Chapter Text
Year 1
Dan stared at the ruby locomotive in front of him. This was it. It was his turn to go to Hogwarts, and he was terrified. His only comfort was the brown owl relaxing in her cage on top of Dan’s trunk. Dan poked his finger through the bars to stroke her feathers
“We can do this, right, Susan?” Dan whispered uncertainly. The owl only looked at him in response. His heart was beating so hard it felt like a bludger was trying to escape his chest.
“Well, Daniel, make us proud,” his father said as he clasped a firm hand on Dan’s shoulder.
“That’s what I strive for in life,” Dan muttered with a hint of sarcasm.
“Are you nervous?” his mother asked, Dan couldn’t help but nod a little. “Well, don’t be. My old school mate, Cissa, has a son your age, just find him and you’ll be fine.”
“What? Do I just go up to every 11 year old male and say ‘hi, you don’t know me, my mum used to know someone named Cissa when she was in school. Is she your mother? If so, wanna be friends?’” Dan asked, the sarcasm much more prominent in his voice. His mother rolled his eyes.
“His name is Draco Malfoy. Is that more helpful?” She asked. Dan shrugged.
“Well come on now or you’ll miss the train! Let us know how quickly the hat sorts you!” His father said. Dan’s stomach squirmed a bit. His father was so sure he would be sorted into Slytherin like the rest of the family, which was the main reason he was so nervous. His mother placed a quick kiss on his forehead and pushed him towards the train. Dan grabbed Susan’s cage and gave his trunk to the baggage handler. He took a deep breath and stepped on the train.
It didn’t take him very long to find an empty car. He sat down and stared out the window, waiting for the Hogwarts Express to leave the station. Maybe if he ran off now, no one would notice. He dwelled on this for what felt like ages. Then the train’s whistle blew and the station started to glide out of his view. Damn, now it was too late to leave. He pressed his against the window and did his best to look down at the tracks in the countryside.
“I could probably survive the fall if I jumped out right now...” Dan muttered to himself.
“Excuse me?” a voice said from behind him. Dan jumped and turned his head to face a skinny boy with straight, black hair and light blue eyes gazing at him.
“Uh-yeah-what-hi?” Dan stumbled with his words, smacking himself internally for how not-smooth that just was.
“Um…” The boy looked at him nervously, “May I sit here? Everywhere else is pretty much filled up.”
“Yeah, yeah go ahead!” Dan nodded, the boy sat down across from him, “I’m Dan, by the way, Dan Howell.”
“Phil Lester,” The boy smiled. They shook hands and Dan let out a sigh.
“So, Phil, are you ready to go to Hogwarts?” Dan asked, trying his best to be calm.
“No,” Phil said seriously, then he giggled, “I’m absolutely terrified!”
“You’re not the only one,” Dan grinned, “my family expects a lot from me.”
“My family doesn’t know what to expect, I’m the first one to go to Hogwarts.”
“Are you a muggle-born?”
“That’s what they say, yeah.”
“So how much do you actually know about Hogwarts then?” Dan leaned a little closer to Phil.
“I know that it’s a school for magical people, but that’s basically it,” Phil grinned. Dan laughed a little.
“Okay, well something else you need to know is that there are four houses you could be sorted into: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. There’s this hat that determines which one you belong in based on your personal qualities.”
“Well, which qualities get you into which house?”
“The hat apparently sings this whole song about that, but the summary of it is that Gryffindors are brave and badass, Ravenclaws are smart and logical, Hufflepuffs are loyal and kind, and Slytherins are cunning and ambitious.”
“What house do you think you’ll be?” Phil asked. Dan’s stomach squirmed again and he leaned back to look out the window.
“My father is so certain I’ll be a Slytherin. It’s what everyone else in my family was sorted into, so it’s expected of me,” Dan frowned.
“And you don’t want to be Slytherin?” Dan was about to enter when another boy entered the car. This one was pale with slicked, platinum blonde hair and grey eyes. He had an unpleasant look to his face that Dan could tell was just his neutral face.
