Izuku awoke bleary eyed the next morning, momentarily wondering where he was.

  Hogwarts! He was here!

  The eleven year old leapt out of bed and got changed quickly. Weasley and Finnegan were still sleeping, but Longbottom and Thomas were already up.

  He exited the dormitory, his expanded school satchel hanging from his shoulder. The greenette ran down the stairs and across the common room, leaving through the portrait hole as he blurted out a hurried "Good morning" to the fat lady, which she seemed to be confused about for some reason.

  "Oh-hello to you too..?"

  Izuku made his way to the Great hall, walking through the large doorway.

  The Gryffindor table only had a few students scattered along it eating breakfast, or in a certain brunette's case, studying before their first magic lesson.

  The greenette walked over to the bushy haired girl, shifting nervously from foot to foot. Were they friends? Was it okay to just sit down or is that rude? Was he being too pushy? She seemed pretty absorbed in her book...

  Hermione wasn't absorbed in her book. She was staring at the mumbling boy in bewilderment, only able to catch every other word or so as he overthought the situation.

  "Uhm.. Izuku?" She asked, concern flashing briefly across her face.

  Flinching slightly at the still rather odd use of his given name, Izuku's mumbling was cut off abruptly.

  "Y-Yes?" He squeaked nervously, shifting nervously in place once again.

  "Do you want to.. sit down?" The brunette asked, just as nervous as the boy on the inside.

  Nodding rapidly, Izuku sat down opposite his.. friend? He hoped they were friends.

  Shovelling some breakfast foods onto his plate, Izuku began to eat while observing the girl opposite him.

  "Are.. are we... Friends?" He eventually worked up the courage to ask.

  House of the Brave!

  The girl with a bush on her head seemed surprised, followed quickly by relief, then a small smile.

  "Of course Izuku." She said happily.

  The tension left the greenette's body as he continued to eat, now with a relieved grin permanently etched into his features.

  He was startled a few minutes later by Professor McGonagall, who was moving down the Gryffindor table with a pile of papers in her arms.

  "Ah, Mr Midoriya and Miss Granger, here are your schedules." She said, handing each of them a piece of parchment. "Be sure to get to your first class on time. I shall not be pleased if you are late to my classroom."

  Izuku nodded feverently, while Hermione seemed almost insulted by the insinuation that she would ever be late for a class, let alone the first of the term.

  Looking down at the parchment, Izuku grinned.

  "Transfiguration, Charms and Herbology today!" He exclaimed. "Those are the two I studied the most! Though I didn't read up much on Herbology..."

  Hermione laughed, scanning her own timetable.

  "Only one lesson on Fridays, but it's a three hour Potions class. Three classes a day, all two hours each... We get a lot of free time to study..." She mused.

  "Some potions can take days at a time to brew, so having three hours for Potions class really isn't a lot. Maybe they extend the lesson however they need, since it's the only class on Fridays?" Izuku replied.

  Hermione nodded. "That seems pretty logical. Have you noticed how similar to Chemistry Potions is?"

  "Yes, I have!" Izuku agreed. "Certain ingredients react in certain ways to others, creating a diverse set of results depending on quantity, quality, purity and a whole range of other factors like temperature! Though Potions might be a little more difficult than Chemistry, since even the direction of stirring affects the potion."

  The bushy brunette had nodded along eagerly, becoming more excited the longer Izuku spoke.

  "The textbooks are so ridiculously simple and easy to follow too!" She interjected. "It's like they think Muggleborn are simpletons or something!"

  "Maybe not Muggleborn." Izuku thought slowly. "I mean, who are the books mainly for? There are only 8 or 9 Muggleborn in our entire year, amongst 50 or so students, and that's not even including the second years and up."

  The girl's eyes widened slowly as she leaned forwards to whisper quietly.

  "You think that.. they're the simpletons?" She murmured.

  "That or there are two supergenii who just so happen to be in the same year, school, house and classes."

  "I'm not nearly smart enough to be a genius. I know I'm cleverer than most other children, but not really by much.." Hermione admitted.

