Chapter Text
Welcome to NamJin's Story
Letters first arrived at Namjoon’s muggle home when he was ten. They were inked in green, scarily accurate in description of the address but with no discernable stamps to find a return address, only a coat of arms twisting with animals around a large ‘H’ in the middle. The ten-year old Namjoon had examined every inch of the strange letter and returned it to the mantle, perhaps this was some kind of prank by the immature children in school who resented his quick advancement to the seventh grade. So far they had only made fun of his gangly state and called him a ‘beanpole,’ but perhaps they had now extended so far as to send him funny green ink letters just to see him flail in nervousness. He shook his head, heading back to the living room where his birthday cards were decked on the piano and fireplace.
Ah yes, his parents were taking his little sister to the dentist today.
Namjoon had always been more responsible and independent than the other kids in school, or that’s what he heard his teachers tell his mother often. And his parents did not have to worry too much about him taking care of himself in their absence.
So he knew his mother would’ve prepared something for his late breakfast and as expected there was a yellow note on their white refrigerator, cheerful writing in dark red marker, ‘There’s seaweed soup in the flask! Be sure to drink it all up!'
Namjoon smiled to himself, looking at the flask squarely sitting on the dining table. He opened the cap it to get a whiff of it but a figure in the hallway caught his attention. He was to be met with someone who would change his perception of the world forever. An old, white bearded man in a long indigo robe stood in the middle of the living room, examining a paperback novel that his mother had been trying to get Namjoon to read all summer.
To his immense relief Namjoon didn’t scream immediately when he saw the apparition in the middle of his house, he did the most sensible thing at the time, he promptly reached for the phone, dialing the emergency number. His parents had warned him repeatedly of such things and Namjoon had watched many movies thank you very much. He knew what could potentially happen in such situations and none of them had prepared him for what came next.
The man looked at Namjoon, he looked more ancient than anyone Namjoon had met but the man’s blue eyes twinkled like they still held all the light in the world. His thin lips smiled at the ten year old and the corners of his eyes crinkled in more wrinkles. He opened his palm and a small crab was scuttling across the white bony expanse of the wrinkled hand. Surprised and intrigued, Namjoon kept an eye on the small tiny crab as he clutched the phone to his ear. Too focused on watching the small crab grow big in size and small again as it crossed the pale palm, Namjoon didn’t notice the dial tone beeping incessantly at his ear.
The ten year old was far too composed as he solemnly replaced the receiver and held out a hand for the miniscule crab. He looked carefully at the strangely dressed man and then at the crab again. Then he took a deep breath and repeated exactly what he had just seen moments ago- shrinking the fist sized crab now as it snapped its pincers.
‘Mom said it was an illusion,’ He said, lips pursed but eyes bright and fixed on the other, he returned the crab now small as a little toe nail. He recounted the number of times he had done such things out of sheer will, things that shouldn’t be explainable from the forces of science that Namjoon had learned so far.
The man’s eyes twinkled again. ‘No. It’s magic,’
Namjoon didn’t suppress the loud hoot, screams and shouts that burst through his lungs. He was magic.
‘Did you come here by magic too?’ the boy asked in wonder. Namjoon’s wide eyes were far from settling back to their normal size in light of the new situation.
‘Yes, yes I did. Was a short pleasant journey! I came here to see why you hadn’t opened any of my letters,’
Namjoon’s brown eyes widened even further, ‘Those letters… where from you? How did you know which one was my bedroom?’
‘The Ministry of Magic keeps an eye on young magic folk. We don’t want your magic to be noticed by muggles do we,’
‘Muggles?’ Namjoon blinked, head bent to one side.
‘Muggles are people who cannot do magic,’
Namjoon looked around his house. Was he the only one who was not a muggle in his family? He never felt they understood him and his occasional bursts of magic. So maybe… he was the only one…
‘What’s making you frown?’ The white bearded man asked him.
‘Am I the only one in my family who can go magic? How am I so different from them?’
Dumbledore nodded understandingly and walked further into his house, going towards the kitchen and Namjoon followed.
‘We haven’t been able to discern yet… how magic chooses to show itself in certain people. But rest assured, you don’t need to feel different than your family. Muggle or Magic, we are all human. We’re the same. You will use spells, the muggles use technology.
‘But I know technology too! What if I use both?’
Dumbledore chuckled, ‘I see you are a smart one. Maybe when you grow up, you can figure out how to merge the two. I’m afraid not all technology works well with magic. Something to do with different wavelengths,’ Dumbledore waved his hand. ‘Your mother should be here soon, shouldn’t she?’
