Between the pods closing, the pods warming up and doing whatever they did to make a simulation... simulate, and reality and sensations blurring it took a minute for Ken to snap out of a daze and realize everything looked... bigger. Ken looked down and saw he was wearing a tweed coat and a black skirt... and judging by his hands being small, soft, and petite she was a 10 year old girl like Joanne said. Feeling a weight inside her coat Ken checked and found Penny's remote on her person.
"Wow, we're both cute." a little girl Ken assumed was Vanessa
Ken felt a little embarrassed as Vanessa stared at her and said "Let's not talk like that, the other people may overhear." Speaking of passers by there seemed to be some traffic coming in and out of... A train station. In fact Ken and Vanessa was near a brick wall in-between two platforms.
"Is this what I think it is?" Vanessa asked
"...I'm getting a little annoyed at all the HP stuff..." Ken muttered before saying "Well after you, you've got your lucky charm on your wrist." Vanessa looked and saw her bracelet had resized and was on her wrist... all that luck... and junk... Vanessa stared at the brick wall in front of her... it very much was a brick wall, but could it have been enchanted to let her through? Was it merely an illusion and she'd have to will herself to know that it was actually a pathway to another world?
Ken looked down at a red faced Vanessa and said "...Yeah, Kate tried that as well in real life." Then helped her sister up. "If it makes you feel any better I may have tried myself in a minute."
"As one may say, You let someone get the door for you." an aged adult that looked similar to Gerome said before going around the wall and gesturing to a literal door with a lock that he unlocked. "Turns out there's a lot of secrets in plain sight, and a wall you just walk through isn't that secure."
"Who are you?" Vanessa asked
Ken said "I suppose in your version of reality he was just a phone. He was a bud of mine who accidentally turned himself into a phone, and now he's in this simulation."
Gerome chuckled "They aren't going to teach a phone magic... well proper magic whatever that means. I chose my path, but I can at least help you two along your path." He opened the door and... The train was there underground, and it stayed underground for quite awhile till it surfaced and... Well there were a lot of trees, it was a forest for awhile... then there was a large lake with maybe a city made more of cobblestone than asphalt but still... modernish? Then of course a mini-castle in the distance. Gerome, Ken, and Vanessa were all in their own cabin and... bored...
"I'm assuming we're here to adjust to reality before being flooded with magic junk?" Ken asked
"Probably" Gerome said "Although the simulations have been pretty realistic to me."
"Is a snack cart coming soon so we can have food, or maybe some sort of gadget or..."
There was a knock on the door "Room service" came the voice of a kind old lady.
It was slightly disappointing Not that Gerome could buy as much as he wanted for the three of us, but that the food wasn't inherently magical for the most part. They were well made, delicious, and tasty... But there wasn't any semi-living food stuffs or some sorta liquid that could turn vegetables into chocolate with the same nutritional benefits of vegetables.
Gerome said "Unless you want to try to evolve your body through simulations or something... magic's best used in the growing of crops or production of meals and not make the meals too... outlandish for the most part. The Chief being a notable exception.
"You doing alright with your body Ken?" Vanessa asked
"...I think I'm having some issues you do with the change in height and reach... but... I've got a year to get down the whole girl thing before puberty starts..." Ken said knowing that Vanessa had been an early bloomer and... he'd rather be used to being a girl as a pre-pubescent before boobs and periods started getting thrown into the mix.
"Don't worry, I'll be here to help you along the way." Vanessa said patting her sister on the head.
"We'll be going straight to the castle to get you two set-up, there'll be... a sorting hat..." Gerome said slightly annoyed as Vanessa got a little excited despite not being that much of a potter fan. "And of course we're not going to be getting you two any special supplies yet. You both need some basic knowledge and fundamentals drilled in before you two think about any specialized tools. Notebooks, pens, basic school supplies, and even a laptop will be provided." The train ride was fine, scenic, and when it became clear nothing was happening the train sped up to the castle.
There was a feast in a common room till there was a magically loud but not deafening clanking of a knife on glassware as Joanne... the headmaster said "Welcome students new and old. We're here to start a new year at Scholarez, and as such we'll be sorting the new students with our sorting hat." There was a pause as some students sniggered and chuckled. Some being new and naive, others being old and still not believing they were using a "sorting hat"
Joanne said "This will not be reading your personalities per se, nor do we have different houses based on silly things. This sorting hat exists to sense surface level potential and whatever knowledge you have on magic. This will let us sort you all into classes that match your aptitude."
There were only a few hundred students... this took awhile, but when it got to you and Vanessa you both kinda got the drill. Sit on the chair, let Joanne put a hat on your head... It was Ken's turn and she could feel a pulse go through her body. She wasn't sure how far it should go, but it felt like it echoed for awhile.
"Recommendation" the sorting hat said "Mana Well training, basic fundamentals of magic, and magical nonsense deprogramming." That got some attention from some people. Assumedly the NPC's thought that was interesting, but did any of the real people think that was interesting? basic fundamentals of magic and magical nonsense deprogramming usually went hand in hand for well... "Muggles" so much fantasy and literature with their own systems and no one to teach you how magical actually worked made both classes necessary for a lot of people new to magic. as such... "Recommendation, basic fundamentals of magic and magical nonsense deprogramming." the sorting hat said about Vanessa. Which was an average response for a "Muggle". Some students were bypassing basic fundamentals and deprogramming through heritage and family/tutors, but Mana Well training didn't pop up much.
The rest of the dinner had a bunch of the other first years crowding around the two twins. Many asking Ken a few questions, trying to give a few hints that were drowned out, some others trying to make friends with a pure "new line" or something. Vanessa got a bit less attention, but still got a lot with some of the other kids wondering if she was just under the requirement for the mana well training. Ken somewhat doubted it since The Forest took awhile to digest and probably messed with his mana something or other.
It was a long day, but Ken and Vanessa were able to room together in House 1... Which was notable in that it was the closest house to the classes. There were a few houses, but yeah they didn't have any gimmicks... Ok House 3's upper classmen tended to have a higher amount of plant/fauna students, but the House was on very fertile soil and next to a forest. Feeling weary the twins went to bed and fell asleep soundly a bit weary from the attention from dinner.