CALL IT MAGIC for EVERYONE

[yeolliepopday]

For: EVERYONE
Title: Call it magic
Pairing(s): Friendship Chanyeol/Chen/D.O OT3
Rating: G
Length:4k
Summary: Hufflepuff Chanyeol’s little adventures as a first year at Hogwarts.
Author's note: dear recipient, Hufflepuff chanyeol was really fun to write! I hope you like it ^^



Chanyeol first meets, or rather, runs right through Do Kyungsoo on his very first day at Hogwarts. He does not notice the ghost child lurking by the corner, shimmering in the dim evening light, too focused on chasing after a similarly tiny boy with short brown hair.

“Ddori!” Chanyeol yells as politely as he can in between laboured huffs. He is sure the little ferret plush toy in the other boy’s hands is the same Ddori he has known and played with for months in the stuffed animal corner of Hamley’s on Oxford Street.

The other boy, who, judging by his plain black robes, is another first year student, is oblivious to his desperate calls, not even realising there was someone following him. Chanyeol manages to stumble after him as far as the third floor staircase before he trips on the hem of his robes and falls down half a flight of stairs.

Chanyeol is too busy trying to will away the pain to notice Kyungsoo’s soft snickering, curled up into a ball on the ground while nursing the bruise on his knee. He only realises the presence of the little ghost boy when an unsettling chill tickles his skin and he opens his eyes to find a shimmery, translucent hand resting on his bruise.

“That was quite the fall there,” The ghost remarks with a smirk. Chanyeol gapes at him, mouth falling open in shock. It’s the first time he’s ever seen a ghost up close (his sister Yura had been feeding him all sorts of gruesome stories about the house ghosts) and truth be told Chanyeol had been expecting something much, much scarier.

“I’m Kyungsoo, the resident ghost of Hufflepuff house. Need a hand?”

Chanyeol nods hesitantly, still gaping at the ghost boy’s big, round eyes and heart shaped lips. Kyungsoo’s robes were neatly ironed, his tie straight and his hems folded nicely. He looked so normal, without a hint of a wound or mark of death anywhere, and Chanyeol can’t help but wonder about how a boy his age had died.

His mind keeps wandering back to the little ghost boy even after Professor McGonagall finds him and berates him for running off, escorting him swiftly back to the Great Hall so that they could get on with the Sorting ceremony.

Much to his delight, Chanyeol gets sorted into Hufflepuff after a bit of deliberation on the Sorting Hat’s part. He eagerly runs over to Yura’s side to beam at his sister and give her a hug before taking his place at the end of the table with the rest of the first years. His mom had been a Hufflepuff back in her days at Hogwarts, and the quidditch team Chaser to boot. His sister was certainly living up to their mother’s legacy as top of her year in Herbology and Defense of Dark Arts.

“Hi, I’m Chanyeol!” He greets the boy next to him as he slides onto the large bench, legs still too short to reach the floor.

“I’m Jongdae,” The other boy replies with a friendly smile. Chanyeol likes the way the corners of his eyes crinkle, and thinks he looks very kind.

“I’m glad I got sorted into Hufflepuff!” He giggles, stretching out his hand for Chanyeol to shake. “Everyone seems so nice. Was that your sister earlier? She’s really pretty.”

“Yup, she’s Yura nuna!” Chanyeol beams. “Do you have any siblings, Jongdae?”

“I have a brother, but he’s seven years older than I am. He already graduated from Hogwarts last year,” Jongdae explains, taking a sip of pumpkin juice from his goblet while they wait for the rest of the first years to get sorted. A girl with a pixie cut takes her seat across from the two boys, beaming brightly before introducing herself as Luna. Five more first years join them, and then the feast begins.

Chanyeol sticks close to Jongdae when the fifth year prefects start shepherding them towards their house chambers. He follows the rowdy crowd until they arrive at the right hand corridor near the kitchen, and spots Kyungsoo sitting on top of one of the large barrels stacked against a stone wall.

“To enter the dormitories you need to tap this barrel in the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff’,” One prefect explains, pointing out the large barrel third from the bottom and middle of the second row. “First years stand aside and watch how the others do it first, then try it for yourself.”

