Nervously Alex walked up and down the front doors. He couldn't even say for how long he had been waiting out there for now but he knew that it was too long. Sometimes he could hear roars or loud clapping from the castle which made him wonder what was going on in there. The Sorting Ceremony, of course. He had never been more excited in his entire life and never so calm at the same time. God, was this even possible? Apparently, yes.

Alex knew that it was very important to find out which house he belonged to since it would define him for the rest of his life. Was he a scholar or a warrior? On the one hand he hated to be defined by some enchanted carvings but on the other he was happy that he wouldn't have to decide for himself where he belonged to.

Even more nervous he was about the wand thing. What if he wouldn't find his wand? He had never worked with one before and maybe he was too old to learn how to. Alex shook his head. Stop. You already sound like Aaron. With a small sigh he looked up at the two marble statues that flanked the front doors. He knew that the female one portrayed Isolt Sayre. Please help me, he prayed. It was a little scary to be alone with the two pairs of eyes staring down at him although he would never admit it.

After all airships had landed and all students had disappeared through the big doors Professor Washington had come by and talked to them about what they would have to do. Aaron had been allowed to go inside and watch the newcomers from the balcony together with the others. Meanwhile Alex had to wait outside for the first years to finish their ceremony. When he had asked the Professor why he couldn't go in with the others he had said that if he didn't want to have the same classes with them they shouldn't share the same ceremony as well. So Alex had to watch the kids walk in before him and was now almost dying from waiting too long. Suddenly a loud voice boomed over the slowly dying clapping he could hear even from outside.

"Okay, okay if you all could please remain silent for another second?" Alex recognized Professor Washington's voice. He pressed his ear to the wooden door to hear better.

"As some of you might already know, thanks to our lovely paintings, we have a new student from the Caribbean. He'll start in year six although he didn't even know about magic until yesterday so please help him when he has questions."

Alex gasped and had to hold himself back to not burst into the hall and explain to everyone that he in fact could do magic just as good as everyone else, just not with a wand, and that this didn't make him more stupid than the other kids. He sure as hell didn't need any help!

"We'll have another sorting ceremony today and I hope whichever house he will be sorted in will help him through this year", Professor Washington ended his little speech. So, Alex had been announced by the headmaster, now he should step into the hall and stand on the Gordian Knot where the carvings would choose his house, just as they had agreed on. But he was angry. Very angry. Why does everybody underestimate me?

As Alex thought this a loud slam pierced through the silence and the front doors flew open with so much power that they bounced back from the wall. Not again! Slowly he stepped into the quiet hall. Hundreds of faces where watching him from the balcony, some of them were looking just as surprised as Alex himself, others frightened but most of them were just shocked. Professor Washington shook his head with closed eyes as if he had almost excepted something like this to happen. In the contrary to Alex who couldn't understand why he just had done this.

He searched for Aaron but couldn't find him between all the other students so he decided for once to do what he had been told and stepped onto the Gordian Knot.

Nothing happened. Alex didn't know what he wanted to happen but this wasn't it at that he was sure. The carvings didn't move, he felt nothing and the symbol didn't get hot or moved as well. It was quiet. Ways to quiet for someone like Alex. Everybody was watching him from above, waiting for something to happen while he stood there like an idiot. If anyone would ever tell him that the entire thing only lasted five seconds he wouldn't believe it. What's going on?

Once again Alex searched for Aaron but the only person he knew and he could see was Freckles, the boy that had helped him up earlier. He didn't look surprised, nor frightened or shocked, he was simply smiling at Alex with a big grin. Immediately he had the thought of smiling back but right now he didn't know how to.

This was the moment clapping erupted all over him. It took him another moment to realize that the crystal that was set in the Hornet Serpent's forehead lighted up. So I'm in the same house as Aaron, great then I have at least one friend there already. But still- a scholar? Not what he had excepted.

That's when a loud roar drowned the cheers. It was the panther-like Wampus that was making this sound. Wait, what? Two houses, is that even possible? A warrior. That sounded more like him. The clapping became even louder so Alex guessed that it was normal to be chosen by more than one house. And what now? Do I belong to both houses or am I supposed to choose which one I want?

When the cheering was so loud that his ears hurt he realized that the Thunderbird had beaten its wings as well and was now staring down at him expectantly. Three houses? Great and now?

He looked around for help and finally caught Aaron's gaze. He had never told him what to do when more than one house would choose him but now he was making the same hand movement as Professor Martha Washington had done earlier.  So he guessed that he was supposed to choose one. Alex waited for the Pukwudgie to move as well but to his relief it didn't which would make his decision a little easier. Okay, are you a scholar, a warrior or an adventurer? All three, somehow. He just couldn't choose. Yes, he loved to learn new things and he never backed down from a fight but he also loved discovering things by himself. This would be hard. Mind, body or soul? Again, all three where important to him. His head hurt. Everyone up there was waiting for him to choose and he had no idea what to do. He was clueless. Not one useful thought in his brain.

Nothing could help him right now so he decided to go by heart and to just stop thinking about it. Alex took a deep breath, closed his eyes and made a big step toward one of the carvings. Again, loud cheering. The Thunderbird beat his wings once more while the other magical beasts froze again.

