Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing Goes to Hogwarts ❯ Quidditch ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8: Quidditch

In the Great Hall, the tables were removed to provide a vast space for sleeping, which was necessary because the students from the other three houses were herded into the Great Hall with the Gryffindors so the entire castle could be searched. Because they were familiar with the grounds, Heero, Duo and Trowa joined the search while everyone else stayed in the Great Hall with the students. Huddled in squishy purple sleeping bags, the students whispered nervously despite repeated demands from Percy to keep quiet.

Hermione leaned close to her friends. “We should have known something terrible would happen!” she whispered. “I heard a banshee's cry the other day.”

“I heard it, too!” Neville whispered fearfully. “My grandma says that's bad luck. Someone usually dies.”

Everyone stared at Harry.

Harry scowled. “I'm not going to die!” he grumbled. “Professor Trelawney is bats.”

“But still…” Hermione said. “I've never heard a banshee before.”

“Then how do you know it was one?” Harry demanded.

“Well, um…” Hermione thought quickly. “It sounded just the way it's described in the text books.”

“That wasn't a banshee,” Roku spoke up. “It was Jett.”

“What?”

“Jett screams really loud. She can shatter things.”

Neville's eyes went round. “Your sister is a banshee?”

“I don't think so,” Roku said.

“Could you phrase that a little more decisively, please?” Harry muttered.

“I'm pretty sure she's not a banshee?”

“That's not much better.”

It was a long night and no one slept well. The next day, the weather turned unbelievably foul. Wind, rain and cold swept over Hogwarts and no one wanted to go outside anymore, except that Oliver Wood insisted that the Gryffindor Quidditch team had to practice.

“We have to beat Slytherin!” was Oliver's motto and he drove them relentlessly.

But they had to practice under the watchful eye of Madam Hooch because Sirius Black had not been caught and everyone worried about Harry. But Harry wondered why they bothered, because the clouds and fog were so thick during practice that he doubted Sirius Black could have found him if they ended up nose to nose on broomsticks.

Heero and Duo also watched the practices, although Heero was there mostly because Duo insisted on watching.

“Why do you want to watch this?” Heero grumbled, wiping water off his face for the millionth time. “It's not even a game; it's just practice.”

“I'm trying to figure out the rules.”

“You can't even see them!”

“But I can tell where they are.” Duo tapped his head. “Anyway, I think I've figured it out.”

“What's the point? It's just a stupid sports event.”

“Which means I can bet on it.”

“What?!”

“I can bet on it.” Duo grinned. “These people are crazy about this game and their team loyalty is intense, which means they will make bets based on passion. I can get ridiculous odds out of them and clean up.”

“You're planning to rip off a bunch of kids?” Heero said with a glower.

“Hardly.” Duo looked up at the stormy sky. “Lots of teachers, former students and people from Hogsmeade watch the games. Besides, I consider it a sacred duty to teach young people how to bet wisely.” He winked at Heero. “Never put your money where your heart is.”

“You're scum, you know that?”

“But that doesn't keep you from wanting to fuck me,” Duo chuckled. “I think they've finished for the day.”

The Quidditch players dropped down out of the sky, wet and bedraggled. Harry especially looked like a half-drowned cat and just about as happy. But even though everyone was cold and wet and clearly wanted to just go inside and sit in front of a crackling fire, Oliver kept them in the locker room for nearly an hour, going over strategies and rehashing what went wrong during practice. When the Quidditch players finally dragged their way back to the castle, even the twins were drooping.

Harry didn't notice that Heero and Duo were waiting for the team by the castle entrance and he yelped in surprise when Duo dropped an arm around his shoulders.

“Hey, Harry, why don't you come up to our rooms and visit? The girls want to play with you.”

Harry groaned. “I'm pretty tired…”

“Nonsense!” Duo exclaimed airily. “You've got to build up your stamina if you want to be able to hold your own in an orgy.”

“A… an… or… gy?” Harry stammered. His cheeks turned redder than Ron's hair.

“Not right now!” Duo laughed. “When you grow up. But you gotta be prepared. You never know when great opportunities for unbridled sex are gonna spring up. You gotta stay strong and be ready.”

Harry blinked rapidly. The color did not leave his cheeks. “I don't think,” he said faintly, “that's something I need to be prepared for.”

Duo chuckled. “But what's the Boy Scout motto?”

“Be prepared,” Harry mumbled under his breath.

“Right!” Duo clapped him on the back. “So come upstairs. I promise not to let the girls drag you into the bathtub immediately. But I bet a hot bath would feel good right now, wouldn't it?”

Harry reluctantly nodded. A hot bath did sound good. “But… I wouldn't have to play that game, would I?” His voice shook. “I don't think I have the strength after practice.”

“Well, I'll cut you some slack there,” Duo said. He thumped Heero's arm. “Even this pinnacle of manliness is terrified of bathing the children.”

“I can understand why,” Harry muttered. But he allowed himself to be dragged upstairs. In the Gundam pilots' suite, he was immediately accosted by Alexa and Jett.

“Yay!” Alexa shouted. “It's Harry! Come play Chutes and Ladders with us.”