“Hi there, clumsy,” Kyungsoo teases when it’s Chanyeol’s turn to practice. He scowls and tries to concentrate, but Kyungsoo drifts and swirls around him in circles, causing Chanyeol to go off beat twice and hold up the line. He bites his lip and apologises to the girl behind him, huffs and then tries again. He finally manages to get the barrel to open on his fifth try, but Kyungsoo stands right in front of the entrance, blocking Chanyeol’s path.

“Let me through, please,” Chanyeol pleads, wanting nothing more than to join Jongdae and the others by the warmth of the fireplace.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo concedes with a smirk, and Chanyeol moves through the stone passageway with uneasy steps. He’s right by the stairs that lead down into the common room when a sudden cold wind gathers his robes under his feet, and Chanyeol trips and rolls down onto the black and gold carpet in the most awkward fashion ever.

Jongdae rushes to his side to help him up, wincing when he sees the scrape on Chanyeol’s cheek. The sound of Kyungsoo’s cackling fills the common room, but he slips through the wall towards the kitchen before the housemaster can berate him.

“I think he hates me,” Chanyeol sighs sadly with a pout. He felt like Kyungsoo had singled him out, but he wasn’t going to let a pesky ghost ruin his first night at Hogwarts.

Soon enough, things quieten down and the first years are shown to their room. Chanyeol gets the bunk next to Jongdae’s, his trunk already brought up and waiting for him at the food of the bed. Chanyeol takes a quick look around the room, and thankfully, most of the other boys had brought along owls, not cats.

“You don’t like cats?” Jongdae asks, curious, and Chanyeol shakes his head.

“I love them. I used to have one, but I developed cat allergies last year, right before I got my Hogwarts letter.” Chanyeol explains. “My mom told me magic manifests in untrained children differently. I started being able to talk to stuffed animals when I was eight, but when I got my cat allergies my ears grew bigger and for some reason we can’t change them back.”

“Is that why you look so much like an elf?” Jongdae chuckles. Chanyeol scowls and tosses a vomit flavour bean at him. “Don’t all children talk to stuffed animals though?”

“It’s a little bit different for me,” Chanyeol grins, and fetches his teddy bear from his trunk. “They’re like real animals to me. They talk to me and play with me, even if you can’t see it. This is Mr Bear. He’s kind of shy, but he likes salmon. Earlier I got lost because I was chasing Ddori.”

“Ddori?”

“Ddori’s a ferret I met at Hamley’s in muggle London. He’s Mr Bear’s best friend. I saw a boy carrying Ddori and I tried to talk to him but he didn’t notice me.” Chanyeol pouts. “I couldn’t get a good look at his face… I don’t know how I’ll find Ddori again.”

“I’m sure you’ll find him!” Jongdae reassures Chanyeol cheerfully. “We’ve got seven years at Hogwarts, and there aren’t all that many first year boys with ferret plush toys.”

Chanyeol nods and grins, popping a dubious gray coloured bean into his mouth before choking. Ew, rock flavour.

“How did you know you have magic?” Chanyeol asks Jongdae, scooting over so his new friend can join him on the bed.

“Well,” Jongdae begins, with a terrifying twinkle in his eye, “It all started back when I was six, when my brother stole my cookies…”

Most of his first month at school is surprisingly uneventful, given how spectacularly busy his first day had been. Chanyeol hardly sees Kyungsoo around the hallways or in between classes, and the house ghost is hardly ever present in the Great Hall, where Nearly Headless Nick liked to bother the Gryffindors while they did their homework.

Sometimes he catches a faint shimmer fading into the kitchens on the way back to the Hufflepuff common room, but he shrugs it off as just a trick of the light. Five weeks into school, Chanyeol discovers he has a talent for Charms, and finally manages to take his first flight on his broom.

On the Monday of the sixth week of term, Chanyeol wakes up to a sopping wet bed and a water balloon aimed right smack in the middle of his forehead. He doesn’t have time to dodge and the balloon pops once it comes into contact with his face, bursting and soaking his pyjamas. Chanyeol squints while he fumbles around in search of his spectacles, and from what he can hear, he wasn’t the house ghost’s only victim this time.

Kyungsoo disappears before Chanyeol manages to get his spectacles on, but the loud groans of the other boys in the room are evidence enough of the damage the ghost had caused. Jongdae is staring forlornly at his Potions homework on the nightstand, now nothing more than a smudged mess of ink and parchment.