“Slytherin is the best house there is. That’s why I’m sure I’ll be one,” The boy sat down next to Dan and extended his hand to him, “Draco Malfoy.”
“Dan Howell,” Dan said uncomfortably as he shook his hand. This was the boy his mother wanted him to befriend?
“I’m Phil Lester,” Phil smiled to Draco, who blatantly ignored him.
“Our mothers went to school together, so we’ll get along just fine,” Draco glanced at Phil, “That is...if you place yourself with the proper crowd…” Dan gave Draco a hard look.
“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” He challenged.
“Well, we purebloods have to stick together. We can’t allow ourselves to associate with filthy mudbloods,” Draco was staring right at Phil, who was looking back and forth at them with a confused look on his face. Dan felt an anger bubbling inside of him and stood up.
“Well better to associate myself with him than with pricks like you,” Dan’s voice was raised. Draco looked taken aback for only a moment before standing up as well, just as angry as Dan.
“You best watch your mouth there, Howell. Wouldn’t want to make an enemy of me,” Draco hissed.
“I’ll take my chances,” Dan replied menacingly. They glared at each other for a few more moments before Draco left the car. Dan closed the door after Draco and sat down across Phil once again. Phil looked from the door to Dan with a concerned look.
“What did that mean? The thing he called me...mudblood?” Phil asked. Dan sighed heavily.
“It’s a slur that pureblood supremacists use again muggle-born wizards. Because according to them, muggles and wizards should not mix. So muggle-born wizards are dirt to them," Dan shook his head, "No one deserves to be treated like that…”
“Well, thank you for standing up for me then,” Phil gave Dan a small smile.
“Anything for a friend,” Dan said, then his eyes widened suddenly, “I mean, you know, if you wanna be I mean we just met and all but you’re easy to talk to which doesn’t happen often for me and dear god okay I’m just gonna shut up now.” Dan’s cheeks turned red as Phil laughed.
“Yeah, I’d like that,” Phil smiled. Dan felt a rush of relief. Maybe Hogwarts wouldn’t be so bad after all.
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Dan and Phil stood next to each other during the sorting hat ceremony. It was a strange experience watching everyone sit on a stool and wait for an old hat to tell them their fate. The room always fell silent for what felt like ages when the hat was placed on someone’s head. There didn’t seem to be any particular order on the scroll that McGonagall called out the names from, so Dan and Phil were always on their toes.
“Draco Malfoy!” McGonagall called out. Dan glared as Draco sat on the stool with a smug look on his face. The hat didn’t even make it onto his head before shouting SLYTHERIN!! Dan suddenly became very nervous. What if the hat did the same to him? He dwelled on this thought until Phil poked him on the shoulder.
“Why is everyone whispering about this kid?” he whispered. Dan looked up at the stool and saw a really skinny kid with messy, black hair, green eyes, glasses. Dan was a bit confused as well, until he saw the infamous lightning bolt scar on the kid’s forehead.
“Son of a bitch… that’s Harry Potter…” Dan whispered.
“What? Who is he?” Phil asked.
“He’s one of the most famous wizards there is, I’ll explain more later…” Dan said. The hat called out GRYFFINDOR and Harry went to sit down at the appropriate table. McGonagall looked down at her scroll once more.
“Phillip Lester!” She called out. Phil’s blue eyes widened and he gulped before approaching the seat. The hat was on his head for a total of about 10 seconds before calling out HUFFLEPUFF!! Dan clapped just about as loudly as the actual Hufflepuff table. He knew Phil would be happy there.
“Daniel Howell!” McGonagall exclaimed. Dan held his breath as he went up to sit in front of everyone. The hat was placed on his head.
“So...another Howell has come to Hogwarts I see…” a voice said in Dan’s head.
“yeah, it seems so…” Dan thought in return.
