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Chapter Text

It all started 3000 years ago. In the realm of Ancient Greece, on the island of Rhodes, there lived a mysterious being known as Black Doom. He forged 19 Rings, known as the Rings of Power, and gave them to the leaders of the lands as gifts. He promised the rings would give them more control over the lands than ever before. But they were all deceived, as he forged another ring in secret. This ring, forged in the fires of the volcano Mount Doom on Rhodes, gave Black Doom the ability to control the 19 Rings of Power, giving him control of the lands. It was the One Ring to Rule Them All. Over the next few years, one by one, the lands fell under Black Doom's control. Everything seemed lost. But there were some who resisted.

An alliance of echidnas from near and far marched against the armies of Black Doom, the Black Arms. The Battle was held on the slopes of Mount Doom, Black Doom's homeland. The echidnas were outnumbered, but the average echidna warrior was stronger than the average Black Arms soldier. The battle went on for hours, with more losses on the Black Arms' side. Victory was near for the echidnas, but the power of the One Ring was too strong.

As the echindnas approached Black Doom, they could not even get close, as Black Doom was capable of throwing away multiple warriors with a single movement of his hand. Finally, the leader of the echidna elves from the far north, Chief Pachacamac, charged at Doom as quickly as he could, but he was slammed against a rock. Copán, son of Pachacamac, rushed to help his father. But it was too late to save him. All hope seemed lost. But at that moment, Copán grabbed his father's sword and chopped off Black Doom's hand, where the One Ring was. Soon, the hand fell down, and Black Doom was weakened. Copán attacked again, and was easily able to defeat him.

Black Doom, enemy of the inhabitants of the world, was defeated. But the war against him was far from over. Copán grabbed the One Ring, and walked up Mount Doom with his sister Tikal. Copán had the chance to destroy the Ring, and all of Black Doom's power, but the One Ring could easily corrupt the hearts of many. Instead of throwing it into the lava like Tikal demanded him to do, Copán took the Ring and left. As the new leader of his clan, he declared it the national treasure.

However, the One Ring had a will of its own. Just as the echidna elf army had reached the other side of the island, they were attacked by a group of surviving members of the Black Arms, desperate to get the One Ring in an attempt to bring their master back. Copán used the One Ring to turn himself invisible and escaped into a nearby river. At that moment, the Ring betrayed Copán, making him visible and an easy target.

The One Ring fell into the bottom of the river, where it stayed for a long time. Recent events became history, history became legend. For nearly 2500 years, the Ring remained lost. Until it got a chance to find itself a new bearer.

Chapter Text

It was a regular day on the island of Rhodes. It was the 15th century, so the days of Ancient Greece were distant history. Of course, Big the Cat didn't care about history or a calendar some Mobians or humans had made up. He only enjoyed one thing: fishing with his pet frog Froggy. And that was exactly what Big was doing that day.

The day started off like any normal day, but what he caught that day was anything but normal. It was not fish, and not even a type of rare frog. It was a mysterious ring. It may have looked just like any ordinary ring, but there was an odd temptation to it. It was a temptation Big couldn't resist. Suddenly, Big didn't care about fishing anymore, all he cared about was the ring, or as he called it, his precious.

Bigabandoned Froggy and moved to the nearby caves, where he continued spending time with his precious. He started eating raw meat of the animals he hunted. With the ring in his possession, he also gained an unnaturally long lifespan. Even after roughly 500 years, he was still living in the caves with his precious.

Charles "Chuck" the Hedgehog was an adventurous blue hedgehog from a small village in Finland. It was the year 1952, and although Chuck was turning 51 that year, he still felt youthful for his age. He had been all around the world, and that year, he decided to visit the Greek island Rhodes.

Being an adventurer, Chuck was not so interested in the beaches, but rather a place where few wanted to go, the caves. Chuck explored the caves, hoping he would find something interesting. One cave in particular seemed like it could be a place with valuable treasure in it. He had no idea what it would be, but somehow he felt it would be worth checking out.

Chuck explored the cave, but it was bigger than he expected. It didn't take long for him to get lost. He wandered around the cave for a while, until he encountered a big purple cat eating some sort of wild animal.

Chuck stayed hidden for a while, and spied on the cat. While eating, the cat dropped some sort of ring. Chuck didn't know why, but somehow he felt an urge to pick up the ring. As he touched the ring, he saw a short but clear vision of what looked like an eye. The eye was red-orange, almost like fire, with a black iris so thin, it almost looked like a vertical line. Chuck put the ring into a pocket of his brown vest.

Chuck walked towards the cat. He introduced himself and asked the cat for directions. The cat refused, saying he would much rather just eat the hedgehog. Chuck tried to convince the cat to show him the way out, but all attempts were useless until he mentioned riddles.

The cat and the hedgehog agreed on the terms of their game of riddles. If Chuck won, the cat would show him the way out. If the cat won, however, it would eat Chuck. The game of riddles started, and went on for a while, until Chuck decided to ask a tricky question. "What do I have in my pocket?" The cat got three guesses instead of the typical one, but got all of them wrong. He screamed in anger and refused to show the way out.

Suddenly, the cat realized what really was in Chuck's pocket. It was the ring, it was his precious. He felt more pain than ever before and started to chase the blue hedgehog. Chuck managed to get the cat off his trail for a while and at that moment, he put the ring on his finger.

Chuck now noticed the cat running towards the exit. He followed the cat until the cat stopped. Chuck already saw the entrance, but he still had to somehow get past the big cat without getting noticed. He tried to climb above the cat, but soon fell, with the ring still on his finger. Everything seemed lost. There was no way the cat couldn't notice him.

The cat, however, looked straight through Chuck. Chuck was confused, until he figured out the ring must have made him invisible. It was definitely a ring worth keeping. Chuck escaped from the cave.

Chuck took the ring with him to Finland, where he kept it hidden from everyone. Chuck had no idea the ring he had discovered was the One Ring, a legendary item created by the mysterious Black Doom. He had no idea such legend even existed.

Chapter Text

The Legend of the One Ring was an ancient legend, but one more recent was the legend of a mysterious serial murderer known as Lord Voldemort. Nobody had actually seen him, and had no proof Voldemort was one and the same person. All that was known was that those who encountered Voldemort disappeared, never to be seen again. Not even the bodies of Voldemort's victims were ever found. The only proof of Voldemort's existence was that whenever he murdered someone, he left behind a note. One side of the note had a drawing of a skull with a snake connected to it. The other side had was where Lord Voldemort's name was written.

The legend started when some started noticing these notes in places linked to recent disappearances. The police attempted to locate this mysterious Voldemort, but they were never successful. As people who disappointed because of this Voldemort were never found again, they were presumed dead.