"Yeah, Thunderbird!", somebody screamed and others joined in. Only a second later Alex already regretted his decision again. I hate thunder and I hate birds. Did I really do the right thing? He couldn't change anything about it anyway now so why worry about it?

The better question was, what did he have to do now? Aaron had told him he would have to go through a smaller door across from where he stood when the ceremony was over, there he would find his wand. And really, there was a door made out of dark wood and with ornamentations of wands and animals on it. Without looking up to the balcony once more Alex walked towards it and pressed down the handle.

The magic seemed to be even thicker in the near of this door and when he stepped into the dark room he almost jerked back from the weird feeling he got when entering. The first thing he realized was the big table in the middle with five long boxes on it. Right behind it stood a small, grey creature that was watching him as he looked around. It was a Pukwudgie with wrinkles in its grumpy looking face and old eyes.

"William?", Alex asked surprised.

"Who else did you expect? Professor Washington?", the Pukwudgie snapped. Actually, he had but of course that wasn't possible since the Professor had to care for the other students as well and couldn't spent the entire day with giving out wands.

"I'm sorry if I sound rude but shouldn't someone who uses a wand do this?", Alex said carefully. William snorted.

"I'm the oldest creature in this castle and I'm helping to make these stupid sticks for decades now. I think I can manage them", he explained offendedly.

"Hey, I said I don't want to be rude!", Alex defended himself. The Pukwudgie only rolled his eyes.

"I don't have time for this", he answered. "Sit down and we'll see what we can find for you." Alex did as he was told and watched as William took one of the boxes and opened it. "Acacia with a dragon heart core, twelve inches, try that one", he told him and handed Alex the wand. What was supposed to happen now? Should he cast a spell or just wait till it did something?

"Uh...what am I supposed to do with it?", Alex asked after he had stared at the wand for a while.

"I don't know, I've never used a wand before", William grunted.

"I already said sorry but if you want to hear it again: I am sorry!"

The Pukwudgie just shook his head before answering: "Do magic, what else?"

Oh, great. But how when you've never worked with a wand before? Alex tried to cast a normally easy spell that would shift the table a little. He pointed the wand at it and tried to move the table but instead of just shifting a few centimeters backwards it flew against shelves in the background Alex hadn't realized until now.

"No!", both William and him cried out at the same moment.

"Another one then", the Pukwudgie murmured and collected the boxes from the ground while Alex tried to put the table upright again.

"Leave that where it is, I think there will be more damage done today anyway."

William should be right. The next wand, Ebony, Wampus hair, nine inches, destroyed the chair which Alex was sitting on and the one after, Yew, Phoenix feather, thirteen and a half inches, let everything, including Alex and William, in the room flew up for a few seconds before letting it fall on the hard ground again.

"No, no I don't think it'll work like this. You destroyed almost the entire room already and you've only tried three wands", William said in unbelief. "One more wand then we'll stop for today. You get one more chance, boy."

Alex nodded. What would happen when he didn't find a wand? Could he even go to school without one?

"Here, this one will have to do it." The Pukwudgie handed him a short, reddish stick. "Redwood, unicorn hair, seven and a half inches", William explained.

Even before he touched the wand Alex already knew that it was the right one. It has to be. He took a deep breath before swinging it around. A loud bang and every wand that was still remaining in the shelves flew out.

"That's it. You'll help me clean up this mess and then you can go eat with the others", William declared and collected a few wands from the ground to put them back to their places.

"But...", Alex started. He couldn't believe it. No wand for him today. He would have to wait even longer and that even though  he already waited for sixteen years now! That's just not fair! Grumpily he put the table back in its place and kicked the remains of the chair under it. His foot brushed a long box which broke into two halves.

Shit. Quickly Alex bended down and picked the damaged case up. Maybe William wouldn't even realize that he broke it now that he was busy sorting the wands. Slowly he made his way toward one of the shelves and was just about to put the box back in its place when suddenly his hands didn't obey him anymore.

What if...?

Why shouldn't he just try out one last wand? What did he have to lose? For just a moment Alex hesitated, then he opened the damaged box and pulled out a dark stick. His last chance. He pointed it at the shelf and waited. For a horrible long moment nothing happened, then a bright light came from the wand's tip and spread almost through the entire room. Alex laughed. He had never felt so happy in his life before. He did it! He found his wand, a real wand! He could do real magic from now on!

"Hey, kid! I told you not to- oh!", William shouted and stared at him in disbelief before coming over to analyze the wand. "Walnut, unicorn hair, ten inches", he said concernedly.

Normally Alex would ask what was up but right now he didn't care. He was too happy to finally have been chosen by a wand.

"Seems to be a drama queen as well", the Pukwudgie grumbled but Alex didn't even listen.

"Can I go now?", he chanted and lovingly glanced at his wand before putting it into his pocket.

"Okay, go. I can't stand your happiness anymore but don't think I'll forget about how much you destroyed here today", William sighed and showed him a second entrance  from which he could enter the dining hall. "Your table should be the second left."

