Chapter Text
When Nishinoya Yuu received is Hogwarts letter, he was hardly surprised, despite the fact he was a muggle-born. He knew all about the school of witchcraft and wizardry, and no, not because he’s read Harry Potter a million times (though he had).
“NOYA!” A loud voice called, his only warning before being bowled over at the mailbox.
“I GOT THE LETTER DON’T WORRY!” Nishinoya gasped out.
“I KNOW I MADE MY MOM DO THAT SPELL TO SEE IF YOU DID!” Tanaka Ryuunosuke, his childhood friend, was the of the only son of the Minister of Muggle Affairs. He supposed it really wasn’t surprising that a boy raised under that clout would befriend a muggle-born.
“Dude! Let’s go tell your parents and Shouyou!!” Nishinoya grinned, every bit as excited as Tanaka. They raced to the front door, ecstatic. Hinata, who knew the letter was meant to come that day, was waiting just within the door.
“SO???” Hinata squawked at his cousin.
“I GOT IN!” Nishinoya yelled, pulling the smaller boy into a tight hug. Tanaka, never one to miss out on a hug, glomphed them both. Despite being shorter than both, he easily lifted them both a few centimetres off the ground.
“MOM! DAD!” Nishinoya yelled, running as soon as he was released from Tanaka’s tight embrace. His father was sitting at his desk in the office, and his mother was in next room. Neither so much as flinched at Nishinoya’s excited shouts.
“I GOT A LETTER FROM A MAGIC SCHOOL!”
This got his mother’s attention. She immediately came over to check out the letter.
“The school that Tanaka’s mother told us about?” She asked, startled.
“The same one!” Nishinoya beamed, “Ryuu got in too!”
“Of course…” Nishinoya’s mother muttered, then turned toward her husband’s office. “SHINICHI!”
Nishinoya’s father jumped. He stood, muttering something about why were his wife and son so loud, and hadn’t they heard the word quiet before…
“DAD I GOT INTO THE MAGIC SCHOOL!” Nishinoya bounced to meet his dad, positively glowing. His father stared for a second, not comprehending. Then his face lit up as much as his sons as he realized what he was on about.
“YOU GOT INTO HOGWARTS? I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!” Shinichi bellowed, swelling with pride. He wasn’t a tall man by a long shot, but he seemed to stand a few feet taller as he embraced his son that afternoon.
Hinata and Tanaka bounced in the room, both grinning from ear to ear. Nishinoya’s mother swept them both into her embrace, so pleased for her son. Then she cackled menacingly.
“Yuu… you have no choice but to go shopping now!”
***
Not a week later, Nishinoya and Hinata were bouncing outside of a shabby looking pub in the middle of London. Nishinoya’s parents examined the building apprehensively. They were waiting for Tanaka Saeko, Tanaka Ryuu’s older sister, to show them how to enter Diagon Alley.
“Sorry we’re late!” Saeko called, pulling her brother along by his ear.
“OH MY GOD RYUU!” Nishinoya jumped him, rubbing a freshly shaved head.
“I know, it looks awful!” Tanaka tried to cover his head with his cloak.
“IT LOOKS AWESOME!” Hinata squealed, reaching to touch the peach fuzz that was left.
“YOU LOOK LIKE A BADASS!” Nishinoya screamed at the same time.
“YUU!” Nishinoya’s parents admonished in unison.
“Sorry…” Nishinoya apologized, not sounding sorry in the least.
“I told you!” Saeko grabbed her brother in a chokehold to give him a noogie.
“Tanaka, sweetie...” Nishinoya mother said gently, “We need you to take us into Diagon Alley.”
“OH! Right!” Saeko stormed into the tavern.
“HEY! It’s Saeko!” The bartender grinned at her, a tall blond man.
“Sorry, I’m on a mission today! I’ll be back this evenin’ though!”
“Is that your little bro?”
“Yep!” Saeko grinned at the bartender fiercely.
“Mine starts next year. Good luck to you, kid!” the bartender nodded at Tanaka.
The group made their way to the back alley, where Saeko pulled out her wand and started tapping at the bricks.
Hinata’s and the Nishinoyas’ eyes grew wide as the bricks moved to reveal a spectacular sight. A busy street of witches and wizards selling magical goods filled their vision, and Nishinoya couldn’t decide where to look first. There was a test-ride stall filled with various broomsticks, and a little old lady was covered in fire breathing lizards. Hinata saw another vendor selling exotic candy, and would’ve run off had Nishinoya’s father not grabbed him by the back of the collar.