As people who spoke Voldemort's name out loud in public were more likely to end up becoming his next victims, the name eventually became a taboo. Those who knew about it also avoided saying it out loud. Terms such as "you-know-who" or "he-who-must-not-be-named" were used instead.

Despite the danger of Voldemort's existence, the legend remained relatively unknown. Most of those who knew about it either personally knew someone who was Voldemort's victim or just had an interest in urban legends.

However, things changed slightly in the fall of 1999. In a small village in Finland, a young hedgehog couple was preparing to have a small Halloween celebration at their home. It was just going to be them and their 1-year-old son, Shadow. Since their son was so young, they couldn't do anything too spooky. They bought a few Halloween balloons and that was it.

Unbeknownst to them, Lord Voldemort followed them while they were returning home from buying balloons. He was so quiet and stealthy, nobody in the area noticed him. When the two had returned home and set up the balloons, Voldemort finally showed up. He was a mobian snake, with unusually pale skin and creepy red eyes.

"What are you doing here?" James asked angrily. "This is a private party. No guests allowed!"

"I don't need permission," the creepy snake said. "I am Lord Voldemort. And you will make great additions to my army!"

"Whatever it is you want, we're not interested," James declared. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"You don't have a choice," Voldemort said before starting an evil laugh.

"I'll distract him," James whispered to his wife. "Lily, take Shadow and go."

Lily ran to Shadow's room in order to get her son. Meanwhile, Jane's tried to punch Voldemort, but it was useless. In just roughly a second, Voldemort slammed James against the ground and bit him in multiple places. James felt a greater pain than he had ever felt before, and he started screaming.

Lily, now holding Shadow in her arms, heard the scream and suddenly, she saw Voldemort right behind her. Voldemort approached her and Shadow.

"Not my son, you monster!" Lily said angrily while walking backwards as Voldemort was approaching him.

"Fine," Voldemort said. "He's too young anyway." Voldemort took Shadow from Lily's arms and dropped him on the ground. Lily tried to resist but it was useless. Shadow started crying loudly.

"You, on the other hand," Voldemort continued, "are the perfect age to be one of my servants just like your husband." Voldemort bit Lily and she started screaming in pain too.

Voldemort took Lily and James with him and brought them to his secret hideout, where they continued to scream in pain without moving much. This pain was due to their transformation, and three days later, it was complete.

"Welcome to the Death Eaters!" Voldemort greeted the two. "You were one of the lucky ones who got to join. Now you must do exactly like I command you to do all the time. The most important rule is that you must stay hidden from all the muggles, which is what we call non-supernaturals. Another thing to notice is that you will feel a constant need to drink blood, and that is due to the fact that you are now vampires."

Shadow was found by nearby villagers. He was sent to live with his aunt and her husband and son. Among the ones who knew about the legend of Voldemort, Shadow soon became known as the boy who lived, as he was the only known survivor of Voldemort's attack. Shadow was left with a permanent scar on his head.

Chapter Text

For most, it was a regular Thursday in the middle of June. For a family of five pink hedgehogs, it was the day they were returning home from their week-long vacation. It was the first time the kids had been to another continent.

The father of the family was a dark pink hedgehog in his mid-30s called Arnold. His wife, Mary, was slightly younger and had a lighter fur color. Their first children were the 7-year-old fraternal twins Bloom and Amy. Out of these twins, Bloom looked more similar to her father, but with her mother's pink eyes, while Amy more closely resembled her mother, but with her father's green eyes. The youngest child, 4-year-old Pinky Rose, had her mother's eye and fur color, with spikes closely resembling her father's.

The Roses were waiting for the plane to Finland. When they thought there was just one hour left, it was announced the flight would be delayed. The children, especially Pinky, were getting impatient.

After 2 hours of no information on when the flight would start, it was announced that the real plane would take many hours to be fixed, and some of the passengers could get on board a smaller plane that was leaving soon. The Roses were among the ones who managed to get on that plane.

However, the flight did not go well in the slightest. The seats were more uncomfortable than on a regular plane, and there were no screens or those small tables attached to the seat in front. The seats were so close that there was barely any room to sit. In addition, the plane ran out of fuel way faster than predicted, so it had to land on a random field in the middle of a forest.

The passengers were told to get their luggage and follow a flight attendant, who would lead them to the nearest airport. The Roses were among the last to get their stuff, but just as they were about to leave with the others, they noticed Pinky was missing.

"Pinky, come here right now!" Mary shouted. "Pinky, this is serious! No time for hide and seek!"

Pinky didn't come. The family started looking for Pinky all around the field, occasionally shouting her name and something along the lines of "If you don't come here right now, we might not get back to Finland!"

After a few minutes of searching around the plane, Bloom finally spotted her little sister near a rabbit girl and what looked like a campfire that was no longer burning. The girl's clothes appeared to be burned but there were no signs of burns on her body. She had bright red eyes, something unusual for a mobian. She looked like she was bothered by something.

"Did you say you were going to Finland?" the girl asked as the Roses walked towards her and Pinky.

"Yes," Mary answered.

"I really need to get to Finland," the girl explained. "My aunt lives there, and she's the only family I have left."

"What happened to you?" Mary asked.

"I don't want to talk about it with your children hearing it," the rabbit said. "I just need to get to Finland as soon as possible."

Mary looked around her, and noticed everyone else from the plane was too far away.

"We're lost," Mary explained. "Everyone from the plane has already left."

"We're lost?" Amy screamed in panic. Pinky started crying loudly, and Mary failed to calm her down. Bloom, who was already impatient due to everything that had happened, got angry.

"Shut up, Pinky!" Bloom screamed angrily. "Ugh, why must I only have younger siblings? So annoying."

"Bloom, this is no time for complaining," Mary said. "We're lost and we have to find a back."

"Maybe I can help you," the rabbit said. "I know the forest, at least partially. I know a way out. Just one thing. If I help you, will you try your best to convince them to let me on the plane to Finland? I don't have any money with me and I lost my passport."

"I don't think we can," Arnold explained. "You can't get on a flight without a passport. The airport security won't let you on the plane, no matter what we do."

"Fine then," the rabbit said. "I'll attempt to sneak into the plane, and what I want you to do in return for helping you is that you promise not to report me to the airport security."

"How do we know that you're not trying to hijack the plane or something?" Arnold asked.

"You know, if I really wanted to, I could just find the others by myself," the rabbit said. "Thanks to you, I already know there's a plane to Finland leaving soon. So, do you want me to help find the others or not?"

"Okay, fine," Arnold said. "By the way, maybe the two of us can walk ahead and my wife and three kids can walk a bit behind so you can explain how you got here."

"Okay," the rabbit said as she and the Rose family left. "For all of my life, I grew up with an abusive father. After years, I couldn't handle it anymore, so I ran away, with enough money for just one bus ride. Now I have nothing left."