Alex nodded thankfully and opened the door just to be greeted by loud chatter and the big hall he had already eaten lunch in. Although he had already been there it looked totally different now that it was filled with children. There were five round tables standing around a smaller one for the teachers and a big buffet were you could get your food stood at the left wall. Alex felt his stomach grumble and he decided to go to the buffet first before making friends in his own house. He snapped a tray and put almost everything he could grab on it. Some kind of soup, potatoes, roast meat, pudding and a lot other food. Finally he went to the table William had told him to go to and sat down. Alex looked around but everybody seemed too busy eating than to care about him so he grabbed his fork and started swallowing his food. He had never eaten so much in his entire life before so no wonder that he finished his meal in a few minutes.

"You eat a lot for someone so petit, ne est-ce pas?", someone said in a thick french accent. Alex blushed and stared down at his plate.

"You got a problem with it?", he asked grumpily.

"Non, non it's very cute. Looks funny how you stuff in from a plate bigger que toi in the speed of light", the french guy chuckled. "Looks as if you're fighting against the food."

Alex had to stop himself from grinning. Yes, the frenchman was funny but he hated it when people called him cute.

"Désolé, I just wanted to talk to you and couldn't think of something better to say. You can forgive me?", he asked. Alex couldn't hold the laugher back anymore.

"Of course. I'm Alexander Hamilton", he answered smirking and held out his hand to the other guy. He finally got to take a closer look at him, now that he didn't have to hide his gin anymore. The boy was his age with dark, coily hair that was put back in a ponytail and brown eyes. He wore the same robe as Aaron but his badge showed a golden bird.

"Alexander Hamilton, the new one, huh? Mon petit frère", he murmured. Should I tell him that I speak french? Better not. Why did this guy call him his little brother? Does he always say this kind of stuff because he thinks no one understands him?

"Bref, I am Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette but you can call me Lafayette if you want to."

And Alex wanted to. He couldn't even remember Lafayette's first first name anymore after only five seconds.

"Lafayette it is. You're French, right?", he asked him.

"Oh, you noticed", Lafayette replied and made a face. Alex laughed.

"So, what are you doing in America then? I guess there is an European wizarding school?", he wanted to know.

"Oui, there is one and I went there the first two school years but then I became an exchange student to America. Didn't speak a word english back then. I loved it here so I decided to stay", Lafayette explained proudly. Alex wondered that his parents didn't have a problem with their son being an ocean away but he knew little about parents and didn't want to seem nosy. So he didn't ask.

"You're new too, bien?", Lafayette asked. "From the Caribbean I heard. I would be honored to show you  around the Thunderbird common room", he offered and looked at him with expectant puppy eyes.

"Uh, yeah. Of course", Alex replied chuckling. It was nice to talk to somebody so openly and without any ulterior motives. He pointed at Lafayette's plate which he had eyed for a few minutes now. "Do you still want that or can I eat it?", he asked.

"Oh, non, you can have it!", Lafayette answered and pushed his tray toward the hungry orphan who swallowed the left overs in a few bites.

"I have never eaten this much yummy food before", he declared in the sudden need to explain himself.

"It's fine. You don't have to be sorry, everyone acts like this the first time they get here", Lafayette replied grinning. "The food is délicieux."

"Yes, yes it is", Alex answered happily as he looked around the dining hall. Most students had already finished their meal and started talking to each other.  Some even stood up and walked to another table to continue their conversations until a loud ping sounded through the room.

"Oh, now Professor Washington is going to give his speech", Lafayette whispered and pointed at the Professor who now stood up with his wand set under the chin.

"Dear students, welcome back to the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardy."

Even though he didn't shout his voice boomed over all the other people talking.

"And of course a special welcome to our newcomers. As every year I want you to remember that you're only allowed to go to Adams by yourself when you're sixteen or older. For everyone else a school bus will drive every second weekend or you'll have to go with at least two older students. It's also not allowed to damage the snake wood tree or to leave the school grounds without permission on workdays. After ten I don't want to see anyone on the school floors anymore, do you understand?"

Alex wasn't sure if he was imagining it but the Professor stared at Lafayette and him for a few moments too long as he said this. What's this about?

"And everyone should remember that phones don't work here. You can use letter birds if you need to stay in touch with your friends but please no cell phones, they'll go crazy with this much magic around them. But now to the more pleasant things. As always we have a house cup and a quidditch cup to win. The last winner of the house cup was the Pukwudgie house."

Loud cheering from the table across from them.

"And the quidditch cup was won by the Wampus house."

Even louder clapping and screaming from the table at their left.

„However everything can be different this year so don't think you have to do less than the others", Professor Washington lectured them.

"Of course, but it's just unfair. Pukwudgies are all nice, that's what the damné house is about after all. They always win", Lafayette explained grumpily while Alex tried to remember everything that he had been told about the house cup.

It's a competition between all four houses and ends at the end of the school year. Every student can collect points for their house with being remarkable in class or doing other important stuff but however, you can also loose points when you... behave badly, he heard Aaron's voice inside his head. This year, Alex decided, we're going to win.

„And not to forget", Professor Washington continued. „We have a new defense against the dark arts teacher since our last one retired. May I introduce, Professor Charles Lee!"

A middle aged man stood up and shook Professor Washington's hand before he turned toward the students with a faint smile. Everyone clapped for the Professor although it didn't sound very happy.