“Professor Snape is going to kill me,” He sighs, gingerly lifting the corner of the sheet. Chanyeol winces when he sees the ink run in trails down the page. He’s about to feel sorry for Jongdae when his own homework catches his eye, equally smudged and equally ruined, scattered on the floor.

“Make that both of us,” he groans, flopping back onto his wet, miserable bed.

Kyungsoo’s pranks continue to haunt Chanyeol and the first years through the rest of the term. Their quills are mysteriously replaced with exploding ones, and Chanyeol’s box of every flavour beans is now just a box of vomit flavour ones. Jongdae’s socks are suddenly neon, and Chanyeol returns from the baths one evening with his hair transformed into a curly, out of control mess that hangs over his eyes.

“It’s not so bad,” Jongdae tries to comfort him, placing a towel over his wet mop of hair. “I think you look quite cute with it.”

Chanyeol pouts and curls up on his side in bed, hugging Mr Bear tightly to his chest. Jongdae invites himself into bed with him, wiggling under the covers until their toes are touching.

“Scoot over, its cold,” Jongdae shivers, and Chanyeol obliges, snuggling up with his best friend.

“Are you going to try out for the quidditch team?” Chanyeol asks quietly. Jongdae was the best flyer in his class. He took to being on a broom easily, already able to fly on his own since their second lesson weeks ago. Chanyeol, now, still barely manages to hang on to his own broomstick.

“Maybe,” Jongdae ponders, chewing on his lip. “Brooms are kind of expensive,” He sighs.

“How cool would it be if you became the Hufflepuff seeker,” Chanyeol whispers excitedly, and Jongdae laughs softly. The tiny bit of wistfulness in his voice doesn’t escape Chanyeol’s sensitive ears though.

“Jongdae?”

“Yes, Yeol?”

“Mr Bear says he wants to cuddle with you,” Chanyeol smiles and slips his fluffy warm, Mr Bear into Jongdae’s arms.

When the time comes for the quidditch team try outs, Chanyeol is watching from the stands, bundled up in his black and yellow scarf cheering for not one, but two people.

He had somehow managed to convince Jongdae to just try out for the heck of it anyway, and Yura was there as well, hoping to get a position on the team as a chaser.

Jongdae is the only first year at the try-outs, and his slight frame makes him look even tinier next to the upperclassmen. Most of the students had brought their own brooms, but Jongdae did not have his own, so he had to borrow one of the brooms that the school kept for flying lessons.

They start off with some flying exercises and obstacle courses, and Jongdae breezes through them without a hitch. Then, the quidditch captain sorts them out by position and they start doing laps around the quidditch grounds, starting off slowly and speeding up until there are stars in Chanyeol’s eyes and he has to look away and blink.

The 7th year seeker takes Jongdae and two others aside and lets out a snitch, telling them to chase after it. The girl trying out for goal keeper is fending off a barrage of quaffles flying at her, and Chanyeol spots Yura zooming around with the other chasers, passing quaffles back and forth. At one point they fly so close to the stands Chanyeol’s glasses fall off his face from the wind, and he falls to his knees, groping around the wooden panels blindly.

Just as he’s about to stand again, Chanyeol hears a loud scream and the sound of panicked voices. He puts on his glasses in a hurry and peers over the stands, trying to see what’s happening on the pitch.

His eyes take a second to focus, and then he sees it: Jongdae, at least a hundred meters above the ground, hanging on for his life to his broom, which seems determined to shake him off. The captain and a few of the upperclassmen are hovering near Jongdae so that they can catch him if he falls, and someone else flies away in a hurry to get a professor, robes fluttering in the wind.

Chanyeol watches in horror as his best friend screams for help, fingers gradually losing their grip on the smooth, polished wood. He doesn’t look when Jongdae falls.

Chanyeol runs until his little legs wobble beneath him and he falls over right in front of the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey opens the door for him when he knocks, and Chanyeol stumbles his way to where Jongdae’s been admitted. He starts to cry when Jongdae sits up and grins at him, proudly showing him the snitch he managed to catch prior to his dramatic fall.

“Guess who made seeker?” Jongdae says cheerily, and Chanyeol starts to bawl.

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol asks through his sobs, and Jongdae just chuckles and laughs, reaching out to give his best friend a hug. He winces when he accidentally puts weight on his leg.

“I’m alright, other than my broken bone,” Jongdae reassures him. “Madam Pomfrey said I’d be as good as new tomorrow.”