Arnold was shocked by this. Shortly afterwards, the other family members started to walking closer to Arnold and the rabbit.

"By the way, my name is Sasha," the rabbit introduced herself. "Sasha Cream."

"Arnold Rose," Arnold introduced himself.

"My name is Mary. These are our three children, Bloom, Amy and Pinky."

While Sasha was attempting to locate the others, she and the Roses started talking about Amy and Bloom's school. As the two had started their school in 2005, they had just finished first grade. Pinky wouldn't start school in another two years. Amy and Bloom had been in the same class in first grade, but due to a few children moving or having to repeat a year, classes got merged and from second grade onwards, they would be in different classes. Amy was worried about this, as she was shy, and Bloom had been the only one in her class she had felt comfortable talking to.

It didn't take long for Sasha to find the people from the plane. Sasha started running towards them but quickly stopped and fell over.

"Are you alright?" Mary asked.

"It's okay," Sasha said. "You go ahead. I'll keep a distance."

The Roses followed the group of people and after some time of walking, they had made it to an airport. They were told that their plane to Finland, with the passengers who hadn't fit on the smaller plane already on board, was arriving in an hour.

The rest of the trip went fairly normally. This time, the seats were more comfortable, there were screens and small tables, and food was served. There were mostly no signs of Sasha Cream, although Amy could have sworn that she had seen a glimpse of the red-eyed rabbit once during the flight.

Chapter Text

It was Monday, August 10, the first day of Shadow's fifth grade. It wasn't really any different from fourth grade, or third grade, or second or first. Still the same bullying classmates, still the same teachers who never did anything about it.

As Shadow was about to go to class, he spotted Scourge, a green mobian hedgehog who always wore his signature black leather jacket and shades. Scourge punched him, causing him to fall to the ground. A few of Scourge's friends started laughing. Shadow had to deal with Scourge everywhere. Not only was he the leader of the bully gang, but he was also Shadow's cousin and the two lived in the same house. While Scourge was spoiled by his parents and raged if he got less than 37 birthday presents, Shadow was constantly treated badly. He had minimal food and drink, didn't have a full room of his own and was constantly commanded to do all household work and punished for even the slightest mistakes.

Shadow was about to get up, but Scourge stopped it by placing his foot on Shadow. "All hail the king, baby!" Scourge said while he did that.

"So, you're the king now, huh?" Shadow asked. "So, wouldn't that make me royalty?"

"No, you idiot!" Scourge said. "I'm a king from my father's side! He's the one not related to you! And even if you were, you would be disowned by being such a loser."

"Let's kick him more, King Scourgey," Rosy said. Rosy, often nicknamed Rosy the Rascal by the gang, was the second in command of Scourge's gang of bullies, and probably enjoyed bullying even more than Scourge did. "Or should we go punch some first-graders? It's boring to bully just one person."

"We will focus on Shadow now," Scourge said, still keeping Shadow to the ground.

"Enough!" Shadow shouted, but, of course, the bullies didn't stop. Shadow tried to get up but failed. Eventually, after concentrating for a while, not only did he get up, but he managed to make Scourge levitate.

"Put me down!" Scourge screamed in panic.

Rosy looked in horror, but got angry shortly afterwards. "Don't do anything to Scourgey!" she screamed as she ran towards Shadow. Soon, she started levitating too.

"What is this madness?" Scourge asked.

"I don't know," Shadow answered honestly. "It just, happened. But now that I know I have this ability, there's no way you can get me to stop using it."

"Look at me, I'm King Scourge the Great!" Scourge shouted loudly so everyone nearby could hear. "So great, I have the ability to fly!"

"Me too," Rosy said. "I'm Queen Rosy the Powerful!"

As a reaction to the two using Shadow's new ability to their advantage, Shadow dropped the two.

"Wait until my father hears about this," Scourge said before heading to class. "You're getting in trouble big time."

At home, Scourge's father, Vernon, was furious. It was by no way the first time he was angry, but Shadow couldn't remember him being this angry before.

"What did you do to my son?" he raged while pushing Shadow against a wall. "That's it! No food for you for the rest of the week! You'll have to live with just water!"

"That's it, I'll leave," Shadow said. He was getting enough of constant mistreatment.

"And live where?" Vernon asked. "In a trash can? Can't you appreciate the fact we were generous enough to let you live under our roof for ten years?"

"Anywhere is better than here!" Shadow screamed before leaving the house and slamming the door.

Shadow walked away from the house he couldn't really consider home. He walked for hours until he was finally outside the town. But soon, he realized he didn't know any places.

It was getting dark. Shadow started to regret his decision of leaving his adoptive family. They were abusive, but they were the only family he knew. Shadow was too young to remember his parents, who, according to Vernon, had died in a car crash while drunk.

Shadow found an abandoned playground. With nothing else to do, Shadow went to sit on the only swing that wasn't broken. He remembered how he had levitated Scourge earlier, and tried to test his levitation abilities on the broken swing next to him. However, it had no effect. Maybe he had to feel anger in order to activate the ability.

After a while, Shadow decided to sleep. Growing up without a room, Shadow didn't find it hard to sleep uncomfortably. Shadow was all alone, and he felt this was refreshing. What bothered him was that he had no food with him, and he was getting hungry.

The next morning, Shadow woke up in a bed. He noticed a Mobian squirrel, maybe in her 20s, sitting near him. He was inside a room, most likely a hotel room.

"Who are you?" Shadow asked. "How did you find me? And why did you bring me here?"

"My name is Sally Acorn," the squirrel introduced herself. "I noticed you all alone on the abandoned playground and couldn't leave you there. Are you..." she looked at Shadow's scar for a while. "Shadow the Hedgehog?"

"Yes," Shadow answered. "Why? How do you know?"

"I've heard a legend about you," Sally explained. "You match the physical description."

"Legend?" Shadow wondered. "I'm... I'm not a legend. I'm just Shadow, the worthless hedgehog."

"Worthless?" Sally asked, concerned. "Who makes you feel like that?"

"Everyone I've ever known," Shadow answered. "Aunt Petunia, my cousin Scourge, Vernon. Everyone at my school. Petunia and Vernon, my adoptive parents, rarely ever give me food and constantly remind me of how bad I am. And at school, my cousin Dudley is the leader of a bully gang, with me as their main target."

"That sounds horrible," Sally said. "You should come to Hogwarts. We give our pupils the chance to sleep at school, too."

"Sounds great," Shadow said. He wasn't sure if he could trust Sally, but what she offered sounded better than anything he had experienced before.

"We should go shop for supplies," Sally said.

"I don't have any money," Shadow explained. "Vernon refused to give me any."

"Your parents were rich," Sally explained. "Apparently James, your father, was the owner of a successful family business. At least that Dumbledore told me."

