Chapter Text
The day had finally arrived, students were running around, eager to get to their individual destinations, teachers were standing around, giving out directions to confused first years. And in the middle of it all stood... definitely not Finn Ames. He was walking along the window side of the grand halls, trying to stay out of everyone's way. In his hands he was carrying a small pile of new schoolbooks he'd just gotten from one of Easton’s high school teachers.
His morning had started wonderfully peaceful, after a full night of calming sleep with enough time to spare for checking over his stuff, getting everything ready and leaving at a reasonable and responsible time. Is what he would have loved to say.
In reality, he had stayed up all night, stressing over things that could go wrong like losing his wand, getting the news that his acceptance was a joke because he was a pathetic nothing who barely passed the entrance exam, or the possibility of running into his old classmates who were, to say the least, not fond of him. When sleep finally took over the sun was already about to rise again and his alarm clock, which usually worked just fine had decided that its time had come and resigned sometime during the night, essentially abandoning him and being the cause for Finn to oversleep. Then, when he had finally woken up, with barely any time to spare, he'd gotten ready in record time and left the house to fly to Easton, praying that he had actually packed all of his stuff. Of course, on his way to Easton he'd almost fallen off his broom two times due to strong winds and an unexpected rainstorm.
After his chough chough late arrival he had to run from one place to the other to get all of the bureaucratic things out of the way, like filling out all of his personal information, explaining to a confused secretary that, no, he didn't have any parents, his brother was his legal guardian, getting yelled at for being very, very late and desperately trying to not crash out. Now, the only thing he had to complete before being an official Easton high school student was the sorting.
As usual, his nerves were going haywire making him feel the need to search for the nearest window to jump out of and get away from all these people. While making his way to the grand sorting hall, Finn did his absolute best to avoid running into any other people. The anticipation was palpable all throughout the halls. Both students and teachers wondered which house would get the best new recruits.
He’d almost asked Rayne if he could tag along with him, not only to have someone with him who knew his way around, but also to just have someone with him who was a comforting presence to Finn. However, through some unknown event to him Rayne had avoided him for the past months, not even a 'Hi' or 'Good morning' or a 'How are you doing'... It was kind of depressing. Maybe he just wanted to get him used to being alone more often. It wasn't like he had actually had a decent conversation with Rayne for almost two years, but even small scraps were better than nothing.
"HEY! You there, where do you think you're going!?", suddenly he was grabbed from behind as a teacher dragged him by the collar. He had to stifle a cough from the harsh movement.
"S-sorry?", the teacher was an older woman with grey hair pulled back into a neat bun, a single elegant line etched across her face. And she looked furious.
"First years have to get their house before they can go to orientation.", oh no, he had totally zoned out! Where even was he right now?!
While panicking he heard some students snicker behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know that it was Lloyd Cavill and his group of underlings.
"The house reading is right there the first door to the right.", Finn's eyes followed to the direction she was pointing at. He could see the door further down the hall. It was basically impossible to miss, how bad had he zoned out?
"Thank y-you! And I'm so so sorry for the trouble I caused you!", he bowed and immediately ran down the hall, towards his destination. The teacher called something after him, in Finn's panic however, he didn't make it out.
Finally walking through the door and looking for a free space to exist without bothering anyone, he relaxed, a tiny bit at least.
"... You shall be, one of the mighty and free! An Adler! Onto the next one, Mash Burnedead"
The booming voice of the ancient sorting unicorn echoed through the room. In all of its time around, it had never sorted a student into the wrong house. It was legendary, having helped dozens of young mages become great witches and wizards who'd go down in history. Even Wahlberg had been sorted by this exact skeletal being. Because of this it was even stranger to see the unicorn get something that could only be described as a brain aneurysm.
"Hmmm, creampuffs are a puff pastry, which are flaky and crunchy on the outside with a golden-brown colour and soft and fluffy on the inside. They are made by combining flour and - you'll fit right in with Adler dorm."
... What the hell? Did that mushroom headed guy actually manage to break it? And why was he so calm about this, he just huffed and walked away...while eating a creampuff. Wait, where did he get that from?! What a weirdo. Before Finn could continue silently judging the mushroom head his name was called. With careful steps he walked towards the ancient being and lightly grabbed onto its horn.
"Creampuffs....", said the unicorn. What is wrong with this thing was the only thought in Finn's head.
"You may be a coward but are still good at heart, you're willing to do everything in your power to help those dear to you.", that was... harsh, but still true. Adlers were known to be loyal to their friend, so maybe if he hoped enough?
"Even though you lack talent for many things you find solutions by using your knowledge and creativity. You shall be, one of the cunning and wise! An orca! Creampuff"
He had misheard, right? He, he couldn't be an Orca... What did that guy from before do for it to be this confused?!
"S-sorry, but that can't be right."
"Do you question my judgement, little Orca?", replied the unicorn.
"No, no, it's just... I'm not smart, my grades are bad and I don't think I can live up to the expectations of orca dorm." He was waving his hands around, desperately trying not to offend the being.
"Alright then, try again.", Finn held onto the horn again, desperately hoping for all of this to be a dream. He really wasn't fit to be an Orca student. Before he could panic even more the unicorn suddenly announced its decision.
"Congratulations creampuffs, you're TOPAZ, NO, WRONG SCHOOL, CREAMPUFF, NO, ORCAAAAAAA!!!" As the unicorn continued screaming nonsense, seemingly foaming out the mouth, a few teachers came forward and simply directed Finn to Orcas orientation. His worries and disagreements fell on empty ears. The unicorn had spoken, and there was nothing he could do to change its decision.
This had to be a nightmare!