"Our last defense against the dark arts teacher was formidable, it's very sad that he retired", Lafayette commented. Alex nodded absently. He didn't know what was wrong with the new Professor but somehow he didn't like him. Maybe it was the way he looked at Professor Washington, as if he could do everything he did better. It's a little too early for hate, you don't even know this guy.

"As I see, the meal is over and so is my speech. Let's sing the Ilvermorny song together before you all can go to sleep", Professor Washington finished. Lafayette stood up and so did two other guys from a different table, one of them Alex could recognize as Freckles, the guy that had helped him up earlier. For a moment he thought about doing the same but the other students remained on their seats so he stayed as well. What are they doing?

"Ilvermorny, oh Ilvermorny you castle full of wonders. We praise your food and giant birds and nothing else. When you let us stay awake until four with your magnificent homework, when you let our heads explode from all the learning, when you let us cry of boredom in history class we know we're finally home! Ilvermorny, oh Ilvermorny you castle full of wonders."

The students laughed and clapped until Professor Washington raised his hand.

"Well done, very well done", he shouted and clapped slowly. "If you could please sit down again." The three guys bowed grinning and waved at the other students before finally doing as they were told.

"This was amazing", Alex said which caused Lafayette to make a face at him.

"We do this every year with a different verse from the actual song in the hope that the rumors are true and Professor Washington will banish us into the basement. Nobody knows where this secret floor is and we're searching for it since year three now", he explained. Probably in the basement.

Alex couldn't ask who was we anymore because the rest of the school started singing the real Ilvermorny song now. It wasn't as good as the one Lafayette and his friends had sung so Alex didn't even care to remember what it was about. Every verse had something to do with the different years in Ilvermorny, there was even one for the teachers but as Alex realized, none about squibs.

Talking about squibs, I should visit James once more before I go to bed. Maybe he woke up. When the song was over, everyone stood up and started leaving the hall through two big doors. Lafayette sighed.

"Putain. I almost forgot that I'm... I'm. What's the word? It's gone. The orateur de classe ", he said.

"I don't know what you mean, sorry", Alex lied hoping to keep up his cover as the clueless new student for a while even though he hated it. Let's see what else this guy talks about when he thinks no one understands him! Still, acting more stupid than he really was was horrible for Alex.

"The class chooses him and he speaks for them but not for the class but for his house", Lafayette tried to explain.

"Uh... the class speaker?", Alex guessed.
Lafayette's face lit up.

"Yes, yes that's it! Thanks Hamilton! I have to guide the first years to the common room now." He stood up as well and walked towards the big door most students were going through.

"First year Thunderbirds over here!", he shouted and waved at a group of kids. Alex decided to follow him as well since he had no idea were the common room was located and because he didn't know the password that was needed to get inside according to Aaron.

"My name is Lafayette and I'm one of your house speakers. I'm going to show you how to get into your sleeping room so better pay attention, vous comprendez?" When nobody said anything he continued his speech. "Here we go, follow me!", Lafayette said and led the small group out of the dining hall and through a long corridor.

"There are always two house speakers but my partner couldn't make it today. They get chosen by their house mates in the second week after school start and can be every age, the only important thing is that the house trusts them. Every year there are meetings with the professors were important things get discussed and we get the chance to make changes for our house. Until new ones are chosen the old house speakers remain in their position", he explained as they stood on an old staircase.

Alex wondered if somebody had ever become house speaker in their first year before. Even though Lafayette said that it was possible it wasn't very realistic that anyone would trust somebody they only knew two weeks enough to put them in such an important position.

"To the crooked tower please, vite!", Lafayette shouted and patted the golden banister. For a moment Alex thought that he had meant the new students but then the stairs stared moving.

"What's happening?", a young boy shrieked and grabbed after the girl next to him.

"Ilvermorny wasn't build over night. Year for year new parts were added just like the stairs we see here. We call them the moving stairs because they can bring you to every part of the castle you want to", Lafayette replied. "They're like an ascenseur, a lift."

Only now Alex realized that the moving stars didn't end in front of an entrance or a door or something but in the air.

"But it's impossible that they can bring us into every part of the castle, there are doors too small for them to-"

"It's magic, okay?", Lafayette quickly interrupted the young girl that had spoken to him. And it really was magic. Whenever there was a door or a corridor too small for the stairs they just became smaller and thinner until they fit through. Same happened to the people standing on them, something that made Alex almost puke. I'll have to get used to it, I guess. But he realized that he wasn't the only one being relived when the stairs finally stopped at the so called crooked tower. Nearly everyone tried to get to the ground as quickly as possible, even Lafayette who had been in Ilvermorny for a while now.

"Ne t'inquiète pas. Don't worry, you don't always have to travel on them, only when you're late to class or forgot where your classroom is located", the house speaker reassured them, causing some of the kids to laugh. But Alex had already seen the castle, he knew that this wasn't a joke, it was ways too big to remember every part of it in just one year. He would have to use the stairs a lot, there he was sure.

Together the small group walked into the tower where they were greeted by a big crowd of students staying in front of a big seal with a Thunderbird on it.