"Dumbledore?" Shadow asked. "Who's that?"

"Albus Dumbledore, one of the teachers at Hogwarts," Sally explained. "He told me about the legend of you. He told me that Lily and James were among the best of their class."

"And yet they somehow became alcoholics," Shadow said. "At least that's Vernon always told me. He told me my parents were always drunk, and died in a car crash."

"That's a lie," Sally said. "Your parents were killed by you-know-who. And that's exactly what makes you a legend. You're the first one known to survive an attack by you-know-who."

"No, I don't know who," Shadow said.

"He's a mysterious person. In fact, we don't know for sure if it's a person or something else. The circumstances surrounding his attacks are so mysterious that he has become something of an urban legend. We don't say his name out loud."

"But you know it?" Shadow asked.

"Yes. Let me write it down." Sally took a piece of paper and wrote the name on it.

"Voldemort," Shadow read the name out loud, pronouncing every letter of it.

"Quiet," Sally said. "If you say it, he may hear it and target you next. Nobody knows if that's the case, but we should avoid saying it just in case."

"How could he possibly hear it?" Shadow asked. "It's just the two of us here. Do you think he has hidden cameras everywhere or something?"

"No, it's just. Nevermind. Anyway, we should get all of your legal documents from your adoptive parents' house so you can get your money and get the right to study at Hogwarts."

Chapter Text

Shadow showed Sally the way to his former home, if he could even call it that.

"Get out!" Vernon demanded as he saw Sally. "So, Shadow, you've decided to return? No food for two weeks as punishment for running away!"

"Actually, I'm here to give Shadow the opportunity to live somewhere else," Sally explained. "I know you don't want him. And I've heard you've been abusing him ever since he started living with you. I could report you to the authorities."

"You have no proof," Vernon said. "Fine, take Shadow. We don't want to see him again. Right, Petunia?"

Petunia, who was sitting in the living room, nodded.

"If anything bad happens to Shadow, it's his problem, not ours," Vernon added.

"We'll have to come in to take Shadow's legal documents," Sally informed. "Shadow will be living at Hogwarts school starting on August 13, which is when the school year starts."

"Hogwarts?" Petunia asked. "That is a school for absolutely crazy people. No wonder my sister went there and I didn't. That school is filled with shady history, and not a decade has gone by without some kind of dangerous incident. It's a wonder that school hasn't been closed down. Besides, isn't that school like over a hundred years old?"

"96!" Sally corrected her.

"Either way, it's older than our country," Petunia said. "Anyway, go to your awful school. I don't care."

Back in the hotel room, Shadow and Sally started talking about Shadow's personal information in private.

"So, your name is Shadow James Terios," Sally said while reading Shadow's information. Shadow nodded.

"Your birthday is July 31, 1998," Sally continued. "So, you're in fifth grade?"

"Yes. Luckily my teachers never forced me to repeat a year. They probably just wanted me out of the school as soon as possible."

"Did your teachers really hate you?" Sally asked.

"Probably. They never did anything about bullying and always gave detention for something the bullies did."

"We'll make sure this doesn't happen at Hogwarts. Anyway, since you're in fifth grade, that means I'm going to be your new teacher. The class size is also unusually small. Before this year, there were only four children, and now there are three new kids in the class besides you. Anyway, we should go get your money and buy school supplies."

Shadow and Sally were shopping at a local mall. Shadow bought almost everything in black whenever possible, as he liked black.

"Where do you want to eat?" Sally asked Shadow after they were done getting school supplies. "Do you like burgers?"

"I've never actually eaten one," Shadow explained. "Scourge was allowed to eat them a lot but I wasn't."

"Would you like to have one now?"

"Sure," Shadow said and the two went to eat.

While eating, Sally told Shadow how he would be getting to Hogwarts the following day.

"Tomorrow, I will take you to the Moon and Mars train station."

"Moon and Mars train station?" Shadow asked.

"Yes, it's a train station here in Finland. It's where the train to Hogsmeade leaves every day. Traditionally, those starting at Hogwarts go on that train the day before the school year starts, even if they live closer to Hogwarts than the Moon and Mars train station. The train leaves at Platform 9¾."

"9¾? Why the weird numbering? Is it located behind a secret wall or something?"

"No .They just like to deviate from the standard whole number platform numbers," Sally explained. "There's also Platform π, with a nearly perfectly circular track. There's Platform 7½, where a train to Sweden and Norway leaves every Saturday. Most famously, there is Platform infinity, which is actually an entry to a space themed roller coaster rather than an actual train. Anyway, I will take you to the train station tomorrow. The train should leave at 11 am, but knowing trains in Finland, it's probably late."

Chapter Text

It had been three years since Amy and Bloom had started going to separate classes. While Bloom had easily managed to get friends in her new class, Amy had been all alone for the past three years. Because of this, Amy's parents had decided to have her transfer to Hogwarts, the school for those who failed to get friends elsewhere.

Following Hogwarts tradition, Arnold decided to bring Amy all the way to the Moon and Mars train station, even though the family lived a walking distance away from Hogwarts.

When they finally got to the train station, Amy went to look for Platform 9¾ on her own while Arnold drove to work. Luckily, Arnold's workplace had fairly flexible schedules, which allowed Arnold to have shorter days every now and then.

Omega wasn't from the most normal mobian family. He was the youngest child in a family of small mobian birds. To make up for their small size, they wore robotic suits, which got more advanced with each generation. Omega's family had just moved as Omega's youngest older brother, Zeta, had just finished 9th grade and started attending Sun and Venus high school due to his interest in space. The high school was located right next to the Moon and Mars train station, so his parents had decided to have Omega attend Hogwarts, as a train there left from that train station. In addition, those who started at Hogwarts already traditionally gathered at the train station, so Omega lived in just the right place.

Omega was looking for Platform 9¾, as that was where the train to Hogwarts was leaving. While on his way, he noticed a platform with the number π. Omega instantly recognized it as the Greek letter pi, as it was a tradition in his family to be named after Greek letters.

Omega followed the platform instructions, walking past platforms such as 4⅓ and 7½. On Platform 9¾, Omega noticed some mobians. Most of them were pretty young, most likely first-graders. One of them was a white mobian bat girl who looked roughly Omega's age.

"Are you one of the new fifth-graders at Hogwarts?" Omega asked her.

"Yes," she answered. "My name is Rouge. What about you?"

"Omega."

"By the way, you have dirt on your suit," Rouge said, pointing at the Omega symbol on Omega's left shoulder. "Right there."

Omega wiped dirt off the spot Rouge pointed at.

"Have you read Hogwarts: A History yet?" Rouge asked. "It's a must-read book."

"I didn't even know the book existed," Omega admitted. "I just moved here." Rouge looked shocked.