‘Yeah,’ Namjoon nodded. ‘Will you leave before she comes?’
‘On the contrary, I have come to see her too. Your parents need to be informed about what Hogwarts is so that you can join next year,’
‘Hogwhats?’
‘Hogwarts. The school in Britain to learn magic. The best school in the world,’ Dumbledore winked. ‘Your name has been written down since the past 5 years!’
Namjoon blinked with furrowed brows and then spoke, ‘Don’t mind me saying, but, if my mother finds you sitting in her kitchen, I don’t think she’s gonna want to listen to anything you have to say. She’s going to scream and call the police,’
‘Hm. Maybe you’re right,’ Dumbledore blinked and suddenly stood up. ‘Ok then I’ll ring the bell when she’s back,’
Over the course of the year, Namjoon and his parents learned a lot about the Wizarding world hidden just beneath the surface of daily life and Hogwarts, the school that their first-born had been recruited into. Namjoon’s mother had clearly told the old Gandalf-like man (he learned way later that Dumbledore was his Headmaster and professor, for the whole year he thought of him as Gandalf) that she would only send her son to the school after a thorough checking and the impact it might have on Namjoon’s future. She was scared but also immensely concerned about blindly sending her son away to some hocus-pocus school with a strange old man. It had taken a whole year. Well, almost a whole year to convince his parents that he wanted this, that he would be safe, that if trained right Namjoon might as well be a wizard wielding great power. His mother had liked that, that her son would become someone important in a world she had little knowledge of troubled her but not as much as leaving such a promising smart child in a world where he might just disappear into a statistic.
Of course Namjoon hadn’t understood any of that at the time, he was just excited. The idea that he was a wizard, that he could do magic was keeping him from his regular classes, but he was still acing everything despite having to secretly trying to make magic happen every single chance he had (the fourth time he had tried to telekinesis his way through the backyard, he got a letter from someone from the Ministry of Magic. His parents hadn’t been happy.)
*
*
*
A year later…
Seokjin blinked several times as the bright flash from the camera hit his stunned face.
‘C’mon now, give me a good smile!’ His mother said from behind the device she was holding. It was a new arrival, the latest and most expensive model inspired by the muggle camera that could fit in your palm and which you could tuck in your pocket, but the muggle photographs did not move like theirs did. His father had brought him the camera as his 11th birthday gift and Seokjin had never been more excited in his life. He had spent the entire summer clicking pictures about anything and everything. But now, his mother was making him curse the existence of this device.
‘Mum, I’ll be late for the train!’ he whined.
‘Oh hush now, if you miss the train, we’ll drop you to school,’
‘And have Dumbledore write me up for being late before I even start school?’ Jin raised his eyebrows.
‘Dumbledore won’t do that! You don’t worry about it. No one can write anything bad about you!’ His mother smiled. She had a beautiful warm smile and big, twinkling eyes which Seokjin’s relatives said he had inherited.
Seokjin’s father entered the room then. The man smiled proudly, seeing his only son in black Hogwarts robes, ready to depart to school and start an important journey in his life. This was a milestone moment for both parents, who hadn’t thought they would be blessed with a child for many years. That was not something the head of an important pure blood family wants to bear. Mr. & Mrs. Kim had prayed and wished for years, that they be granted a child, someone who could carry their name and family forward. And then Seokjin was born. Mr. Kim Hyunseok was the oldest amongst his siblings, but Seokjin was the youngest amongst all his cousins, like their littlest baby brother, dotted on and loved by everyone.
‘Take one with me,’ Hyunseok said and stood next to his son. Jin's head reached the middle of his father's arm length and the boy couldn't wait till he was as tall as his father. Kim Hyunseok was broad shouldered, tall and handsome, his dark brown hair swept back over his head, a firm hand resting on Jin’s shoulder as both father and son stood resplendent and the camera flashed again.
‘Ok, now can we please get to the train station?’ Jin pleaded, his pink lower lip pouting. His father chuckled and bent lower, a knee on the pearl and silk carpet. Once their faces were on level he looked at Jin intently.
‘Seokjin,’ he addressed his full name this time, ‘Are you ready to start school?’
Jin chewed his lower lip slightly before answering, ‘I am,’
‘Good,’ his father smiled, ‘You are embarking on a very important journey. These seven years at Hogwarts will be your best and most cherished years, and also the most important. You know why it’s more important to you than to some others?’
Jin bit his lip again, ‘Because… because I’m a Kim?’