“What happened?” Chanyeol presses. “You’re the best flyer in our year, it’s impossible that you’d lose control of a broom,” He frowns.

“Professor sprout had a look at the broom and he said that it had been tampered with. They checked the broom closet and some of the new brooms had been swapped with old, malfunctioning ones.” Jongdae explains.

“Was it Peeves?” He wonders, curious as to who would pull such a dangerous prank.

“Actually -“ Jongdae starts, only to be cut off by the ghost boy that watches them from the corner of the hospital wing.

“It was me,” Kyungsoo says softly, meekly even, eyes trained on the floor.

“Kyungsoo?” Jongdae and Chanyeol gasp in sync.

The ghost boy walks, or rather, floats over to the bed beside Jongdae’s, and Chanyeol eyes him warily, still a little sour over the detentions he’s had to do because of Kyungsoo ruining his homework.

“I’m really sorry,” Kyungsoo apologises, regret in his voice. “It was just meant to be a silly prank during flying class. I didn’t know the brooms would be used elsewhere, without a professor’s guidance.”

“I know I’ve been pestering you and playing pranks but they’ve all honestly just been petty tricks. I never meant to hurt anyone, especially you,”

“It’s okay,” Jongdae reassures the ghost. “I forgive you. But you have to promise not to ruin my homework anymore. I really can’t afford to fail the year, and I can’t get detentions or I’ll miss quidditch practice.”

Chanyeol isn’t as quick to forgive. “Aren’t you the Hufflepuff house ghost?” He asks warily. “You don’t seem very Hufflepuff like to me,”

He feels like he crossed the line when Kyungsoo’s expression turns crestfallen, and the ghost turns around silently to leave, shimmering in the light when he passes through the walls of the infirmary.

Odd things happen to the Hufflepuff first years over the following week. Jongdae’s parchment replenishes itself mysteriously, Chanyeol’s potions ingredients are re-stocked, as are Jongdae’s, and the other boys find chocolate frog boxes in their beds. On Saturday morning, the Hufflepuff boys wake up to find a brand new broomstick in their dormitory, addressed to Jongdae.

“Do you think this could be Kyungsoo’s doing?” Chanyeol whispers to his best friend while the others are busy fawning over the broom.

“It might be him,” Jongdae replies, sighing. “I can’t accept this broom though, it’s too much for a gift,”

“We need to talk to him,” Chanyeol decides, and Jongdae nods in agreement.

They spend Sunday trying to track down Kyungsoo so that they can talk to him. Chanyeol tries the kitchens first, and then the great hall, and the hallways, the bathrooms and even ventures nervously close to the Slytherin common room, but to no avail. He meets up with Jongdae during lunch and learns that the other boy hasn’t had much luck either.

“I think I have an idea,” Chanyeol brightens up after a few minutes of brainstorming. Jongdae follows him curiously up the stairs and through hallways until they reach the third floor corridor, where Chanyeol had first met Kyungsoo.

The ghost boy looks up when they approach him, eyes wide.

“I’m sorry,” He apologises before either one of them can get a word in. “How is your leg doing?”

“I’m fine, see?” Jongdae jumps up and down for good measure. “Kyungsoo, were you the one who sent that broomstick to me?”

“Is it not nice enough? Should I get something better?” Kyungsoo asks in a panic, and Jongdae reaches out to place his hand on the ghost’s shoulder, only to shiver when he comes into contact with the cold.

“It’s plenty nice Kyungsoo, I can’t accept it,” Jongdae tells him kindly. “How did you find such a nice broom anyway?”

“I looked through all of the closets in Hogwarts for un-owned broomsticks, and I made sure to check with one of the professors too. Please keep it,” Kyungsoo pouts. “It’s just going to collect dust in a closet otherwise. I saw you during the try outs, you’re going to be an excellent seeker.”

“I’m sorry if I made you upset when I said you weren’t very Hufflepuff like,” Chanyeol says in a small voice. “I was anxious over Jongdae getting hurt, and I shouldn’t have said something so mean,” He bites his lip, and Jongdae nudges him in the ribs.

Kyungsoo shakes his head and offers Chanyeol a little smile. “No, you’re right. I haven’t really been myself these last few years. I wasn’t always such a troublemaker,” Kyungsoo explains. “It just comes in waves sometimes, the jealousy. I used to be a first year too. Hufflepuff, of course.”