"Well, if you didn't know, Hogwarts was founded by four of the greatest scholars of the area," Rouge explained. "Godric Gryffindor the brave lion, Salazar Slytherin the cunning snake, Helga Hufflepuff the kind badger and Rowena Ravenclaw, the wise eagle."

Sally brought Shadow to the Moon and Mars train station. She gave Shadow the train ticket he needed.

"See you at Hogwarts," Sally said before leaving.

Shadow looked for Platform 9¾. It didn't take long to find as, while the platform numbers weren't natural numbers, they were in order from smallest to greatest, the very last being Platform Infinity, or the space roller coaster that Sally had mentioned.

Most of the ones on Platform 9¾ were little kids, probably first-graders. Shadow noticed a mobian bat who looked around his age talking to someone with a full-body robot suit. As Shadow walked closer to them, the two turned to look at him.

"Are you," the robot-suit guy started before pausing for a moment. "Shadow the Hedgehog?"

"Yes," Shadow said. "How do you know?"

"Wait, you're familiar with the legend too, Omega?" the bat asked. "I read a book about it once. I don't know how much of it is true, but James and Lily were definitely real hedgehogs."

"Oh, my family is familiar with that legend," Omega told them.

The three looked at the clock. The train's supposed departure was in three minutes. However, it was soon announced that the train would be late by an hour due to difficulties in the railway system.

"I don't think I told you my name yet," the bat said to Shadow. "My name is Rouge. Have you read Hogwarts: A History yet?"

"I don't even know what it is," Shadow admitted.

"Really?" Rouge asked. "Neither of you read books about the school's history before you start there?"

"I don't think most schools have such books," Shadow said.

"But seriously, you two should read that book," Rouge continued. "From this year's edition, you can learn a a lot about Hogwarts. From its founding all the way to the current staff. There are also various unconfirmed legends surrounding the school. While most legends aren't even close to 100% true, they're usually at least partially based on the truth or speculations on mysterious events. I think Hogwarts is a fascinating school."

After saying that, Rouge left to explore the train station as the train to Hogsmeade wouldn't be leaving in another hour. Shadow and Omega decided to get to know each other better. Shadow learned some things about Omega, such as that he was the youngest of five brothers and that his birthday was in April.

After an hour, the two got on the train to Hogwarts. The two sat next to each other. The two noticed Rouge a few seats away, sitting next to a mobian Chao with a water-like appearance.

On the train, candy was sold. Shadow decided to use his money to buy a bunch of candy. He shared it with Omega, who loved eating candy.

The train stopped or slowed down a lot more frequently than it was supposed to. By the time the train got to Hogsmeade, it was already getting dark, so it was probably at least 9 pm.

Chapter Text

Sally was ready to pick up Shadow, Rouge, Omega and Amy from Hogsmeade train station.

"At least this wasn't the latest ever time the train arrived on the day before the school year starts," Rouge explained as the five started walking towards Hogwarts. "Hours later than average for sure. But in the year 1969, kids starting at Hogwarts missed their first day."

As they went to the school, Rouge kept telling the group historical facts she had read in Hogwarts: A History. These included the fact that the school had gone through several renovations since its founding in 1913, the most recent being in 2006.

When they finally got to the school, Sally showed her classroom to the four. It was where the 5th graders would have most subjects. After that, she lead them to the third floor, where they would sleep for the night.

"Remember, after the first night, spending nights at Hogwarts is optional," Sally told the children. "Everyone with the exception of Shadow needs a written permission slip from their parent or other legal guardian. The rest of your class will come tomorrow. We will start at 9 am tomorrow. Don't worry about sleeping in. There is an alarm clock in every room going off at 7 am on any school day, giving you at least one hour to prepare every day. Breakfast will be served at the school cafeteria every day until 8 am. Dinner will be served between 6 pm and 8 pm. The principal will tell you the most important rules in his speech tomorrow."

Before Sally left, Omega and Rouge gave Sally permission slips to stay the nights. Shadow and Omega went to sleep in the boys' room while Amy and Rouge went to sleep in the girls' room.

The next day, they were listening to the principal's speech. The principal was a brown mobian owl who looked around sixty.

"Welcome to Hogwarts school," the principal stsrted his speech. "My name is Harvey Who and I am the principal of this school. First of all, I will tell you the most important rules of the school. Entering the third floor is forbidden. The only exceptions are when you have swimming or, for those who sleep at the school, when you go to sleep. Leaving school grounds during the school day is also forbidden, unless you are given permission by a teacher. Breaking certain rules, such as not doing your homework, being late to class without a valid reason or disrupting class, gives you a warning. Four warnings in a month means detention. Detention is held every week at 8-9 am on Thursdays, so no regular classes are held during that time period. First to sixth-graders have lunch at 11 and seventh to ninth-graders have lunch at 12. And now, for the most interesting part of my speech, how I spent my summer."

Shadow looked at the two next to him. Omega was sitting on his right. On his left, there were two mobian hedgehogs. One was silver and the other was black with gray stripes. The latter looked surprisingly similar to Shadow.

"So, are you one of our new classmates?" the silver hedgehog whispered to Shadow. "We're in fifth grade. My name is Silver and this is Mephiles."

"Yes, I'm in fifth grade," Shadow whispered back. "My name is Shadow."

"The principal tells a story like that every year," Silver explained, still whispering. "And it always involves his summer cottage. Just a minute of listening to it feels like hours."

"...I caught a common whitefish. It weighed a total of 2 kilograms. Two kilograms! This was the most exciting catch I..."

"I don't think the principal has ever sounded that excited during a speech," Silver whispered.

"Two kilograms," Mephiles repeated the principal's most excited words. "That could become an inside thing of our class or something."

Harvey Who continued talking for what felt like hours. He never sounded as excited as he did when he mentioned catching the fish.

"Alright, now time to follow your teachers to your classrooms," the principal said. Finally the speech was over.

"Alright class, time to introduce yourselves," Sally said as they were back in their class. "Each of you will tell your name, birthday, dream jobs if you have any and your favorite subject." The class annoyed. "I can start. My name is Sally Acorn, I was born on August 19. So yes, this means my birthday is next week. My dream job has always been to become a teacher, and this year I'm finally starting. During my school days, I liked learning geography."

"My name is Rouge Beryl. I was born on February 12. I'm not sure what career I want but my current plan is to go to university in 2017. I like all the subjects with books and I'm really looking forward to the new subjects we have this year. Especially history and physics. It's just so fascinating to learn about everything."

"I'm Shadow Terios and my birthday is on July 31. Honestly, I've never thought of what I want to be when I grow up. And I've never really liked any subjects or anything about school in general. But I know Hogwarts will be different from my previous school."

"I am Omega E. My birthday is on April 20. Ever since I was a child, I've been wanting to own a food company. So far, my favorite class is music, but I can't wait to learn home economics in seventh grade."