"This is the entrance to our common room. The Thunderbird only opens for members of its house but we still have to say a password that changes weekly to be let in since we're the house of adventurers and apparently can't have it easy", Lafayette explained the first years as he made his way through the other students and knocked four times at the bark.

The bird beat his wings just as the carving in the glass hall had done, then Lafayette said "Professor Washington rocks" and the seal opened.

The Thunderbird common room was bigger than every hut Alex and his brother had ever lived in and felt more like home already. It was in the school colors blue and cranberry and filled with couches, armchairs, tables, shelves and a big fireplace. There were two big windows with golden curtains through which you had a wonderful view of the castle. Old maps and paintings decorated the walls and Alex even spotted a telescope and a globe.

Behind him the other students came into the room and filled the seatings, paper birds flew through the open door and everything was just comfortable. The only weird thing was that everything a little tilted. The crooked tower. Seems to be a pretty good description.

"Girls dorms are on the right and boys on the left", Lafayette shouted after the first years as they walked wide eyed through the common room.

"It's nice here, isn't it?", he asked Alex with a proud grin. Alex couldn't talk right now without the danger of crying out of happiness so he just nodded. This felt like a real home, a place where he could live. He tried to remember how long it had been since he last felt like this about a place. Must have been before mom died and a long time before my father left us, he thought. Everything was just perfect right now. He had his own wand, he had a new friend and a real new home. What could be better? What about James? He will get better soon, too.

Lafayette snapped a letter bird out of the air and opened it while Alex was still admiring his surroundings.

"Hamilton, mon copain, me and mes amis want to meet tonight, do you want to come with me?", Lafayette asked him after a while. For a moment Alex didn't know what to say. Nobody had ever invited him to something like this before since he never had friends before.

"Of course", he answered beaming at his new friend. Maybe he could even become friends with Lafayette's friends, that would be, like, four new friends in one day when he counted Aaron.

"That's super! Come on, I can show you were you'll sleep!", Lafayette shouted and led Alex to the right staircase from which they went up to another floor with seven doors. It was a little hard to walk here since, one again, everything was tilted and Alex had to hold on to a handrail right next to him. Lafayette laughed.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to walk here normally sooner than you can say quidditch", he promised as he stopped in front of one of the doors. It had a big, golden six painted on it.

"This is our room, as I know Washington he has already arranged a bed for you."

Alex wondered why Lafayette didn't call the Professor Professor Washington but didn't get to ask because this was the moment he first saw his new sleeping place. It was a lot better than everything he had ever slept on before, even when he had to share a room with about ten other students. Every bed had velvet curtains and a small nightstand which was more furniture than Alex had ever owned.

"Here, this one is mine", Lafayette said and fell onto one of the beds. "I think yours is the one with the many schoolbooks on it", he added and pointed at the bed across from his. He was probably right. A mountain of books laid on it together with a folded school uniform and a Thunderbird badge, not to forget a few weird boxes. Alex wanted to ask Lafayette what was in them but that wasn't necessary since he had already jumped up and grabbed one of the boxes.

"C'est super cool!", he shouted. "Washington gave you sweets!" He did? Alex couldn't recognize any of the boxes. None of them looked like chocolate or candy or something else he knew.

"We're so taking those with us! And look, your school uniform! You better go and change, vite!", Lafayette said excited and held up the blue and cranberry robe. Alex sighed but grabbed his school uniform and made a face.

"Where's the bathroom?", he asked. His new friend pointed at a small door and threw the badge at him.

~

"You have to get out there, mon ami!"

"No! I look stupid!"

"Um... I'm sure you look manifique."

"It's too big!"

"Mon ami Hercules is a tailor he can make it smaller if you come out."

"Okay, but don't laugh!"

Lafayette broke out into small giggles as Alex closed the bathroom door behind him.

"I told you it looks stupid!", Alex grunted and crossed his arms so no one could see that the sleeves were too long.

"Non, non, it's cute!", Lafayette shouted.

"That's it, I'm changing", Alex replied grumpily. He hated it when people called him cute and he sure as hell didn't want to trip over his robe. Suddenly he heard loud screams from downstairs.

"What time is it?"

Lafayette jumped up and ran down the stairs, Alex followed, his school uniform completely forgotten.

"SHOWTIME! SHOWTIME!", somebody shouted from outside. Lafayette opened the door and jumped out where he was greeted by loud screams. Alex wondered if he even realized that everybody else was watching them or if he just didn't care.

"The Lancelot of the revolutionary set!"

Alex followed Lafayette outside where two other guys stood who tackled the Frenchman. One of them was Freckles, the other one a tall guy with a beanie. Both of them had badges with a panther-like creature on them.

Wampus.

"Mes amis!", Lafayette greeted them. "Look who came along!" He pointed at Alex. Immediately the two other students turned around and stared at him.

"Who are you?", Beanie asked. "Who's this kid, Laf? What's he gonna do?"

Alex panicked. What was he supposed to answer? His name, was Lafayette supposed to answer or should he say what he was gonna do? As always when he panicked he started talking.

"Alexander Hamilton. My name is Alexander Hamilton and there are a million things I haven't done but just you wait, just you wait! I'm not gonna wing my shot! I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy and hungry and I'm not throwing away my shot!", he explained quickly.