‘Yes,’ his father nodded, a sense of pride coming over him, ‘You are a Kim. Our lineage goes back thousands of years. We have the blood of the royal Kims of the eastern lands. You must always present yourself as such, never forget who you are,’
Jin’s eyes travelled over his father’s robes. He saw a small pin of a golden lion on his deep red lapel.
‘What if… ’ Jin blinked. ‘What if the sorting hat doesn’t put me in Gryffindor like it put you and Grandfather? What will I do then?’
‘Well,’ his father sighed and stood up, ‘The truth is, I see a lot of the qualities in you that a Gryffindor must possess. So I’m confident that you will be in our house,’
‘But, what if!’
‘The hat considers your choice you know? Because what you want to become, what you aspire, is also a part of you at present. So aspire to be like your ancestors. Even then… even if not Gryffindor, you must excel wherever you are! Each house has good qualities,’
‘You… you won’t be cross if… if it’s not Gryffindor?’ Jin asked nervously, glancing up at his father who looked back at him.
‘Jin, I will only be cross at you when you haven’t done your best despite having the potential. You owe it to yourself to give it your all. Be fair to yourself,’
Jin swallowed in the nervousness and nodded. His father smiled again and clapped a hand on his back, ‘Come on now, let’s head to King’s Cross,’
*
An apprehensive Namjoon climbed aboard the Hogwarts Express intrigued, but mostly bewildered by the sheer scale of magicness around him. He had waved his mother and father goodbye on the platform and now they were out of sight. He was panicking that he would be completely out of place again, and have no friends again, and would probably be teased again, and . . . and. . . and.. . The thoughts never ceased and snowballed inside his head, crowding and jostling and his body had stopped functioning as he stood in the lonely corridor of the train.
A small hand on his back startled him out of his stupor, ‘Hey, are you a first-year too?’
Namjoon turned, panicked and then immediately calmed when he saw the serene, beautiful face staring at him. The boy was his height, and clutching a bag of snacks to his chest as if they were his lifeline. He looked a little nervous, like he was waiting for Namjoon to shoo him away or something. Namjoon’s mouth was dry, his hands were sweating, he was never good at making friends but he wanted to make a proper friend so bad, so he did the one thing he had seen his dad always do and stuck his hand out straight in front of him, ‘Hi! My name is Namjoon,’ He must have misjudged something in his head, because when he spoke (more like shouted) the other boy startled so bad that his brown eyes became bigger and hands clutched the snacks closer to him.
A moment passed between them, Namjoon with his hand outstretched and slowly the other boy shook his hand. ‘Hi. I am Seokjin.’ His voice was soft around the edges, and quiet. Namjoon didn’t know what to do next so he just stood there trying to remember what he was supposed to do when Seokjin tilted his head a little to the side and said, 'This is my first time on the Hogwarts Express.’
Namjoon’s eyes widened and his hands were beginning to sweat again as the nerves crept in, he was going to go to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was going away from home, he wouldn’t see his mom or dad or his sister or even his dopey puppy ‘rapmon’, and suddenly Namjoon wanted nothing more than to get off the moving train and back to his room filled with batman comics and read through his favourite astronomy book.
‘Hey,’ Seokjin interrupted Namjoon’s thoughts and gestured with his free hand. ‘Do you want to find a seat together?’ He asked. Jin was looking at him and smiling now. And for just a moment Namjoon’s worries took a backseat as he smiled back and followed the other to find seats. Namjoon figured if he could make at least one friend he would be okay and Jin had the kindest smile he had ever seen.
They found a compartment with a few other students who looked to be their age. Both silently sat with two other students and Namjoon wondered what he was supposed to do for the next 6 hours till they arrived.
Jin observed the nervous boy in front of him, blonde hair in a bowl cut, cute lips and dimples that formed when he would smile. But his eyes were sharp, like they studied everything around him.
‘Hey Namjoon,’ Jin tried to break the ice so the other would feel comfortable. Jin got a good feeling from this boy. His instincts were usually right about people and he hoped they could be friends. ‘Are you hungry? I have some snacks. Mom said the sweets lady comes only by 3 PM so she packed me this,’ he opened his bag of snacks and held it. Namjoon smiled and took one.
‘Your parents… are magic too?’ Namjoon asked and then Jin realised why the boy looked so nervous. He was muggle born.
‘Yes, both my parents,’ he nodded. ‘Hogwarts has students from everywhere, magic or non magic family,’ Jin smiled.
‘Oh, must be nice,’ Namjoon shifted in his seat. ‘So you already know many things about magic don’t you?’