"I'm Amy Rose," the pink hedgehog said after a short pause. "I was born on November 19. I, uhh... I don't know exactly what I want. My dream job would to have my own movie or video game series. I, um, I guess I like math."

"My name is Mephiles. Mephiles Dark. Or, as I prefer it, Mephiles the Dark. My birthday is July 30. I've always wanted to become a professional boxer or wrestler. And, of course, my favorite subject is P.E."

"I'm Silver Star. I was born on September 23. As for my dream job, I'd like to be an actor one day. Like Mephiles, I like P.E., but I prefer gymnastics over combat sports."

There were only two children left to be introduced. They were two girls who appeared to be close to each other. One of them was an orange mobian raccon, and as for the other, Shadow did not know what species she was. She looked human-like, but not completely human. She had green, plant-like hair with two flowers seemingly growing out of it, and pale skin.

"My name is Marine Runcorn," the raccoon introduced herself. "I was born in the faraway land of Australia on the evening of the seventh of June, 1998. My parents got divorced before the turn of the millennium. My mother and I moved to Sweden at first, but after a year, we moved to Finland and decided to stay here. I visited my father once a year until he moved to Madagascar. I don't remember much about him other than that he started dating a badger. But I'm glad I live in Finland. When I was seven, I got to start at Hogwarts and meet Cosmo. We're so close. We'll be best friends until the world ends!"

"Uhh, maybe not that long," the girl next to her said.

"Fine," Marine said. "We'll stop being best friends two months before the world ends."

"More like 5 billion years," Cosmo said quickly and quietly.

"Anyway, I think I got a bit sidetracked," Marine continued. "My dream job is to become a sailor. I've always wanted to travel the oceans. As for my favorite subject? I guess music. Alright, Cosmo, now it's your turn to introduce yourself."

"I'm Cosmo Sky," Cosmo said. She seemed much calmer than her best friend. "In case you're wondering, like Marine, I wasn't born here. I was born in South America, but I don't remember anything about my family or even species. My birthday is on December 29, my favorite subject is art and when I grow up, I... I don't even know."

"Alright, now I think you know enough about each other for now," Sally said. "There will be no education today, but there will be from tomorrow onwards. This is why you need to listen carefully as I tell you what your schedules are."

Shadow and rest wrote the schedules on papers. Afterwards, Sally showed them important locations at Hogwarts.

Chapter Text

For most, days at Hogwarts were regular boring school days, but for Shadow, they were the best time he had ever had. For the first time ever, he wasn't bullied, and had friends instead. He had been best friends with Omega ever since the train to Hogwarts, and on the first day of their school year, the two had become good friends with Silver and Mephiles.

Amy Rose was still as lonely as before. Her shyness made it pretty much impossible for her to start conversations with others. Everyone else seemed to be able to do such unnatural things so naturally. It felt almost like groups of friends were the same person split into multiple bodies in order to have conversations without looking weird.

Another one in their class who didn't have friends was Rouge, but it wasn't due to a lack of confidence. Rouge spent most of the classes impressing Sally. She seemed to know everything there was to know about school subjects. The only subjects that Sally wasn't very good at were the ones that didn't involve books, most notably art. The boys, especially Mephiles, thought of her know-it-all attitude as being annoying.

On Tuesday October 13, two months into the school year, it was time for another math class. Mephiles dreaded math class as he was bad at math. That day, Sally decided to have kids to math in boy-girl pairs. Shadow was paired with Amy, Omega with Marine and Silver with Cosmo. For Mephiles, this meant the worst, as he was paired with Rouge.

"First of all, I will give you your exams from last week," Sally started the class. She handed everyone a graded test. Mephiles looked at his passing grade and was satisfied.

"Why are you happy?" Rouge asked. "You got a six."

"It's a passing grade," Mephiles said. "I would have been satisfied with a five."

"Five and six may be passing grades, but they're bad," Rouge said. "You know you must get an average of seven or more to get into high school, right?"

"Well, I'm not going to high school!" Mephiles argued back.

Next, it was time to solve basic math equations. Rouge did hers quickly, and checked the answers multiple times. Meanwhile, Mephiles was struggling with his math work. After a few hard questions, he started waving his pencil in anger.

"Stop it!" Rouge shouted. "You're going to accidentally let go of the pencil and pop someone's eye out."

Rouge took a look at Mephiles' work. She quickly noticed several things that were wrong with it.

"You really need to study more," Rouge said. "First of all, in question 10, you wrote that 9+10 is 21. That's totally not true. And in question 17, you wrote 2+2=4-1=3. No. You must include the minus one after the two as well. Otherwise you're claiming 2+2 is 3, which is false."

During the next break, the boys talked about their experiences in math class. As expected, Mephiles had the most to tell.

"She's a nightmare, really," Mephiles said. "I couldn't even go a minute without her constantly telling me how bad I am at math. She was like, it's 2+2-1, not 2+2. Ugh."

"Wow, no wonder she doesn't have any friends," Omega said.

Shadow looked around and noticed Rouge near the group. She turned around and started to walk away from the school.

"I think she heard that," Shadow said.

"Good," Mephiles said. "I think she deserves to learn the consequences of her annoying know-it-all attitude." Shadow wasn't so sure about that.

During the next class, everything seemed to be normal until Shadow noticed Rouge was missing.

"Rouge isn't here," Shadow whispered to Omega, who was sitting next to him.

"So?" Omega asked, whispering.

"Rouge has never skipped class before," Shadow whispered. "She must have been really offended by what we said about her."

The class couldn't even properly start when a teacher opened the door and started screaming in panic. It was Quirinus Quirrell, the squirrel teacher from the nextdoor classroom. It was easy to recognize him due to his purple turban and he carried a mobini iguana with him.

"Troll!" he screamed. "Troll on the school grounds! I thought I'd let you know." He then fainted.

"Troll?" Shadow asked. "What's that?"

"Trolls are dangerous beings," Sally explained. "They live in caves and usually don't bother us. The only explanation for trolls on the school grounds is that there is a troll cave in the Forbidden Forest. Someone must have walked near it, which lured a troll out of its cave. If a troll spots someone, it will not hesitate to eat them."

Suddenly, the entire class started screaming in panic. Sally attempted to calm them down. Soon, Quirrell got up.

"We must hide the children," Sally said. "We'll take them to the shelters located below the school. We also need some teachers to stay there. The rest of us will attempt to fight the troll. Fifth-graders, follow me. I will take you to safety."

The class followed Sally Acorn. After a while of walking, Shadow stopped Omega.

"What now?" Omega asked.

"Rouge," Shadow said. "She's still outside. She could be in danger."

"Are you crazy?" Omega asked. "You heard what Sally said. We must hide."

