It was a beautifully sunny day when Albus arrived in Australia. At least he thought it was for about the first two minutes; after that it was just far too hot. He had hoped that his usual attire of wizard robes would be cool enough for the Australian summer, but alas, the weight and thickness of the material was causing him to sweat profusely.
He had arrived via Apparition “ it was not usually recommended for wizards to Apparate such great distances, but he was Professor Dumbledore, and so no one had said a word about it. He had Apparated according to the precise geographical directions he had been given, and now he seemed to be surrounded by bush. It was a small shock adjusting from the cool evening air in England to the humidity of Australia, but Albus soon collected himself and realised he was on a walkway, and a small stone bench was nearby.
Sitting down on the bench, he pulled out his watch and checked the time. It was just past ten in the morning in Australia, which meant his guide should soon be here to collect him. And soon enough, a young man wandered out from the bush, wearing rather lightweight robes “ over shorts, Albus noted “ and a floppy hat, presumably to protect him from the sun. He was holding two broomsticks, and looked around surreptitiously.
‘You must be Professor Dumbledore,’ the young man said, grinning broadly and leaning one of the broomsticks against the bench to shake his hand. He had flyaway blonde hair and blue eyes to rival Albus’. ‘I’m Benjamin Walker, but you can call me Ben. I teach Herbology up at Kurrawong.’ Kurrawong was the name of the school that Albus was visiting “ Kurrawong Academy for Young Witches and Wizards, to be precise. Despite being the only school in the entire Oceania, its population was barely half that of Hogwarts.
‘I hope you don’t mind flying?’ Ben asked, handing Albus one of the broomsticks. ‘The school is a fair distance from here “ it has to be, obviously “ and walking would take a few days through the range.’ He indicated to the mass of trees behind him.
‘Flying is perfectly fine,’ Albus said, smiling at him. It was clear that the young teacher thought Albus too old to anything as strenuous as flying “ if so, he was about to be proved wrong.
After casting Disillusionment charms over themselves “ ‘can’t be too careful,’ Ben grunted “ they were off in the air, Albus’ trunk dangling precariously off the end of his broomstick. The bushland stretched as far as the eye could see “ the only manmade structure in sight was an information booth off in the distance, which they were quickly flying away from.
‘Have you ever been to Australia, Professor?’ Ben called over the sound of the wind. Albus shook his head, marvelling at the beauty of it all.
‘No I haven’t, unfortunately. Quite obviously, this has been a mistake,’ he replied.
Ben chuckled, and glanced at a watch that seemed to also function as a compass. ‘I daresay it is. This is the Nandewar Range,’ he said, gesturing at the scene below them as he veered slightly to the left. ‘It’s formed mostly from an extinct volcano.’
‘How fascinating,’ Albus murmured as they curved around a large mountain. Ben kept up his commentary of the land for the next ten minutes, by which time they were flying closer to the ground, with mountains on either side.
‘Nearly there!’ Ben cried, and then he went into a dive, closely followed by Albus. Glancing at the landscape that was whizzing past him, he realised they were headed into a deep canyon that had waterfalls cascading over the edge. They flew past the waterfalls, rather too close to the water residing at the bottom for Albus’ liking. But soon they were headed upwards again, and at the edge of the gorge, spread out over a large grassy area surrounded by trees, was Kurrawong Academy. Ben led him to land on the very edge of the cliff face, facing the school.
‘I thought I’d take the scenic route,’ he said, smiling at Albus as they dismounted their broomsticks. Albus removed the Disillusionment charms with a flick of his wand, and then turned to look out at the waterfalls once more.
‘That is Kurrawong Gorge,’ Ben said, gesturing at it. Then they turned to face the school, and Ben smiled. ‘And this is Kurrawong Academy.’
It was certainly different to Hogwarts, Albus noted. Buildings were scattered around the large clearing in no semblance of order, and they were all one- or two-storey. The largest one had a balcony running the stretch of the building, and there were students wandering along it on their way to classes.
Some of the smaller buildings seemed to be classrooms as well, mostly for specific purposes “ Albus watched as a young girl lugged a cauldron out of one room and tipped its contents onto the grass. Unfortunately for her, it then burst into flames, causing her to yell until a teacher ran out to help her. There were several greenhouses with a classroom attached, as well as a half open brick building that was surrounded by coops housing various magical creatures.