‘Well,’ Seokjin scratched his head. ‘I am not allowed to use any magic at home so I don’t know any spells. I didn’t even get to practice anything when I finally got my wand, can you believe that!’ the boy looked appalled.
‘C-can you… show me your wand?’ Namjoon asked, wondering if he had bought a normal wand from Diagon Alley. That shopkeeper was the most bizzare man Namjoon had ever met in his life. He seemed to know stuff about Namjoon despite meeting him for the first time. Namjoon had tried so so many wands until one finally ‘picked’ him as the old man said.
‘Here it is,’ Jin proudly pulled the artefact out of his robe sleeve. Namjoon noticed that, noting in his mind the place to tuck your wand for easy access.
‘Silver Lime Wood, 12 inches, Pheonix feather, unyielding,’ Jin recited what Ollivander had said to him. The man had been mighty excited when the common woods had rejected Jin. Ollivander’s grey eyes had borne into Jin’s brown orbs and then he had suddenly pulled this wand out, a shade similar to his own - silver wood.
Namjoon gaped at the beautiful wand. It had intricate carvings on the hilt and looked magnificent. One of the boys next to them also seemed to be in awe of it.
‘Did you say silver lime wood?’ The boy asked. ‘Is it real wood?’
‘Of course it’s real! Ollivander never sells fake goods,’
‘Wow, hope you know how rare this wood is,’
‘Yeah,’ Jin tucked the wand back in his sleeve, feeling embarrassed by the attention. ‘Ollivander told me all about it,’ he mumbled. The last real silver lime wood was in the 19th century and now only Ollivanders produced it in the rarest of quantities. ‘What about you Namjoon?’ He looked up and asked.
‘Mine isn’t anything has amazing as yours,’ Namjoon looked embarrassed too. He had wished his wand was normal but now he realised it might be just too plain. Was that because his parents weren’t magic?
‘Every wand is unique,’ Jin said. ‘There’s nothing like one is better than the others. The power is in the wielder,’
Namjoon slowly pulled his wand out of where he had tucked it in his bag. He held it awkwardly in his hand.
‘The old man said it’s 12 inches, beech wood, pleasantly springy… and unicorn hair!’
‘They say beech wood goes to the wisest wizards,’ Jin said and that made Namjoon smile shyly. Jin grinned with him and they talked more about what would be exciting about Hogwarts.
‘Quidditch!’ the fourth occupant of the compartment, a girl with blonde hair said. ‘I can’t wait to fly a broom!’
‘Fly? You actually fly?’ Namjoon asked, flabbergasted.
‘Yes, you fly. It’s a dangerous sport but it’s so much fun!’ the girl said.
‘I heard the potions master is an ass. He only favours Slytherins,’ the boy said.
‘Is that so? I heard the caretaker is an ass too. And he favours nobody,’
‘Isn’t he a Squib?’
‘That’s what I heard,’
Namjoon leaned closer to Jin who had come to sit beside him. Jin’s owl 'Owlbus' as he had fondly named it, had taken his previous seat because she was creating a ruckus sitting all alone on the top shelf.
‘What is a squib?’ Namjoon asked in a whisper to his new friend Seokjin.
‘Sometimes, people born in magical families aren’t born with magical abilities. They are called squibs,’
‘So… magic folk don’t like them?’
‘Well…’ Jin frowned. ‘You could say that,’
‘That’s not fair is it?’ Namjoon said. ‘That would be like my old friends hating me for having magic. I’m sure Squibs didn’t… intend to not have the powers,’
‘You’re right, it’s not fair,’ Jin said, observing that the wise beech wood wand and indeed chosen a wise wielder. Namjoon was from another world, yet his thinking was more open than any of Jin’s friends or their parents. He hoped they wouldn’t encounter any pure blood Slytherins or Namjoon will see another unkind side of this world.
They arrived at a station called Hogsmeade at around 6 30 PM. The sun had set and the village was glowing in the light of lanterns. A huge bearded man, bigger than any the first years had ever seen was holding a lantern and calling out ‘First years, come with me, first years, this way please. Don’ worry about yer stuff, it’ll reach yer dorms,’
The young students scurried and followed this giant man till they reached a big black lake with several boats.
‘Ok, get in, four in’a boat. Watch yer step there!’ the man showed them the light. Jin got into a boat and held his hand out for Namjoon who almost slipped and fell into the dark, unknown waters. Jin caught him in time and pulled him to the boat's safety. Namjoon stared at him wide eyed, shocked from his near escape from drowning and both started to laugh, fear forgotten as soon as it had come. For entering a school, this sure was a scary way. Namjoon preferred the muggle way of getting by road and entering through a gate.