"We must save Rouge," Shadow said. "She may not be our friend, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't."

"Fine," Omega said and followed Shadow outside the school.

Shadow and Omega looked around the school grounds until they noticed a brown being chasing Rouge. The being had bat-like ears, a long tail, a horn and a long white beard. It had to be the troll. Shadow and Omega ran after it.

"What are you doing here?" Rouge shouted at Shadow and Omega as they were running closer.

"Saving you!" Shadow responded.

"You're just making things worse!" Rouge shouted as Shadow and Omega got near her. "Now three of us are in danger! Don't you know? You might get killed. Or worse, expelled."

"You need to sort out your priorities," Omega said while the three were still running from the troll.

"Since you obviously know about trolls, do you know anything about their weaknesses?" Shadow asked. The three were still running, but the troll was catching up.

"Well, there's..." Rouge started but the troll was too close. "Everyone, run into a different direction!"

Shadow continued running forwards while Omega turned left and Rouge turned right. The troll continued following Shadow. After a while, the troll caught him and started taking him to the forest.

"Oh no!" Omega said as he and Rouge started running back towards each other. "What should we do now?"

"The troll lives in a cave somewhere in the forest," Rouge explained. "Once he reaches the cave, he and any other trolls living in the cave start to cook him. There was one thing about defeating trolls that I remember but I forgot what it was. Maybe I'll remember it as we run into the forest. We need to stop the trolls before they eat him. Let's be quiet so the troll doesn't spot us."

Omega and Rouge started following the troll, careful not to make a sound. The kept enough distance just to make sure the troll wouldn't notice them. After a while, they reached the troll's cave.

"Look what I caught today, sister," the troll said. "A mobian. This will be a good meal."

"About time," a female troll said as she walked out of the cave. Unlike her brother, she had orange skin and more human-like ears. She had hair similar to the male troll's beard. "For five years, everything we've eaten has tasted like chicken. Except the chicken, which tastes like fish. Good job, Wally."

"You know I hate that name, Wendy."

"Right," Wendy said. "Walter."

"Let's have him strangled by the Devil's Snare so he won't escape while we prepare a fire," Walter said. "You guard him while I prepare the fire."

"No, I prepare the fire!" Wendy argued.

"No, I!" Walter shouted back.

While the trolls were arguing, Rouge and Omega walked closer to the trolls, still staying hidden.

"Do you know anything about Devil's Snare?" Omega whispered to Rouge.

"The best way to handle it is by staying calm," Rouge said. "The harder you try to resist, the harder it will strangle."

"About the thing about trolls that you forgot," Omega whispered. "What was it?"

"I'm still trying to remember," Rouge answered. "It's their biggest weakness. I know for sure that I read it somewhere. But we need to warn Shadow about the Devil's Snare somehow."

The trolls were still arguing and Walter was holding Shadow. Rouge and Omega tried to walk around the trolls without being noticed, but Omega accidentally stepped on a branch, making a sound loud enough to get the trolls' attention. Wendy turned around and 

"What were you thinking?" Shadow asked the two. "You should have escaped while you had the chance."

"And let you get eaten by the trolls?" Rouge asked.

"Now we're all getting eaten by the trolls!" Shadow reminded her.

"This is a meal we can't afford to lose," Wendy said. "Let me prepare the fire while you guard them or else I will call you Wally for the rest of the year."

"Fine," Walter said. "You can prepare the fire. But if you call me Wally again this year, I will punch you in the face, okay?"

"Fine," Wendy said and placed Rouge and Omega in the Devil's Snare. Walter put Shadow there and started guarding the three.

Shadow tried to get out, but the plant was attempting to strangle him.

"Shadow, don't move," Rouge told him. "It will only kill you faster if you try to resist it. If you stay calm, it won't strangle."

"But we can't escape if we don't move," Shadow pointed out.

"The biggest weakness of the Devil's Snare is light," Rouge said. "If only there was a light source nearby."

"The fire," Shadow said.

"But the trolls have it," Rouge pointed out. "They know how get it near us without allowing us to escape. And we can't move it because we're stuck."

"Actually, Shadow could levitate it," Omega said. "He told me he once levitated two bullies in his old school. He could use the ability again."

"I can't control it," Shadow noted.

"It's the only way out," Omega reminded Shadow. "Do your best."

"Alright, the fire is ready," Wendy said. "Which one should we roast first?"

"This one," Walter said as he grabbed Omega. Shadow tried to concentrate on the fire to move it but it didn't work.

"Hey, I don't recommend eating him," Rouge quickly said, thinking of a lie. "He has a rare disease. If you eat him, you'll get it too. Without proper treatment, it will kill you in seven days."

Hearing this, Walter dropped Omega.

"Are you stupid?" Wendy asked Walter angrily. "She's obviously lying."

"We shouldn't take the risk," Walter said. "Let's eat the female one instead." He grabbed Rouge.

Shadow finally managed to get the fire to move to his direction. Slowly but surely, the fire was moving towards the Devil's Snare where Shadow was trapped. As the fire was close to the Devil's Snare, Shadow managed to escape.

Rouge tickled Walter as well as she could, but it wasn't enough. "Shadow, Omega, I need your help!" Rouge told them. "You must tickle the troll as hard as you can."

"That's their weakness?" Omega asked. "Tickling?"

"That's the first part," Rouge said. "I just remembered the full weakness. Good thing I've read a book about trolls even though I didn't think I'd ever encounter them. Also, don't stop tickling until I say so."

Shadow and Omega proceeded to tickle Walter's legs until the troll couldn't resist the tickle. He fell down and released Rouge. Rouge then grabbed a stick from the ground and used it to draw a circle on the troll's stomach.

"You can stop tickling now," Rouge said. "He should ask a math related ques-"

Rouge was grabbed by Wendy. "Focus on the other troll!" Rouge screamed. However, Shadow refused. He attempted to use his levitation ability to release Rouge from the troll's control.

"List the first one hundred digits of Pi," Walter said. His eyes looked different. "You have one minutes"

"I'll handle it," Omega said to Shadow and Rouge. "3.1415..." Omega continued listing digits of Pi while Shadow and Rouge attempted to tickle Wendy. After a while, they succeeded, and Rouge drew a circle on Wendy's stomach as well.

"A triangle has sides of lengths 3 and 4, with a right angle connecting the two sides," Wendy said. "What is the length of the third side?"

"5," Rouge said after some thinking. "Good thing I've learned about Pythagorean triples."

"Wait, you're telling me a troll's weakness is correct math," Shadow said.

"Yes. The troll will now remain unconscious for 3 minutes, giving us enough time to escape."

Omega had now finished listing the first one hundred digits of Pi.

"How did you?" Rouge asked.