“And you are just as ambitious as the rest of your family, you would fit in well in-”
“Don't say it..." Dan cringed.
"What do you mean?"
"I know which house you're going to say I should be in...and I absolutely dread it..."
“Do you not want to be in Slytherin?”
“More than anything...no...” Dan closed his eyes and pleaded with the hat.
“Hmm...this is interesting...are you sure? You could do great things in Slytherin, just as your family has done for generations…”
“I don’t want to follow the path that’s expected of me! I've tried telling my family so many times but no one will listen to me! I know you think I belong in the house my family was placed in! But I am BEGGING you to see differently! I want be my own person! More than anything in the world! Please! ANYTHING but Slytherin!” Dan closed his eyes tighter and gripped onto the seat. He was practically screaming in his head.
“Hmm...this is very courageous of you...very well...I say...GRYFFINDOR!!!” Dan gasped for air and opened his eyes. He couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t a Slytherin. The Gryffindor table was practically giving him a standing ovation. His whole body was shaking as he went to sit down at the scarlet and gold table. He was instantly greeted with congratulations and introductions left and right from his fellow Gryffindors. He was too dazed to respond to any of it. He just looked over at the Hufflepuff table. His eyes scanned the body of students until his he found Phil. His friend gave him a bright grin and two thumbs up. Dan returned the thumbs up and smiled, not even worried about what his family might say.
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“Dan I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to be up here!” Phil laughed as he ran after Dan in the empty corridor.
“Who cares! I overheard Potter and Weasley talking about something cool up here! Something that no wizard has ever seen before! Come on!” Dan grabbed Phil’s hand and pulled him around the corner.
“What if Filch catches us?!” Phil asked.
“Worth it!” Dan laughed as he stopped in front of the door at the end of the hall, “It should be in here…” He opened the door, the smile faded a little from his face. The room was empty besides a tall mirror.
“Um...Dan...I hate to break it to you, but I’m pretty sure wizards have seen mirrors before…” Phil said. Dan shook his head.
“This can’t be right...” Dan muttered. Phil walked up to the mirror and squinted his eyes.
“Does ‘Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi’ mean anything to you?” Phil asked as he looked up.
“What?” Dan asked. He walked up next to Phil.
“That’s what this mirror says at the top,” Phil shrugged. Dan sighed and sat down a little bit away from the mirror.
“So much for something cool,” he said. Phil looked over at him.
“Hey, mirrors can still be cool!” Phil said as he looked back to the mirror, “Whoa what the hell?!”
“What?!” Dan stood up quickly.
“My reflection!” Phil exclaimed.
“What about it?”
“I- it- just- here!” Phil stuttered as he pulled Dan next to him, “look at that!” one of Dan’s eyebrows raised.
“Yes Phil, you have a reflection, you’re not a vampire…” Dan stated.
“Do you not see her?!” Phil exclaimed.
“See who?” Dan asked.
“Sarah Michele Gellar surrounded by baby animals!!!” Phil was flailing his arms. Dan looked at his friend with widely confused eyes. Not only did he not know who that was, but he was now convinced that his best friend was insane.
“Phil have those potions essays gotten the better of you?” Dan asked. Phil groaned.
“No! Ugh! Here!” Phil placed Dan in front of the mirror and took a step to the side, “What do you see?!”
“Just you and me…” Dan still looked confused.
“Wait you see me with you?”
“yeah…”
“That’s impossible…”
“Oh and this Sarah Michele Gellar lady and baby animals is possible?!” Dan looked to real Phil, and was shocked to find him across the room, “Wait, what?” Dan looked back at the mirror, and sure enough Phil was next to him. He looked across the room at his equally confused friend.
“This is really weird…” Phil said quietly. Dan looked back at the mirror once more. Phil was still there.
“Yeah I think we’ve had enough adventure for today…” Dan backed away from the mirror slowly, keeping eye contact with it before he was next to real Phil and they ran out of the room screaming.