The Passageways of Legends

Year 1

Min-hee was walking down the corridors of the train. The Hogwarts Express. He had heard so much about it throughout his life. And of course, he would read Hogwarts: A History every night before going to sleep. He even knew about all the nerdy stuff, like engines and all that. It was incredible how it still visually looked exactly like it did in the 90s. Twenty years since then, and it still had the same old-timey look that kept its charm. Not to mention, his idol had sat on this exact train. The fact that he was able to sit in the same place as the Harry Potter made him feel starstruck. In his 11 years of living, this was probably the most exciting adventure he'd ever started: travelling to a different country to start a new school wasn't exactly an everyday event.

He spent his entire life excited to start at Hogwarts. Born merely 2 years after the Second Wizarding War, all the tales of Harry Potter made him feel so passionate about his studies, making him dream and work hard just so he could go there. The day he got the letter might've been one of the best days in his life. It wasn't easy to get in when you weren't British, even though it opened more up for international students in the early 2000s. In 2003 there were even a total of two dozen international students!

But there was no denying that everything was very different from everything Min-hee was used to. He felt different. No one looked like him. Most of the kids were very White, or at the very least British. It felt just somewhat lonely being the only Korean kid walking on the train, not to mention the only Asian kid.

Min-hee was honestly just looking for a place to sit. Most of the open seats were taken so he was looking through the windows of the carriages, searching for an empty one. As he walked by the 5th-or-so carriage, his eye got caught by a boy sitting alone. It was a miracle, honestly, an almost empty carriage.

He slowly opened the door, walking in quietly. He got a closer look at the boy. Was he Korean? He looked Korean. But Min-hee couldn't be sure, maybe he was just Korean-British or something.

"Hi," Min-hee spoke shyly in English as he walked further inside. Luckily, he was quite good at the language, especially for his age. He figured that if his one goal was to go to Hogwarts, learning English had to be a must. So he went to an English-language kindergarten and primary school, non-magic of course. There weren't a lot of foreign kindergartens in the Korean wizarding community.

"Uh," the boy looked up with a raised eyebrow, wondering if Min-hee was talking to him, "Hello?"

"Do you mind if I sit here? All the seats are full."

The other boy nonchalantly shook his head.

"Are you from Korea?" Min-hee quickly muttered in Korean, just to test the waters and see if his suspicions were correct.

The boy's eyes widened, not expecting — or wanting — another Korean student at Hogwarts, "Uh... yes."

"That's so cool! Me too!" Min-hee smiled happily, finally relaxing his shoulders, instantly sitting down on the seat across from the boy, "I'm Kang Min-hee."

"Koo Jung-mo," the boy replied, not nearly as excited as Min-hee.

"Why are you going to Hogwarts?" Min-hee asked curiously, still wearing a smile.

"I could ask you the same," Jung-mo still hadn't smiled back yet. Min-hee started to notice.

"I guess, uh... I just wanted to go here! I've always been very eager to study abroad and see what it would be like. I grew up loving the tales of Harry Potter and his friends. They managed to save the world while going there. Hogwarts just seems like a great place to be," Min-hee smiled.

"So it's all fun and games for you," Jung-mo bitterly chuckled. He sighed, almost sounding disappointed, looking into Min-hee's eyes, "I'm here because it's the best choice. It's the most prestigious magic school in the world. I didn't wanna go to any local school on, what, Jeju? Or Ma-sul Academy like the rest of the kids? They'll get nowhere in life if they stay in Korea."