For what felt like forever nobody said a word, then Freckles burst out into laughter. The other two followed soon and even Alex couldn't hold himself back anymore. For five minutes the four of them couldn't collect themselves.

"John Laurens in the place to be", Freckles panted and held out his hand. Alex was still laughing as he shook it so he couldn't even say "nice to meet you" or something like this but that wasn't necessary for John gratefully took all of the speaking part.

"You can call me Laurens or John or whatever you want", he said. "Hey, haven't we met already? I think we have. You were the guy that..."

"Um, yes that was me", Alex quickly interrupted him. He didn't want everyone to know that he had been overrun by eleven years olds.

"Whaaaaaat? You already know each other? What a big surprise, I would have never seen that coming!", the Beanie guy giggled, causing John to blush.

"Oh shut up!", he hissed before turning back to Alex who didn't understand what the heck was going on.

"Forget him."

"Alexander Hamilton", Lafayette shouted now, "his name is Alexander Hamilton!" John blushed even harder, something that let his freckles show more.

"As if you're the one to talk, Mr I'll-finally-have-a-brother!", he replied. Now it was Lafayette's turn to redden. Alex didn't understand a single thing they were talking about.

"Brother? What the fuck is going on!", he asked dumbfounded. What's this brother thing about? I already have a brother! I don't want a new one!

"See, you sure as hell have realized that Professor Washington has adopted you", John told him but was silenced by Lafayette who started singing something in French. Wait, what? Professor Washington adopted me? When!

  "I'm Hercules Mulligan by the way", Beanie introduced himself and chuckled as he watched his two friends aggressively singing at each other.

"Nice to meet you, Hercules", Alex answered still confused. "Could you please tell me why-"

"Why they're fighting?", Hercules interrupted him.

"Yes."

"Well, where to start. Laurens here-"

"No! Wait!", John shouted and pushed Hercules out of the way. "That's all unimportant right now. We have candy, we have butter beer, why can't we just start our squad night?", he asked.

"Yes, s'il de plait!", Lafayette begged and grabbed Hercules arm. "Alex brought some sweets as well. He got them from Washington, can you imagine, he just got him sweets!"

He took a few of the boxes on Alex' bed out of his robe and handed them John who put them into a leather bag which actually should be too small for so many of them.

"I'd just like to know what's up with the Professor Washington adopted me thing", Alex said.

"Nothing", Lafayette shrieked at the same time as John answered: "He just bought you sweets, didn't he?"

Alex nodded confused.

"He probably called you son more than once?", Hercules guessed.

„Yes, but-"

"HA! I knew it!", Lafayette interrupted him. "You're mon nouveau petit frére then! He likes to adopt poor children who came to Ilvermorny later than normal."

Well, now that Lafayette had said it, yes, Professor Washington had helped him a lot already but he had to as the headmaster of the school, right?

"Guys, don't confuse the poor kid!", Hercules chuckled.

"I'm not a kid!", Alex replied grumpily and crossed his arms. "Why does everyone think I am small and need help?"

Both, John and Lafayette looked at him in concern. In the end Hercules was the one to say it.

"Maybe because your school uniform is too big and it looks really cute?" Oh fuck! Alex totally forgot about the robe he was still wearing.

"But don't worry, your entrance at The Sorting Ceremony for example was very badass", John tried to calm him.

"Yeah but I can't be both. You're either badass or cute", Alex replied grumpily.

"Don't worry, my father is a tailor, so I can change your clothes if you want me to", Hercules offered.

"Thanks, that would be great", Alex sighed. That's when all out of sudden he remembered something. "Shit! My brother!", he shouted and ruffled his hair. He had almost forgotten that he wanted to visit James before lights out and of course, that wouldn't be possible if he went with Lafayette and his friends.

"Your brother?", John asked confused. "You don't mean Laf, do you?"

Alex shook his head.

"No, my real brother, James. He came here with me but right now he's in the hospital wing because of me."

The three boys exchanged shocked gazes.

"No, it's not like you think it is! I didn't hurt him on purpose or something like this, we had to jump out of a giant metal bird which also crashed into him and that's why... No, you know what, just forget it. Important is that he's unconscious right now and that I have to check if he's still alive-"

Loud gasps.

"No, no, no! Don't get the wrong idea! He'll get better, I just feel..." Alex didn't know how to end the sentence.

"Responsible?", John guessed softly.

"Um, yeah something like that." Actually that was exactly how Alex felt right now. "So yeah, I'm sorry but I can't come with you if we want to be in our common rooms by ten again", he explained. Great, I've just found something like friends and now they probably already think I'm boring.

"Did you hear that, mes amis?", Lafayette asked laughing.

"If we want to be in our common rooms by ten again", John repeated giggling.

"Alexander, my friend. We don't want to be in our common rooms by ten again", Hercules told him slowly. "That's the purpose of this night, do you understand?" Alex felt himself grin as well.

They didn't really want to go with him, did they?

"Then what are we waiting for!", John shouted.

They did.

"Alons-y, we just have to watch out that the Pukwudgies don't catch us", Lafayette explained and grabbed into John's bag to pull out one of Alex' boxes.

"Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans", John told him, "in really every flavor."