‘Those are the houses,’ Ben said as they walked up the grassy slope towards the main building. Albus followed his gaze. Three large, two-storey buildings were located slightly behind the one they were headed for, which explained why Albus hadn’t noticed them at first glance. They each had different coloured rooves, he noted with interest “ one was orange, one a deep blue and the other green.
‘They’re named after mountains in the area, correct?’ Albus queried. He hadn’t had much time to read up on Kurrawong before he left, but he knew bits and pieces about most magical schools.
‘Yes. The orange one is Grattai, the blue one Lindesay and the green one Kaputar. Those buildings are the study and dormitory rooms for each house.’
‘I see,’ Albus said, tearing his eyes away as they reached the main doors. The building was crafted from stone “ ‘to keep it cooler in the summer,’ Ben said “ and it had the name of the school etched above the doors. Ben pushed it open and they entered the main hall. It was nowhere near as grand as Hogwarts (which was to be expected, Albus thought, since Hogwarts was a castle) but it had an understated charm all the same. Albus was surprised to see house-elves roaming around doing their work in full view of the students, who stepped around them like it was the most normal occurrence in the world.
‘You’re recognising the differences already, I’m guessing,’ Ben said as he stopped to allow Albus to look around. ‘You’ll find we’re a lot more casual than most European schools. No one to impress, since the closest school to us is in China.’ He chuckled.
Two girls walked past them, speaking in what Albus vaguely recognised as Indonesian. ‘You are a multilingual school, then?’
‘We have to be, to include all of Oceania,’ Ben said, gesturing for Albus to follow him up a staircase. ‘We have students that speak French, Spanish, Indonesian and various Polynesian languages as well. They’re all fairly fluent in English, obviously, since all our classes are taught in English “ but they tend to converse amongst themselves in their native languages. We’ve never really had problems with it.’
‘Absolutely fascinating,’ Albus said, looking around curiously. A loud bell rang out, and students began to rush out of various classrooms, chatting and giggling.
‘Ah, lunchtime,’ Ben said, frowning at his watch. ‘We’re a little late. Follow me.’
They headed down the corridor, fighting the flow of students all going the opposite direction. Albus seemed to be given a wide berth by the teenagers, who gave his coloured robes and long beard odd looks. They were all wearing black robes, just like at Hogwarts, but they were made of a much lighter material and they wore buttoned shirts under them that corresponded to their house colour.
‘Here we are,’ Ben said, knocking twice on an ornate wooden door.
‘Come in!’ a female voice called, and Ben opened the door into a large office, where a robust woman was sitting behind a desk, her head bent over paperwork. She looked up as they entered, giving them wide smiles. Taking off her glasses and laying them on the desk, she moved around to shake hands with Albus.
‘I thought you would never get here!’ she said, brushing aside her dark curly hair self-conciously. ‘So you’re the great Professor Dumbledore. It’s an honour to meet you, it really is “ I feel so insignificant, meeting the Headmaster of such a great school while I’m here in my office writing a letter home for that damn Barnes boy again!’
She tittered nervously. ‘I’m Jane, by the way,’ she added in a rush. ‘Jane Roberts. I’m the Principal here “ what you would call Headmistress, though I daresay I’ll never get a title that grand.’ She looked over at Ben, who shook his head, trying not to laugh. ‘Oh shush, Benjamin. Don’t you have to go organise your house for lunch?’
Ben grinned and left the room, with Jane rolling her eyes at his back. Turning back to Albus, she kept talking. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t come greet you myself, but I’ve been terribly busy what with Tom Barnes attempting to frighten the Thestrals. I don’t know what he was thinking, considering the silly boy can’t even see them “ oh, I’m blathering again. Sorry, Professor. How was your trip?’
‘Brief,’ Albus said, finally getting a chance to speak. ‘But the scenery was a lovely change from the dreary grey of Britain, I must say.’ He smiled at Jane.
‘Oh, I’d say it would be!’ she chortled. ‘The Nandewar Range is quite beautiful. Now, shall we head down for some lunch? It will give you a chance to see our lovely dining hall, and then this afternoon I’ll find some students to show you around the school before our ceremonial dinner this evening. How does that sound?’
‘It sounds wonderful, my dear Ms. Roberts,’ Albus said, opening the office door for her. ‘After you.’
The corridor was nearly empty by now, and they went back down the staircase with relative ease, and then Jane led him to a pair of double doors off the side of the main hall. Scattered around inside were a large number of round tables, each holding about ten students who were eating merrily. Another pair of doors were situated on the opposite wall, and house elves were walking in and out from what Albus guessed was the kitchen, levitating large platters of food in front of them.