"Our family tradition is to recite the first 100 digits of Pi every March 14," Omega explained. The three ran away from the forest and returned to Hogwarts, where they spotted Sally and Quirrell.

"We've looked for fifteen minutes," they heard Sally say. "There's no troll here. Are you sure you're not making this up?"

"I swear I saw a troll!" Quirrell insisted.

"He's not lying," Rouge said as the three were close enough to the teachers. "There was a troll on the school grounds. I know because the three of us encountered it."

Chapter Text

Shadow, Rouge and Omega were brought to the shelter to be with the rest of the fifth-graders.

"What were you thinking?" Sally asked the three. "You should have followed the teachers."

"It was all my fault," Rouge said. "I saw a troll and thought I could find one on my own. After all, I've read a book on how to defeat trolls. I was so wrong. If Shadow and Omega hadn't showed up..."

"That was irresponsible of you," Sally said. "You will have detention every week until Christmas."

"I understand," Rouge said. "But please don't punish Shadow and Omega. They only came because they knew I was in danger. They saved me."

"Alright then," Sally said. "But next time you know someone is in danger, inform a teacher instead of attempting to save them on your own. You were lucky this time." Shadow and Omega nodded. Sally left the room.

"By the way, I'm sorry for earlier," Omega said. Silver and Mephiles showed up too.

"No, I'm sorry," Rouge said. "I shouldn't have acted like everyone should be good at the same things as I am. If you're satisfied with your exam result, good for you. I know not everyone can be good at math, just as I'm bad at art."

"I'm sorry for calling you a nightmare," Mephiles said.

"Do you want to be friends with us?" Omega asked.

"I'd love to," Rouge said. "I've always had trouble making friends in the past. But right now, I'm just happy to be alive."

Sally went to discuss the troll attack with the white mobian bumblebee teacher Albus Dumbledore.

"I called you here because I have a feeling you know more than you show," Dumbledore said. "You might know something related to the troll attack most of us don't. You might not know it's linked to the troll attack."

"Why me?" Sally asked.

"I've sensed the presence of a powerful jewel," Dumbledore said and took a brilliant cut green gem. "Do you know what this is?"

"No," Sally responded.

"A Chaos Emerald," Dumbledore explained. "They are some of the most powerful jewels in the world. There are seven of them. If you have one Chaos Emerald, you can use it to figure out the rough locations of the other six. If you manage to get all seven, you gain unbelievable power. But I don't think anyone has had all the Emeralds to themselves in centuries. I have a suspicion that you have one too."

"No, I don't," Sally said. She pulled out a purple emerald cut gemstone. "I, however, have a Sol Emerald."

"I've never heard of them," Dumbledore said. "They must have properties similar to the Chaos Emeralds. The two Emeralds being so close together might have been what caused the troll to come here. Maybe it's better if you don't take the Emerald with you to school anymore. And I will make sure to hide this Emerald better. Also, let's not talk about this to anyone else."

"Okay," Sally said. "Maybe it's better if I don't come to Hogwarts at all anymore. It's too dangerous if I leave the Emerald somewhere during the day."

"So, you're quitting your job?" Dumbledore asked. "You'll have to inform principal Harvey Who."

After a few days, education at Hogwarts continued normally. Shadow was surprised to learn that Sally Acorn would no longer teach his class. Rumors went around that Sally had been fired due to the troll incident, but they were proven false.

While the school was looking for a teacher to take Sally's place, caretaker Argus Filch worked as the substitute teacher. Filch was way more unpleasant than Sally. It was clear the white lizard hated children and Shadow wondered why he had even started working at a school.

After a few weeks, Hogwarts had managed to hire a teacher for the job. She was a purple mobian echidna called Komi-Ko. She was clearly an improvement from Filch, as she was actually passionate about teaching. Komi-Ko taught Shadow's class until the end of sixth grade.

It was December, 2009, when Shadow went to Omega's for the first time. The fall term had ended, and most Hogwarts students returned home for Christmas and New Year's.

Shadow quickly found Omega's home to be one of the most pleasant places he had been to. As soon as he stepped in, he met Omega's parents.

"You must be Shadow," Omega's mother said. Unlike the rest of the family, she was not wearing a robot suit, so Shadow could clearly see she was a green mobian bird. "My name is Tekno the Canary. This is my husband Alpha."

Alpha was wearing a green robot suit with a black letter E on both sides of his head. "Welcome to the E family, Shadow."

Shadow was soon introduced to Omega's brother, Zeta. He was five years older than Omega and was studying space at the nearby Sun and Venus high school. Zeta was wearing a purple robot suit.

On Christmas Eve, the rest of Omega's brothers, as well as his family from his father's side, came to visit.

The oldest of Omega's brothers Beta, who was 15 years older than Omega and working as a video game tester. He wore a black robot suit nearly identical to Zeta's. Next was Delta, with a blue robot suit, born 12 years before Omega and studying volcanoes in Iceland. Finally, there was Epsilon, who wore an orange robot suit similar to that of his brothers', excluding Omega's. He was nine years older than Omega and a second-year university student.

Shadow also met Omega's aunt, Phi Gizoid, and her three sons. All four of them were wearing similar robot suits, with Phi wearing a gray one, Charyb a blue one, Scylla an orange one and Emerl wearing a golden one.

Shadow enjoyed the Christmas celebration. For him, the most wonderful thing wasn't the food or the presents - it was the fact that everyone was kind to one another. For the first time outside Hogwarts, Shadow felt like he was welcome.

After the guests had left, Shadow had a conversation with Tekno, who seemed sad.

"What is it?" Shadow asked.

"I don't think any of us ever told you the real reason why our family is so familiar with the legend of You-Know-Who," Tekno told him. "It's because... The five sons you've met aren't our only sons. There was another one."

"There was?" Shadow asked. "You mean... He was one of Voldemort's victims?"

"Don't say the name out loud," Tekno reminded Shadow. "But yes, that's what happened. His name was Gamma." Tekno showed Shadow a family picture from some years ago. Gamma had a red robot suit nearly identical to that of the other brothers' except Omega.

"It happened four years ago," Tekno explained and started crying. "He was only twenty years old. He could have had a great life ahead of him."

"I'm so sorry," Shadow said as he hugged Tekno.

"You never had the chance to meet him," Tekno continued. "I just thought you deserved to know this since you're getting adopted by us.

"I am?" Shadow reacted. "I mean, that would be great."

"You can't stay at a school," Tekno said. "You need a family. I'm so sorry you never got to know your parents."

Shadow continued school at Hogwarts fairly normally for the next few years. He remained friends with Omega, Rouge, Silver and Mephiles. Amy, still very shy, stayed lonely. Marine and Cosmo remained best friends, although they did have some disagreements, most notably Marine liking "Baby" by Justin Bieber but Cosmo disliking the song.