"So it's just the wizard version of jelly beans or-" Nobody seemed to understand his joke since everyone just stared at him with wide eyes. "You know what, just forget it." Hercules shook his head with terror in his eyes.

"Don't make jokes about them, dude! I swear, once I got one that tasted like-"

"Like shit, we know, Herc!", both, John and Lafayette shouted at the same time.

"It's true! I hope you all choke on your strawberry flavored beans, not everyone can have your luck!", Hercules screamed and let one of the beans fall into his mouth before making a pained face. "Broccoli", he said. John laughed.

"You really have the worst of luck, Herc", he told him and ate one of the beans as well. "Um... potatoes?" Meanwhile Lafayette had taken out a puke green bean and handed it Hercules.

"Je te défie, I dare you to eat it!", he shouted with an evil grin.

"Are you completely mad? Why do you think that I would ever eat one of those again?", Hercules asked and tried to hand it back to his French friend.

"Because we're playing truth or dare and we want to see you eat it!", John decided. Alex grinned. His new friends were totally mad but somehow he liked it.

"Eat it! Eat it!", he chanted.

"You know the rules, mon ami! You either eat this one petit bean or we'll have to jinx you", Lafayette explained and almost shoved the puke colored bean into Hercules mouth who quickly grabbed the crazy Frenchman's wrist.

"Okay, okay I'm doing it just calm the fuck down!", he shouted and shoved the bean into his mouth. All four of them waited for something to happen but Hercules just chewed for a few seconds and opened his mouth to show that he had eaten it all.

"What did it taste like?", Alex wanted to know. Hercules shrugged.

"I don't know, like nothing, really. That was weird. HOLY SHIT!" He jumped up and down and put his hands on his throat. "This, this..." He couldn't find words for what he just had tasted so his friends tried to help him.

"Tasted like puke?", John guessed but Hercules shook his head.

"Spinach?", Lafayette asked.

"No, no. Like... nothing", Hercules said dryly.

"What? No!", John shouted disappointed.

"So, it's my turn then?", Hercules asked. "Good, Hamilton. True or Dare?" Alex was shocked to be asked second since he knew these guys for a few minutes now and didn't expect them to include this quickly but on the other side he was also happy. Just don't let anything show.

"Dare", he said confidently. What could they do to him other than having him eat one of those beans?

"Uhhhhh", John and Lafayette whispered.

"I dare you to..." Hercules looked around, then an evil smile hushed over his face. "I dare you to eat all the remaining beans at once!"

"What! Herc, this will send him to the hospital wing for at least a week!", John protested and snapped the beans out of Lafayette's hand. "You guys had enough of those!" Although it was nice of John to take care of him Alex could decide for himself and Alex decided that it was worth a shot, that's what he told the others as well.

"Yes!", Lafayette and Hercules shouted but John didn't look happy at all.

"Don't worry, I got this", Alex promised him and poured the beans into his mouth. It was like a bomb exploding inside of him. He could taste almost every possible taste at the same time. Apple, pumpkin, chicken, pears and a lot of other things. It made him cry and everything around him blurred, the only thing remaining were those horrible flavors inside his mouth.

"Help", he whispered. The next thing Alex could remember was that somebody was pouring some kind of liquid into him.

"Goddamnit Alex, you scared us!", he heard Johns voice and somebody took the bottle away so he could speak. Alex looked around but he hadn't been moved, he still stood in the same corridor even though he was now leaning at the wall.

  "W-what happened?", he stuttered and touched his hurting head.

"Tu mange tout les haricots et-"

"Laf, You're speaking French again", Hercules reminded Lafayette.

"Désolé. I always speak French when I'm stressed. Anyway, you ate all the beans and then you started crying and called for help. After that you just kinda, closed your eyes and... and fell", he explained. Oh, so this is the reason of the headache.

"Then I had the idea to give you water to drink", John continued, "but we had no water, only butter beer." Alex nodded, still a little confused.

"Man, we almost brought you to the hospital wing", Hercules said and shook his head. Something inside of Alex made click. The hospital wing!

"My brother!", he groaned. "I still have to visit him!" The other three exchanged worried glances.

"Alex, are you sure that you want to-", John started but he was interrupted by an angry Alexander.

"I have to, do you understand? James is my brother!" Again, the three exchanged glances.

"Alex, mon ami", Lafayette finally spoke. Alex already expected him to say no and searched for good arguments. "Of course you can go, if we can still come with you."

"But see, this is very imp- Wait, what? You still want to come with me after I almost died because of candy?", he asked perplexed. John nodded.

"Of course, do you really think we're going to let a new guy stupid enough to eat an entire Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans packet run around alone after ten o'clock?", he said grinning.

"Oh please, we might be mad but not this mad", Hercules explained.

"You really want Professor Washington to lock you into this secret basement, don't you?", Alex sighed although he was secretly happy that he wouldn't have to go alone.

"Oui", Lafayette confirmed.

"We know a lot of secret passageways, you just have to follow us and you'll be able to see your brother in no time and without being caught", John promised while Hercules held a big tapestry open with a small wooden door behind it.