“Just a first year? What happened to you?” Chanyeol blurts out in curiosity before he can help himself, clamping his mouth shut with his hands after. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s alright,” Kyungsoo shrugs. “I might as well tell you two. I was a muggleborn, back in the 19th century, when muggleborns aren’t as common as they are now. My parents never really understood what it meant for me to be a wizard, and I never really got on well with the children in muggle school. I couldn’t have been more thrilled to come to Hogwarts, and meet other magical folk.”

Jongdae sits down next to Kyungsoo on the top step, and Chanyeol follows.

“I had a great first year here at Hogwarts,” Kyungsoo continues. “I did decently in classes and made great friends in Hufflepuff. The school year ended and I dreaded going home, back to where no one knew magic. I was killed in an accident that summer, and came back for my second year as a ghost. I couldn’t bare to leave Hogwarts when my time here had only just begun.”

Chanyeol fiddles with the hem of his robes, wishing he could give the little ghost boy a warm hug.

“Everyone usually ignores the ghosts, but I thought that if I played pranks on the first years they’d play with me too,” Kyungsoo finishes.

“You don’t have to play pranks on us anymore,” Jongdae says, and Chanyeol nods.

“You can be our friend!” Chanyeol grins, and Jongdae agrees.

“Friends?” Kyungsoo asks softly, hesitant.

“Friends!” Both boys say firmly, with warm smiles, and Kyungsoo gives them the happiest smile they’ve ever seen, and Chanyeol thinks he shimmers even more brilliantly than in the light.

From then on, Kyungsoo is often seen hanging around the two Hufflepuff boys, lurking when they’re doing their homework, or floating about the pitch when Jongdae has quidditch practice. He sits across from Chanyeol during lunch times, watching him as he eats, telling him about the food they used to serve them back when he was still alive.

Chanyeol is half asleep on a Saturday morning when Kyungsoo floats through the walls of their dormitory. He’s excited, but Chanyeol is still far too sleepy to process what his friend is saying, instead pulling up the covers to block out the morning light that’s streaming in from the window.

“I said I found him, Chanyeol!” Kyungsoo sighs, exasperated, before hovering above Chanyeol and letting himself fall directly onto the blanket.

Chanyeol sits up with a loud squeak, shocked from the cold, alert and awake.

“Kyungsoo!” He whines, rolling over onto Mr Bear. “What was that for?”

“Get up, sleepyhead!” Kyungsoo grins at him. “I found your precious Ddori, and the identity of his owner.”

“DDORI?!” Chanyeol jumps excitedly, only to bump his head on the bottom of the top bunk. Jongdae fidgets in the bunk next to Chanyeol’s, mumbling at them to keep it down.

“His owner said he’d meet you by the library at ten, in exchange for two chocolate frogs,” Kyungsoo explains, and Chanyeol jumps out of bed and into his robes, panicking when he sees that it’s already five to ten. He’s almost out the door when Kyungsoo calls after him, “Don’t forget the chocolates! And Mr Bear, Ddori is Mr Bear’s best friend, right?”

Chanyeol ducks back into the room and grabs his bear plush, holding him tight against his chest.

“What’s Ddori’s owner’s name, Kyungsoo?”

“His name is Baekhyun. He’s got brown hair and he’s a first year from Gryffindor. There shouldn’t be too many people around the library at this time so you should be able to spot him easily.”

“Thanks Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol calls out over his shoulder, already scurrying off as quickly as his little legs will let him go.

“It’s the least a friend could do,” Kyungsoo smiles to himself, humming along to the tune of a happy song when Jongdae chucks a pillow at him for being noisy.

“Sleep,” he grumbles from under his blanket.

“Tsk, mortals,” Kyungsoo jokes. “So touché about sleep.”

“Well at least we can sleep,”

“Oh that was a low blow, Kim Jongdae,” Kyungsoo laughs and floats over to Jongdae’s bed, resting his cold, ghostly palms on Jongdae’s bare feet.

Jongdae tosses another pillow at Kyungsoo, who blinks when the soft object passes through him.

“You wanna fight?” Kyungsoo smirks, trailing his ice cold hands up Jongdae’s calves.

“I am armed with pillows,” Jongdae growls playfully.

“Well you know what?” Kyungsoo laughs. “I can fly.”