‘How cosy,’ Albus said, beaming as he looked around the room. There was a rectangular table at the front of the room that seated the professors so they could overlook the students during mealtimes. ‘How many students do you have here?’
‘Around 140,’ she replied as she showed Albus to his seat, next to hers in the centre of the table. ‘There are about twenty students in each year and barely fifty in each house, so they all know each other very well. We’re like a little family.’ She sounded rather pleased with herself as she said this, looking out over her school.
Lunch was a selection of salads, cold meat and sandwiches “ not what Albus was used to, but certainly appropriate for the warm weather. The house-elves would whisk away the platters as soon as they were empty and replace them with fresh ones, so there was never any shortage of food. When Albus was suitably stuffed, he sat back and surveyed the students. They didn’t seem to eat corresponding to either their houses or their year levels, and instead were just seated randomly around the hall. A great deal of them were shooting him speculative looks, and Albus guessed he was the main topic of conversation among the students.
After the meal, Jane called two students up to the head table, a boy and a girl. ‘These are our school captains,’ she said to Albus, gesturing at them. ‘Zachary Whitehead and Kaitlyn Peck.’
‘Pleased to meet you, sir,’ they said in unison, and Jane beamed.
Albus bowed his head in their direction. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, too,’ he said, and then turned to Jane. ‘I take it that “captains” are your equivalent of our Head Boy and Girl … do you have Prefects?’
‘No, we don’t. We have house leaders, though, who are sixth years. They help out the first years, make sure there aren’t any problems, et cetera. These two are in their final year,’ Jane said, gesturing at the pair of students waiting patiently. ‘They’re going to show you around this afternoon “ I have to find that Barnes boy and give him a mouthful, but I’ll see you in my office before dinner so we can discuss what you came here for.’
‘That sounds delightful,’ Albus said, rising. ‘I await our next meeting eagerly, Ms. Roberts.’
She blushed, and then jumped up, looking flustered. ‘Oh!’ she said. ‘I must put the charm on you “ dearie me, I nearly forgot …’ She waved her wand over him wordlessly, and a peculiar feeling of weightlessness came over Albus for a few moments. Then it disappeared, and Jane lowered her wand. ‘You’ll have access to the houses now,’ she said. ‘Have a lovely tour!’
She turned to talk to the man sitting next to her, sufficiently dismissing Albus. He smiled at the two students, who looked slightly terrified at the thought of showing such a renowned wizard around their school. ‘Where are we going first?’
‘We thought we would show you the classrooms,’ the young girl squeaked out as they led Albus out of the dining hall. Her hair was bright red and her face was covered in freckles, and Albus was reminded of the Weasley children. ‘And then the common room.’
‘I thank you kindly, Miss Peck,’ he said. She gave a nervous smile.
Zachary and Kaitlyn showed him several classrooms “ all were empty as the students and professors were still dining “ which were not much different to the rooms at Hogwarts, with the exception of the magnificent view. The mountains were visible from every side of the school.
‘The common rooms are usually pretty messy, so I apologise in advance, Professor,’ Kaitlyn said as they headed downstairs again.
‘Your common rooms are not in your houses?’
‘Nope,’ Zachary said. ‘Ms. Roberts likes us to socialise as a school, rather than just within our houses. The house buildings do have a few rooms, but they’re a lot quieter than the main common rooms and are mainly used for studying.’
‘I see,’ Albus said, nodding his head. They had reached the common room, and Zachary pushed the door open. There were a few students inside, but most of them were still at lunch or having lessons.
‘Hey, ginger!’ a boy called from the corner, where he was sitting with a few other students. Kaitlyn went bright red, and shook her head, mortified, as she subtly gestured towards Albus. The boy shrunk back down immediately, and Albus chuckled to himself.
‘It’s a lot more crowded in the evenings,’ Zachary said, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked around. ‘There’s another two rooms off to the side there, and they’re mainly used by the older students.’
‘How peculiar,’ Albus said. ‘So you all socialise with each other, rather than stick to the houses.’ He hadn’t meant for it to be a question, but they looked at each other and nodded. They seemed to be rather good friends, anyway, and Zachary was wearing a blue shirt for the house of Lindesay whilst Kaitlyn had on an orange shirt that clashed spectacularly with her hair.