"Alons-y!", Lafayette screamed once again and jumped through the secret entrance, John followed. Alex didn't hesitate and did the same. All the way to the hospital wing they used entrances like this to avoid the Pukwudgies and teachers and laughed about some stupid jokes Hercules told them. It feels amazing to have real friends. Sooner than Alex liked it they arrived in front of a big door behind which the hospital wing was.

"You better go in alone so you have a better chance to not be seen. Bonne chance", Lafayette said and made a face.

"Thank you, guys. I don't know what I would have done without you", Alex whispered.

"No problem. Here, take this with you. I think we had enough of them", Hercules replied and handed him another box of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans. Alex only laughed at the sight of them and quickly opened the big door only wide enough to let him in. The hospital wing looked exactly the same as it had earlier this day just that everything was dark now. The big beds all in a line and a medicine cupboard in one corner. He even remembered which of the beds James was laying in. On toe tips Alex sneaked to him and opened the curtains.

His brother looked smaller than he did when awake, almost as if he could break any second if someone touched him. He looks so helpless. But he still had a smile on his face as if he didn't care that he couldn't do anything about it. That's so weird. It must be horrible to have to trust others to care about yourself. How can he still smile? Well, he probably doesn't even realize what's happening around him since he's unconscious. Alex might just have imagined it but didn't he just hear steps? Quickly he put the box of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans into Jame's arms then he stepped out of the hospital wing. Something he maybe shouldn't have done. There really had been steps. Professor Lee stood in front of his friends with his back to Alex and lectured them about being out this late.

"Didn't you understand? Professor Washington said that he doesn't want to see anyone on the corridors after ten!", Professor Lee shouted.

"Yeah, well. We have a reason for being out here, you see", John started but he was interrupted quickly.

"I don't care for your reason, you didn't follow the rules. Do you know what that means?"

Alex sneaked back behind his three friends without Professor Lee noticing.

"Uh, no?", Hercules said.

"Do you want to make me angry? You don't want me to be angry!", Professor Lee grunted. I have to stop this. Somehow.

"And what are you doing out here?", Alex asked and stepped out of Hercules' big  shadow.

"Wait, weren't there only three of you five seconds ago?", Professor Lee replied and shook his head.

"As I see, you're already tiered Professor", Alex told him. "It's not even ten yet, so we're still allowed to be out here, isn't that true?" Lafayette understood immediately and pulled out his wand. Quietly he whispered something while Alex was still trying to confuse his new teacher.

"It's long after ten, I checked already! You can't play games with me, boy!", Lee hissed and took out an old watch. For a few seconds he stood there and sated at it without blinking, then he collected himself again.

"Ha! Do you think I'm stupid? I see it when somebody adjusted my watch wrongly!", he shouted. "Maybe you'll even get expelled now. Being up to late and trying to confuse a teacher!" It didn't work. Alex started panicking. He didn't want to get expelled, not this short after finding friends and a new home. Suddenly he remembered something.

"Ah, I see what you're doing here, Professor", he said confidently.

"Uh hu, so obvious", John joined in even though he shot him a quick what-the-hell-are-you-doing gaze but Alex couldn't answer. His friends would have to trust him.

"I've seen how you looked at Professor Washington during dinner", he played out his last card. Lee froze. Yes! I've got him now! "We know why you're here, you can't fool us", he continued and pulled out his own wand. It's so beautiful! Calm down Alex, we don't have time for this.

"We could inform Professor Washington or we could just forget about this." Hercules handed him parchment and a quill with which Alex started writing something down like: dear Professor, we need your help because reasons. He was about to tap the writing three times when Lee stoped him.

"Hold on!", he screamed.

"Yes?", Alex asked and held his wand just one inch over the letter.

"Who do you think Professor Washington is going to believe, a professor or four troublemakers?", Lee asked already more confident again.

"Non, non professeur, you should better ask who the Professor is going  to listen to: a new teacher or four kids he knows since six years now", Lafayette replied with a faint smile. That's when Lee broke. His shoulders bend a little and he sighed.

"What do I have to do so you keep your mouth shut?"

The four friends grinned at each other. I did it. I really did it.

"Oh, that's easy", Alex promised, "just forget about what happened here." Lee's mouth twitched but he nodded, grabbed the letter Alex had written and walked away without a word. The four let out a relieved sigh at the same time.

"Alex, you're a genius", John told him and patted his back.

"Come on, we have to hide better", Hercules said and showed them a secret room behind a tapestry just a corridor away. The room wasn't as big as the others Alex had seen today but had enough place for at least ten persons. John opened his bag and pulled out even more boxes of sweets Alex decided to not touch ever again and bottles of butter beer.

"Okay Alex, you saved us. Now you have to tell us just how you did it", Lafayette ordered and grabbed one of the bottles. Alex only shrugged.

"I don't know. I didn't even know what he was doing there, I just realized that he looked at Professor Washington weirdly at dinner", he explained. He really didn't want to talk about it right now. He just wanted to have fun with his new friends.

"Raise our bottle to freedom, something Lee can never take away. No matter what he tells you", John said and raised his bottle. Lafayette chuckled quietly so Alex decided to complete the speech.

"Raise our glass to the four of us! Tomorrow there'll be more of us, telling the story of tonight."