The boat rowed on its own and soon they saw a tall, magnificent castle, its windows glowing with warm golden light. All of the students had their jaws open in wonder.
‘Yep, that’s Hogwarts! Innit beautiful!’ the big man said.
‘Hogwarts,’ Namjoon whispered, eyes wide and golden with the reflection of the castle’s light. He was finally here. This place… was real!
They reached the shore and the giant man helped them out one by one. The kids formed a line and entered the school’s courtyard through a tall stone arch. The great black oak doors opened and they entered the magical castle. Carvings of dragons, gargoyles and phoenixes lined the corridors and staircases and Namjoon turned his head in every direction to capture every detail. Jin on the other hand was calmer as he took in the surroundings. Hogwarts was as beautiful as he he had been told by several people. He saw a stern faced elderly woman walk towards them from top of the stairs, her robes green and black.
‘Welcome students,’ she stood at the start of the staircase. All the first years abruptly stopped and looked at her. ‘Welcome to your first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,’ she continued to speak, her eyes going over all the nervous faces. ‘I am Professor Minerva McGonagall. Before you can head to your dormitories, you will be first sorted into your respective houses. While you're here, your house will be like your family. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Once you are sorted, you can dine with your housemates and retire to your rooms with your house prefects. A fair warning,’ her eyes glowered slightly at all of them. ‘No wandering about the castle on your own. This is a big and confusing place, you could get lost and no one would ever find you,’
Her words sent a shiver down Namjoon’s spine. From all that he calculated until now, this school sure had great hazards that came with it’s magic.
‘Follow me now,’ she said and turned sharply. The students climbed up and followed her towards another set of wide doors and when it opened, the sight in front of them was more marvellous than anything they had seen yet.
The hall was huge, with four really long tables, full of shining cutlery. Each table had a runner of a different color - red, yellow, green, blue. Candles floated above them, and over that, they could see the night sky glowing with a full moon. Namjoon wanted to jump and yelp in excitement. Was this some dream? All of this was too good to be true. In front, he saw another table with older people and a familiar face amongst them. Dumbledore sat in the middle of this table, on an ornate chair. He looked at all the first years and smiled kindly at each of them.
‘When I call your name,’ McGonagall announced, ‘Please step forward,’
Namjoon hadn’t even noticed until now that there was a chair facing the entirety of the student body and an old battered hat in McGonagall's hand. She called the first student and the girl nervously walked ahead and sat on the chair. McGonagall placed the hat on the girl’s red head and that lifeless thing suddenly started to move and mumble.
‘Is… is the hat talking?’ Namjoon asked Seokjin who nodded in response.
‘My father told me, the hat sorts us into one of the four different houses,’
And then Namjoon realised that the differently coloured table runners represented the four houses.
‘How will the hat know?’ Namjoon whispered urgently. His knees were going weaker and legs feeling like jelly every time the line got shorter and the name list crept from A towards K.
‘Carter Emina,’ McGonagall called and a tall, auburn haired girl walked ahead, almost tripping over her feet. She chewed her lip and sat down. Before the hat could even sit on her head properly, the hat shouted ‘Ravenclaw’ and the blue table cheered for her. Namjoon hoped it went that quickly for him as well. He didn’t want to sit, facing the entire student body while the hat mumbled to him.
‘I hope we end up in the same house,’ Jin said. ‘It would be nice to have a friend,’
‘Yeah, I really hope so too,’ Namjoon nodded. ‘Wh-which house do you want to go to?’
‘My preferred house is Gryffindor,’ Jin said. ‘Though honestly, I’ll be happy anywhere. Ravenclaw seems interesting,’
‘Why Gryffindor then?’ Namjoon asked.
‘Almost my entire family is from that house. Gryffindors are said to be fierce and brave, like golden lions, who stand for what’s right. My family finds those qualities very admirable. Now that I think of it, you might just go to Gryffindor,’ Jin smirked.
‘What makes you say that??’
‘You stand up for what’s right. In a way you were against the discrimination towards Squibs,’
‘Oh,’ Namjoon felt shy and looked down. ‘I don’t know if I’m-‘
‘Kim Namjoon?’
Namjoon looked up so sharply, it was almost comical. He looked like his heart had jumped out of his mouth and he stood frozen in his spot. Jin tugged on his arm and pushed him ahead.
