Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Crossover ❯ Duo Maxwell ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

Sixteen-year-old Duo Maxwell gapped at the creature before him. Of all the things he had prepared himself for, as he watched Hilde run for the hills while screeching something about the mail, the last one had been the innocent picture of an owl (of all things) sitting comfortably (could the bloody thing even sit?!) on top of his desk.

Bright amber eyes regarded him seriously, before the owl motioned to the letter lying before it. An envelope made of what seemed to be some kind of yellowish parchment, with the words

To Mister D. Maxwell

Hilde's Scrape yard

L2

greeted his eyes. Turning the envelope revealed the wax seal that kept it closed: a lion, a snake, a bird (an eagle?) and some sort of furry looking animal he didn't exactly recognize were entwined with a big letter H. Circling it were the words: DRACO DORMIENS NUNQUAM TITILLANDUS (whatever the hell that meant!). He turned again to the front, to find written at the top:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

in the same green ink as the address.

A puzzled expression overcame Duo's face. Was this a joke of some sort? Drawing out his mental list of people he had pissed off lately and checking it for people that would have pulled back a prank revealed nothing, and left him goggling the envelope just as he had for the last few minutes.

The owl moved impatiently in its place, obviously fed up with Duo just standing there doing nothing. Well, either that or (as Duo quickly summarized) it was waiting for something.

The boy commonly known as the braided baka finally opened the envelope, to find that inside were several pieces of the same parchment: one was a ticket to board the Hogwarts' shuttle; the second was a first class airplane ticket to England; another seemed to be a list of some sort, so Duo turned to the third in hopes of getting some sort of explanation.

It turned out to be a letter:

HOGWARTS SCHOOLof WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

Dear Mr. Maxwell,

We are pleased to inform you that you have beenaccepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft andWizardry. Please find enclosed a list of allnecessary books and equipment.

Due to recent events, the whole student body has been kept back for a year. As so, we have included the texts of earlier years in your list, up to the ones you'll need for the fifth year courses you'll be attending.

Trips to Hogsmead have been cancelled, for the same reason.

Please also findthe shuttle pass and plane ticket. The shuttle will depart from the L1 International port on August 30th, at eleven am. Please be punctual. There will be a trip to acquire school supplies on the 31st, here in England.

Term begins on September 1.

Yours Sincerely,

Professor M. McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Order of Merlin (2ndclass)

Duo blinked. Oook… Plenty of info, but no explanation. He pondered the letter for a while and then looked at the owl. It looked right back at him (which was frankly unnerving).

-"I guess I should send a reply, ne?"

The bird looked on expectantly (probably wondering if Duo suffered from brain damage, considering how long it had taken him to think of that).

Duo looked at the letter one last time, and decided that no matter if it was and obvious joke, it would not be said that Duo Maxwell was a coward that could make pranks but couldn't take them.

A couple of quick line later, the owl flew out the window, just as Hilde peeked into the room to find Duo staring after the bird.

When she had seen the stupid feathered ball coming through the window she had freaked. There were definitely no birds of that size in the colony's wild life. That it was carrying a letter made it even more surprising. But that the letter seemed to come from outside the colony (as testified by the seal of the port authority on a corner of the envelope)… Well, that was a little too much. Better let Duo deal with it, while she went for some painkillers. She had a migraine coming.

And now, she came back to find Mister I'm-a-Gundam-pilot-and-nothing-surprises-me-anymore staring in shock after the bird, the letter opened on his desk.

-"Duo, are you alright?"

He turned to look at her, his expression unchanged, and handed her a piece of… parchment? She quickly read it through and turned to him.

-"Oh. And who pulled of this prank? And what did you do to this person?"

-"No idea, to both questions. But I'm gonna find out."

-"So you're going?"

-"Yeah."

-"And if it isn't a joke?"

-"Then I'll deal with it as best I can. Think you can take care of this place for a few days?"

She planted her hands on her hips, an annoyed expression on her face.

-"If you haven't forgotten it, this place is mine, Mister Maxwell, and I managed to pull it through the war on my own, and I did fine!! So don't you dare treat me so patronizingly about it!! I can manage it just fine!!"

Duo looked at her with this funny, totally clueless expression.

-"I just meant that since you're a girl and all, you might want to hire some help or something."

-"So now you're gonna treat me like that, you chauvinistic jerk!?"

-"No!! It's just…"

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