Harry Potter didn't know how to feel as he entered the History of Magic classroom. On one hand, he wouldn't have to sit through Binns' boring lectures on Goblin Wars. On the other hand, every new Professor had something against him so far, and he wasn't ready to rule Professors Lupin, Kirkland and Jones out yet. He hadn't had Defence Against the Dark Arts yet so he couldn't judge Lupin yet.

"Come in." A voice (Very English, mind you) called out. Every student hurried into the class and took a seat. At the front of the room, Professor Kirkland sat on a chair behind the desk. Professor Jones however, was sitting on the desk to the side, a wide grin on his face.

"Welcome to History of Magic class! This is gonna be our first time teaching so cut us some slack, okay?" Professor Jones chirped. Professor Kirkland hit him upside the head and said, "Everyone, take a seat."

The class obediently sat down. They took out their textbooks while chattering.

Harry turned to Hermione who had sat beside him. "Why do you think we need two teachers for History of Magic?"

"I don't know. Perhaps the workload is too much for one teacher to handle."

"Wow. The Great Hermione Granger doesn't know something!" Harry teased. Hermione smacked him on the arm. Professor Kirkland looked in their direction and they quickly looked down at their desks.

"For those of you who don't know, I am Professor Kirkland. This year, my assistant and I-"

"THAT'S ME!"

Professor Kirkland threw a dirty look in Professor Jones' direction. "We'll be teaching History of Magic. From what I've heard, your previous professor taught you about Goblin Wars."

He frowned as he flipped through a few pages in a notebook on his desk. "Apparently, only Goblin Wars. We're going to start from the beginning, so turn to page 13 in your textbooks."

Professor Jones looked around the class. "Ya might need to write something so grab a pen and piece of paper." Most of the class looked confused while some Muggleborns, like Dean, took out a sheet of parchment and a quill. Harry did the same as he realized that the American was using Muggle terminology that the pureblood students didn't understand.

Harry watched as Professor Kirkland corrected Professor Jones and they began the lesson.

"Magic is believed to have first began in Ancient Egypt many millennia ago..."

-This time skip is brought to you by a History of Magic-

Severus Snape was no fool. From the moment he spoke to them, he knew there was something strange going on with the two new History of Magic Professors. Dumbledore had told him to keep an eye on them, which was proving to be a slightly more difficult task than he had first imagined.

"So Sevvie dude." The American sat himself down beside the Slytherin Head of House. It was lunchtime and the teachers were in the Great Hall.

"Do not speak to me using that horrid name." Honestly, Sevvie? Could it get anymore demeaning? Thankfully, none of the teachers had heard the nickname.

"Professor Jones, would you like to join us in our office afterwards to try the Sorting Hat on? I'm sure you must be curious despite not having attendee this school."

Alfred looked over to Professor Dumbledore. "Sure, but who's us?"

Arthur looked over from the other side of the table where he was sitting on Dumbledore's other side. "We're going to try on the Hat to see which houses we would be in if we went to school right now. It'll be interesting."

Alfred smiled. "Yeah sure! It'll be fun to see what I'll be in your Houses thing."

-This time skip is brought to you by the Sorting Hat-

All four Heads of Houses, Headmaster, and History of Magic Professors were gathered together in Dumbledore's office. The Sorting Hat lay on the desk behind which Albus sat, smiling serenely as ever.

"Yo before we do this, can I just say that at Ilvermorny, I was sorted into Wampus. You know, the house for warriors. Which house do you think I'm gonna be in now?" Alfred asked the others. Arthur, however, paid him no mind as he looked at the many magical objects lining the various shelves in the room.

Professor Snape sneered. "No doubt, you will be a Gryffindor. You certainly seem the type: arrogant, loud, and obnoxious." He ignored the look Professor McGonagall shot him.

"Speaking of which, why are there such blatant prejudice regarding those in Slytherin and Gryffindor? This is meant to be a school, not a breeding ground for rivalry." Arthur cut in, a bushy eyebrow raised questioningly.