‘Don’t worry, I know you’ll be fine,’ He whispered as he sent Namjoon on his way to the sorting.
Namjoon almost slipped from the chair in nervousness but repositioned himself. Minerva McGonagall waited for him to settle and gently put the hat on his blonde head.
‘Ohhh, I see...,’
The voice made Namjoon jump. Till now he thought the hat just mumbled incoherently before announcing your house. But Namjoon could hear the words loud and clear now.
‘A very vast mind. You have so many thoughts inside you,’
The hat can speak!?
‘Of course I can speak boy! How else do you think I sort them?’
YOU CAN READ MY THOUGHTS TOO?
‘Stop screaming. Now let me sort out your thoughts and find the perfect house for you,’
Namjoon was panicking, trying very hard to sit still. How much could the hat know about him? Would he learn this kind of magic too? Was there really no ceiling above them?
‘What a curious mind, you seem like a good fit for Ravenclaw,’
Ravenclaw… his one new friend liked that house. Namjoon didn’t know why. But Jin would probably be going to Gryffindor. Namjoon thought the house of the brave golden lions suited Jin well. There was something regal about Jin and Namjoon could picture him in those shades of crimson and gold effortlessly, like he was meant to be there.
‘I see Gryffindor has you curious too. Ah yes, you possess a lot of the qualities,’
I do? Really?
The hat chuckled, ‘You are a humble one. I see bravery in you, and a fierce protectiveness for the people you love. That’s what makes your heart golden. You will do well in all of the four houses, you are hardworking and talented,’
Whichever house you see fit, please put me there, Namjoon thought because he could see the hat was taking the longest with him. He didn’t know how much longer he could bear all the students staring at him. Please just make it quick.
Namjoon looked at his hands on his lap, waiting with bated breath for the hat to say his house aloud… but at the same time, there was a pull in his heart, that he wished he would be in the same house as Jin.
‘GRYFFINDOR!’
The 2nd table to the right with red and gold runners clapped loudly for him. Namjoon smiled and quickly got off the chair, steps running and faltering towards the table. An older boy with a badge labelled ‘Prefect’ welcomed him in and made him sit with the other new Gryffindors. Namjoon instantly looked for Jin and saw him smiling at him, giving a small thumbs up.
‘Kim Seokjin,’ McGonagall announced next and the smile slowly died from Jin’s face. The boy walked forward and sat under the hat, eyes trained at something on the floor.
‘Ahhh… a Kim,’ the hat said and Jin jumped just the slightest. ‘And not just any Kim… it’s you,’
What do you mean?
‘You know what I mean boy. You’ve already seen yourself in the crimson robes haven’t you? You've had that vision?’
I don’t think that was a vision. It was just my imagination.
‘You’ll know to differentiate them one day. Don’t forget, it’s a blessing, no matter what the world tells you,’
Mr. Hat, I don’t know what you’re talking about.
‘Stop doubting yourself. Believe in the powers you have, and you will flourish,’
Jin didn’t know why exactly the hat was referring to… was it the fact that Jin sometimes saw things in his dreams that actually happened the next day?
‘Your mind is like the deep ocean,’ the hat said. ‘The surface looks so calm, unmoving, serene. But inside it, you have a whole other world,’
Jin didn’t speak any further to the hat. He thought it would be best to let it do it’s thing.
‘But it’s not going to be easy… nothing is going to be easy. You need a strong heart to make it through it all. A strong heart and strong mind, unyielding like your wand,’
The boy was impressed by how much the wand knew about him. He wondered if he could have that ability too, to read minds. It would be so fascinating.
‘And you have a helpful heart. I see the kindness in you, I see love and appreciation for every creature on earth, big or small. It takes courage to be that way, it takes a big heart. The qualities you yearn for are already in you, can't you see? I put you in…. GRYFFINDOR!’
Jin sighed in relief and headed down to join his friend at the table clapping loudly. The Gryffindor prefects looked elated. Some of the Gryffindor seniors greeted him and other house seniors congratulated him. Namjoon looked at that with curiosity.
‘They all know you?’ He asked in a whisper.
‘We all are just a small community so everyone knows everyone,’ Jin shrugged, not wanting to reveal the details of his royal family name just yet. Jin found that Namjoon treated him properly. There was nothing fake in his behaviour, no motive to his kindness. He wasn’t being nice to Jin just to impress him. Jin knew he would have to tell him soon, rather Namjoon is bound to find out within the first week of school. But for now, maybe just for today, he wanted their friendship to remain unbothered by other factors.