  "Me too. Maybe it's because the wizarding world is so closed off. Everyone is everyone's cousin somehow or another. Have you heard about the Potters?" Izuku asked.

  Hermione shook her head.

  "Apparently they were one of the oldest 'Pureblood' houses in Britain, known for their incredible magical abilities and keen intellect. Many Potters were famous inventors going back for tens of generations. Potions, spells and enchanted items, they've had a hand in everything. No other house comes even close to that kind of legacy. There will be a couple of famous inventors here and there in every family line, but the Potters were almost exclusively incredible Wizards and Witches. The reason? Every few generations, a Muggleborn would marry into the family, either by coincidence or tradition, it doesn't matter. The latest pair was Legendary Lily Potter, the Vanquisher of Voldemort, and her husband James Potter, Lord of the House." Izuku rambled quietly.

  Hermione listened enraptured as her new friend continued to talk, only pausing briefly every so often to breathe.

  "So you think other wizards are so.. slow.. because they've all just been marrying eachother? That's both really gross and.. kind of sad." The girl said.

  Izuku nodded, his face serious.

  "Another famous wizarding family are the Blacks. All of them in more recent times had something called 'the Black Madness', some much stronger than others. Bellatrix Lestrange, formerly Black, and Sirius Black are the most infamous examples. They both were a part of Voldemort's inner circle before he was defeated, and both are mass murderers serving life sentences in Azkaban prison. The Blacks were married into a lot of families. Practically anyone in magical Britain in the last hundred years who is not a Muggleborn has a parent or grandparent part of the House of Black. And they just kept on marrying and marrying and.. well. They got squibs and Black Madness." The greenette finished.

  "How do you know all of this?" Hermione asked.

  Izuku scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

  "Let's just say Flourish and Blotts got a lot of business in the weeks leading up to term and leave it at that."

_____

  Walking into Professor McGonagall's classroom, one thing immediately stuck out to Izuku.

  Professor McGonagall can turn into a cat. You can tell by the markings around her eyes, and the no-nonsense stare that suits her cat form strangely well.

  "That is so cool..!" He muttered, setting his bag down beside his chosen seat at the front of the classroom.

  "What was that?" Hermione asked, looking up from her own bag.

  "I said 'That's so cute!'' Izuku lied. "The cat I mean."

  Hermione seemed to notice the cat for the first time, squealing in delight as she looked up.

  "I love cats! Do you think Professor McGonagall would mind if we pet it?" She asked, walking around the table and towards the teacher's desk McGonagall was sitting on.

  "I don't think she'll mind." Izuku replied, maintaining eye contact with the Scotswoman.

  The cat stared suspiciously at Izuku as Hermione approached whilst cooing quietly, the boy's face remaining a picture of innocence.

  "Well aren't you beautiful, yes you are! I might just take you from Professor McGonagall, you're too cute to leave!" The brunette said, scratching the tabby cat behind the ears.

  McGonagall continued to glare at Izuku, though she didn't move away from Hermione, who was still squealing over how pretty her fur was.

  "What do you think her name is? She doesn't have a collar." Hermione asked Izuku.

  Barely managing to hide his smile, he thought for a moment.

  "How about McGonagall Jr?"

  "Professor McGonagall, Izuku."

  "How about Professor McGonagall Jr?" He corrected.

  Hermione spent another few minutes fussing over the cat before returning to her seat, finishing unpacking her book and quills.

  As the clatter of footsteps at long last came echoing through the corridors, the tabby cat leapt off of the teacher's desk and transformed mid jump.

  Hermione's face went slack with horror, and a rather worrying grey colour.

  "Five points from Gryffindor Mr Midoriya." Professor McGonagall said. "For sheer cheek. Ten points to Gryffindor Miss Granger, for uncommon kindness to animals."

  Hermione's complection returned to a healthy pink as McGonagall began to turn away.

  "We will speak of this to no-one." She warned.

  Izuku swore the corner of her mouth twitched slightly, though the flickering light made it impossible to be sure.