cousin tried to turn a frog into a teacup—”
“Akk,” Khan suddenly whispered, in the middle of Wat's story.
Akk looked up.
“What?”
Khan tilted his head toward the sleeping boy. “I just noticed… those aren’t Hogwarts robes.”
Akk followed his gaze.
The student wore robes of deep blue and cranberry, fastened with a golden Gordian knot clasp. The crest stitched on the chest was unfamiliar to most but not to Akk.
His eyes widened slightly.
“I think he’s a transfer student,” Akk murmured.
“Really?” Wat leaned closer.
“That crest belongs to Ilvermorny.”
Khan blinked. “Wait, Ilvermony as in the American wizard school?”
Akk nodded. “I read about it once. Professor Dika mentioned it.”
“Hogwarts rarely gets transfer students,” Wat said, clearly intrigued.
The conversation soon drifted back to summer stories and Quidditch gossip, but Akk found his attention wandering again and again to the sleeping student across from them.
He had a surprisingly handsome face.
Long eyelashes cast soft shadows across his cheeks, and his lips..
Akk froze.
Cupid’s bow lips. Perfect for...
He jolted upright.
What are you doing?
His ears burned as he forced his gaze away, straightening his robes as if the fabric itself could restore his dignity.
“Khan, Wat...I—uh—have to report to the prefect compartments,” Akk blurted suddenly, standing up. “I’ll come back in a bit.”
Neither of his friends questioned it.
When Akk returned a few minutes later, the transfer student was already awake.
Khan and Wat were already chatting with him like they had known him for years.
“Akk! You’re back,” Khan said brightly. “This is Ayan. You were right, he transferred from Ilvermorny. He’s in our year.”
Akk nodded politely, though his posture stiffened slightly.
“Welcome to Hogwarts,” he said. “You should probably change into your Hogwarts uniform.”
Ayan leaned back against the seat, arms lazily folded.
“Nah,” he said casually. “I’m comfortable in this. Robes are robes, right?”
Akk’s prefect instincts flared instantly.
“The school rules state that students must wear the Hogwarts uniform while traveling on the train,” he said firmly. “Since you’re now a Hogwarts student, you should follow the rules.”
Ayan tilted his head.
Then he smiled.
It was slow.
And irritatingly smug.
“Try me, Prefect,” he said.
The way he said the title felt less like respect and more like a challenge.
“I haven’t even been sorted yet,” Ayan continued lazily. “So you can’t deduct points from me or give me detention… can you?”
Akk’s blood boiled.
Before he could respond, Khan grabbed his sleeve.
“Akk, relax,” Khan said quickly. “He’s probably just teasing.”
Wat jumped in immediately.
“So—uh—Ayan! Ilvermorny also has four houses like Hogwarts, right?”
Ayan’s attention shifted away from Akk, and the tension eased slightly.
“Yeah,” Ayan said easily, launching into an explanation while Wat listened with interest and Khan asked endless questions.
Akk sat quietly.
Fuming.
Every now and then, Ayan glanced at him again—always with that same infuriating smirk.
The rest of the train ride passed without bloodshed.
Thankfully.
When they arrived at Hogwarts, they shared a carriage with their other classmates, Thua and Namo, which thankfully kept Ayan occupied in conversation and spared Akk from further confrontation.
Later that evening, the Sorting Ceremony began.
Akk sat at the Ravenclaw table, his prefect badge catching the candlelight as he pretended to listen to the announcements.
But his eyes kept drifting.
Toward the line of students waiting to be sorted.
Toward Ayan.
Almost as if he sensed it, Ayan turned his head.
Their eyes met across the Great Hall.
Ayan grinned.
Smug.
Infuriating.
When Deputy Headmaster Aof called his name, Ayan stepped forward confidently and dropped onto the stool.
The Sorting Hat barely touched his head before shouting:
“GRYFFINDOR!”
The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers.
But Ayan didn’t look at them.
His attention remained fixed on the third-year Ravenclaw prefect who was still glaring daggers at him from across the hall.
Ayan chuckled softly to himself.
“Hm,” he murmured.
“This school year is going to be interesting.”
TBC