They then took him to the library, owlery and several other places that were not much different to their Hogwarts counterparts. They ran into several ghosts, who stopped and introduced themselves. One was riding a horse, and both had Australian accents so strong that Albus could barely discern what they were saying.
Once the outside classrooms had been explored “ Albus wished he was staying longer so he could examine the various native animals, but time was precious “ Zachary and Kaitlyn led him to the houses. This was Albus’ main interest, as they seemed so different to Hogwarts. As they crossed the grounds towards the three buildings, Zachary pointed out the Quidditch Pitch.
‘We have six games a year, and then the finals,’ he said. ‘You play each house twice. A scout for the Australian National Quidditch Team usually comes to watch the grand final, along with some of the players!’ He grinned. ‘Hopefully Lindesay makes it this year. It’s my life dream to meet Kylie Meadows.’
Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. ‘Grattai has won the Quidditch Cup for the past three years,’ she informed the professor. ‘Zac thinks this year is his turn.’
‘What position do you play, Mr Whitehead?’ Albus asked brightly. The boy looked like a Quidditch player.
‘I’m a Chaser,’ the young boy said, puffing out his chest proudly. ‘I’m the captain as well.’
‘Anyway, these are our houses,’ Kaitlyn said, changing the topic as they approached the building with the blue roof. ‘The doorways have magical protection charms on them so you can only enter if you’re a teacher or belong to that house, but Zac and I are excepted as we’re the school captains.’
Zac grinned at her, and Albus wondered briefly how often they abused that power. Entering the house of Lindesay, Albus glanced around in wonder. The room was cosy, with a fireplace and a few chairs, and there were several older students bent over tables studying. A door on the opposite side of the room led to another, similar-looking area, and then there were two doors on each end leading to the dormitories, clearly marked with ‘males’ and ‘females’.
Everything in the room was bedecked in blue and grey, and a large part of one wall was taken up by a tapestry featuring what Albus vaguely recognised as a kangaroo, and the words ‘Sic itur ad astra.’
‘What does that mean?’ he asked politely, indicating the motto on the tapestry.
‘Sic itur ad astra “ by striving we reach the stars,’ Kaitlyn said. ‘It’s the school’s motto. The kangaroo is Lindesay’s mascot, there’s a different one for each house. Grattai have a wombat, and Kaputar a platypus.’
‘How interesting “ all native Australian animals,’ Albus mused. ‘What are the qualities of each house? I take it there is some method for sorting students.’
‘We’re all sorted at the beginning of the year by a spell placed upon us by Ms. Roberts,’ Kaitlyn said. ‘It’s hard to explain “ when you’re under it, you can’t see anything at all, and then all you see is the colour of your house. Apparently the spell reads your thoughts and then places you in the house it thinks suitable. It’s a fascinating thing to watch, as a coloured mist surrounds the person being sorted so everyone else knows what house they’re in. By the end of it you can hardly see the person next to you for all the mist.’
‘What a fabulous idea,’ Albus said. The colours didn’t seem nearly as exciting as Hogwarts’ talking, singing hat, but he kept these thoughts to himself. ‘And the qualities of each house are …?’
‘Oh!’ Kaitlyn said. ‘Well, Lindesays are usually said to be generous, friendly and welcoming. Grattais are intelligent, sensible and practical, and Kaputars are adventurous, quick-thinking and curious. Those are the most often used terms, anyway.’
He looked at Kaitlyn and Zachary and decided that Ms. Robert’s rather unusual way of sorting worked quite well.
The dormitories were much the same as Hogwarts, and the other two houses were fashioned in much the same way as the first. The orange and black of Grattai house reminded Albus strongly of the Chudley Cannons “ not that the Australians would know who they were.
After a tour of the grounds, Albus was escorted back to the office of the Principal. ‘Thank you for the tour of your spectacular school,’ he said to Zachary and Kaitlyn, inclining his head. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you both.’
‘You too,’ Zachary said, and Kaitlyn echoed his sentiments. They headed off down the corridor together, and Albus knocked on the Principal’s door.
‘Come in!’ she called, and he entered, quietly shutting the door behind him. ‘Ah, Professor Dumbledore,’ she said, looking up from her paperwork and leaning back in her chair. ‘Excellent. Now I do believe we have some business to discuss “ you are interested in doing a student exchange with Kurrawong Academy, then?’
‘My dear Ms. Roberts,’ Albus said, sitting down across from her, ‘nothing would make me happier.’