"I saw a Gryffindor dude about to plummet another dude just because they were a Slytherin. That's messed up dude." Alfred added.

Professor McGonagall's lips pressed and Professor Snape sneered. The other two Heads of Houses looked on sadly as Professor Dumbledore's eyes dimmed a little.

"I'm afraid, my dear boy, this has been a matter that had spanned centuries, dating back to the Founders of this school. The Founders of Gryffindor and Slytherin were known for their rivalry which had been upheld up until now." Professor Dumbledore explained.

Alfred looked over at the Sorting Hat. He leaned over next to Arthur beside him and said, "Whatever. Just because we might be in different Houses isn't gonna matter, right Artie?"

Arthur nodded and ignored the nickname with practiced ease. "Of course not Alfred." Something as simple as a Sorting was not going to damage their friendship in any way. It would, however, cause them to be looked at in a new light by the Headmaster and Heads of Houses.

"So, what Houses do ya think we're gonna be in?" Alfred leaned forwards in excitement. The other professors looked at one another and then at the two blondes.

"Alfred looks like he would be a Gryffindor." Professor Sprout finally spoke.

"Arthur looks like Ravenclaw material." Professor Flitwick added.

Professor McGonagall nodded, but Professor Snape cut in. "I believe Kirkland would be better suited to Slytherin than Ravenclaw."

("That's not possible. If they're a Gryffindor and Slytherin, how do they get along so well?")

("Maybe they'll realize that they cannot be friends after a few months here at Hogwarts. The rivalry here runs deep.")

Professor Dumbledore had a smile on his face as he gestured to the torn-up hat. "Which one of you two would like to try on the hat first?"

Alfred and Arthur looked at each other for a moment before Alfred strode forwards with a grin. "I'll do it!"

He grabbed the hat and shoved it on his head. The Hat opened it's mouth and remained frozen for a while. Minutes later, it seemed it was having a conversation with Alfred when it suddenly bellowed out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Alfred grinned wider as he took the hat off and said, "Thanks for the chat." He handed it to Arthur eagerly.

Professor Flitwick inquisitively asked why it took so long for the hat to decide. Alfred laughed and said it had many memories to sort through. Which was true. Trying to determine someone's personality with centuries of memories was much more difficult than doing the same to an eleven year old.

Arthur put the ragged hat on and stood still. If he couldn't see his chest moving, Alfred would've thought he was dead. After minutes of watching Arthur, the hat finally spoke.

"SLYTHERIN!" Arthur took the hat off his head and placed it back on the desk.

"It seems that Severus was correct. Congratulations on being placed in Gryffindor and Slytherin." Dumbledore nodded at Alfred and Arthur respectively. The other professors did the same. Professor McGonagall looked slightly more tolerant of Alfred than before and gave a small smile. Professor Snape gave Arthur a calculating look before swooping away. All in all, it was an interesting evening.

-This time skip is brought to you by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry-

Both blondes were back in their room, preparing to go to bed. Arthur seemed to be a little on edge ever since they got back from Dumbledore's office. Alfred called his name once. When he didn't reply, he turned around to look at him and tried again. The third time, he strode over to the green-eyed man and sat down beside him on his bed.

"Arthur." At the sound of his full name, he turned to look at Alfred who looked at him with a slightly serious gaze.

"It doesn't matter what House you're in, or what other people say about us. You're my friend." Alfred- in a moment of surprising insightfulness- reached over and grabbed Arthur's hand. The other nation's hand was warm and soft and fit perfectly in his slightly larger one.

Arthur looked down at their conjoined hands and then back at Alfred again, and smiled. "Of course." He squeezed his hand for emphasis and got one back in return.

'If only I just wanted to be friends...'

AN: I'm not telling you guys who thought that last line. MWAHAHAHAHA
Also thanks for the votes and the comments! I'm glad to see someone actually enjoys reading my work haha.

-Madsinator (10/22/17)