“Shouyou, calm down. It’s Yuu’s day to shop.” Nishinoya’s father reprimanded him. Hinata bounced up and down.
“But Uncle! They have those jelly-bean-things that Tanaka-senpai gave me for Christmas!” he protested. Tanaka puffed out his chest and immediately went to the vendor, dodging his sister, and got some of the afore mentioned beans.
“Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavored Beans, for my adorable kouhai!” Tanaka grinned, thrusting them at the younger boy, who immediately hugged him koala-style before digging into the bag, making faces all the while. Nishinoya’s father rubbed his temples, opting not to give more of a reaction.
As they made their way to the Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Saeko chewed her brother out for buying candy first thing in the day, and didn’t he know he had to set a good example for Hinata?
The robe fitting for both boys didn’t take long, though both were fidgeting with nervous energy. Hinata made faces at them, trying to make them giggle, and that certainly didn’t help. It earned him a gentle thump on the head from Nishinoya’s father.
“Next stop, the Owl Emporium!” Tanaka decided. Nishinoya grinned. He’d been looking forward to this all day. Inside, it was dark and filled with glowing eyes. A cheerful boy was exclaiming over all the owls, and how cute they were. His friend, a tall kid with impressive bedhead, rolled his eyes looking bored.
Hinata grinned at them, and bounced over to make friends.
“YUU CHECK THESE OUT!” Tanaka yanked Nishinoya’s attention from watching his cousin to a small cage in the darkest corner of the shop. Disgruntled flapping and hooting followed in Tanaka’s wake. In that small cage there were two black birds hopping around, trying and failing to caw.
One stopped hopping to examine Nishinoya. It tilted its head and hopped closer. Nishinoya was mesmerised.
“Saeko…” Nishinoya called quietly, not wanting to break whatever spell was over the crow.
“What’s up, kiddo?”
“Does Hogwarts allow crows?” he asked, gesturing slightly at the bird.
“Um… I really don’t know…” Saeko looked puzzled.
“They do,” the shopkeeper approached. The crow immediately was distracted by the shining name tag (“Ukai”) as the blond man closed the distance. “The only problem is that these two are a mated pair. Separating them would be… unwise.” Ukai chose the last word carefully.
“SAEKO I WANT HIM!” Tanaka shouted, causing another outbreak of disgruntled flapping and hooting. The other crow was hopping and silently cawing as if mimicking the boy.
“I suppose that won’t really be a problem, then, since we don’t have anywhere to keep a bird, and the Tanakas do.” Nishinoya’s mother had joined them.
“Do they have names?” Nishinoya asked as Ukai cautiously carried the cage to the front.
“It’s funny you ask… We got these two in yesterday, and had to put a silencing charm on them so they wouldn’t upset the owls.” Ukai started punching keys on the register, “They had little bronze tags on their legs with what we supposed were names. Yours is Kara, and his is Suno. I don’t suppose they’d object to a name change if you don’t like them…”
Both Tanaka and Nishinoya had shining eyes, as though more perfect names couldn’t have existed. They also refused to keep them in the cage, instead allowing them to perch on their shoulders.
“Loqui!” Ukai waved his wand at the birds. Suno immediately took flight, cawing in delight before landing back on his shoulder. “And I’ll see you at Hogwarts!”
The wand shop proved to be an explosive stop on their shopping trip, as Nishinoya set one shelf on fire, and cracked two others before a cherry wand with a dragon heartstring core allowed him to summon a crack of thunder. Ollivander was left muttering about how he really must figure out a better way to match wands to wizards.
“…and then the thunder was all ‘GRWAR!’ and I was all ‘GWAH!’ and it was SO COOL HOW TANAKA’S WAND-“
“We know, Shouyou! We were there.” Nishinoya’s mother gently chastised him.
“BUT THE SHELF GREW FLOWERS!” Hinata yelled once more before finally letting it go.
The final store, the bookshop, had Nishinoya cringing at the thickness of each volume. As piled them into the trunk they’d bought first thing that day, he hoped he’d be able to keep up better than he had in muggle school.
The group left back through the Leaky Cauldron, and when it was time to part ways, Nishinoya had to be dragged away from Kara. He remembered the ticket upstairs on his desk. In only a few days he’d get to bring her on the train with him.
It was time to start a new adventure.