Harry was relieved to be invited to play something so mundane until he saw the playing board. The meter square board was three-dimensional and had actual chutes and ladders on it. The playing squares were block towers and the playing pieces were little people who had to clamber from square to square, struggling up the ladders and squealing in terror when they went down a chute.

Quatre smiled indulgently. “I got the idea from your wizard chess game. I thought it would make this game more fun for the girls.”

Harry stared. “You made this?”

“No, Roku did after I told him what I wanted. He makes stuff from scratch a lot faster than I do.” The door banged open and Quatre looked over his shoulder. “And speak of the devil.”

“Harry!” Roku cried. He bounded over on all fours, having switched to tiger form as soon as he came through the door. He tackled the young wizard and proceeded to slobber all over his face.

“Ew! Yuck! Roku!” Harry struggled, but trying to escape the swipes of that giant tiger tongue was pretty much impossible.

Alexa and Jett giggled. “Give up, Harry!” Alexa laughed. “He'll stop when you're nice and soggy.”

“But my glasses!” Harry protested, although it was far too late for that. His spectacles were already so slimy it was doubtful he could see out of them.

“At least it keeps the tiger spit out of your eyes,” Zechs pointed out without looking up from the book he was reading.

“You taste like clouds,” Roku announced. “Were you flying?”

“Yeah. We had Quidditch practice.”

“Can I come to Quidditch practice? I can fly.”

“On a broomstick?” Harry tried and failed to shove Roku off his chest. “I can't breathe.”

“Sorry.” Roku moved aside and sat down with his tail curled around his paws. “I don't know how to fly on a broomstick. Can I just be a bird? Or I could be a dragon.”

Harry sat up and started patting around for a dry spot on his clothes so he could clean his glasses, but after flying around in the rain for a couple of hours, even with his Quidditch uniform on, his pants and shirt were soaked. Then he stopped and squinted at Roku. “Wait a minute. Did you just say you could be a dragon?”

“Yeah.”

“But…”

“It's really not hard to turn into stuff.”

“I'll take your word for it.” Harry resumed searching for a dry spot to clean his glasses.

Alexa leaned over and stared directly into his face. “You're cute without your glasses. Why don't you get contacts?”

Harry flushed. “I'm lucky my uncle pays for my glasses. He wouldn't even get them until I started breaking things because I couldn't see.”

“Too bad.” Alexa grinned. “I bet the girls would really go for you.”

“Or maybe the boys!” Duo added cheerfully.

Harry's blush deepened. “I'm not interested in that kind of thing,” he said firmly, but his voice squeaked a little.

“What? Sex with girls, sex with guys or sex in general? Trust me, it's all good.”

“Um…” Harry scrambled to his feet. “I need to find something to clean my glasses.”

“Quit embarrassing Harry, Duo,” Quatre said. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Harry. “Not everyone thinks every day should start and end with sex.”

Complete silence fell and everyone looked at Quatre.

Quatre flushed. “Well, what I mean is…”

“Please explain,” Treize said, blinking innocently.

“Um…”

“Well, there are those days when he never makes it out of bed,” Duo volunteered. “Then the sex just flows straight through from morning to evening, so it's not like the day ever really started, is it?”

“That makes sense,” said Trowa. He grinned at Quatre.

Quatre scowled. “You people are disgusting!”

“Yeah, but who was the first person to do that Olympian position?” Duo continued. “I think you're still the best at it.”

“Oh, shut up!”

Harry made a break for the door, but Jett and Alexa leaped up and caught him by the hands.

“I wanna take a bath with Harry,” Jett announced loudly. The light fixtures rattled.

“Only if you keep your voice down,” Heero said sternly.

“Yes, Papa Heero.”

Hadeya stood up with a resolute expression. “I'll supervise the bath,” he said. “I'll make sure Harry doesn't drown.”

Harry paled.

“Remember, he's tired from Quidditch practice,” Duo said. “Be gentle.”

“We will!” Jett and Alexa chorused, but their grins did not bode well for Harry.

“I'll go too,” Roku said. “I want to wash my fur.”

Hadeya and the four youngsters headed for the bathroom. Once there, Roku immediately leaped into the water.

“Are you going to stay like that?” Harry asked nervously as he undressed.

“It's ok,” Alexa assured him. “Roku never scratches anybody. He's really careful.” And then she took a running jump and leaped from the side of the bath, landing on Roku's back. “Hah! Got you!”

Roku rolled over, grabbed Alexa's arm in his mouth and dragged her under. After an alarmingly long time, they both exploded back to the surface, laughing. Harry was amazed to see that the water was not stained with blood. He handed his glasses to Hadeya and climbed gingerly into the bath.

“How do you do that without breaking the skin?”

“Like this!” Roku said with a grin and he clamped down on Harry's arm.

Harry stared. “It's like you don't have any teeth!” He lifted Roku's lip and looked in his mouth. A frighteningly impressive set of razor sharp fangs and crushing molars glistened in Roku's mouth, but wherever those teeth intersected his arm, they became semi-translucent. “How do you do that?” Harry was fascinated. He tried to touch one of the translucent sections and his finger went through it. But farther up the tooth, it was completely solid.

Roku let go. “I phase shift them out. It's the same way I hid Asgard from Earth.”

Harry's eyes went round. “Hid Asgard…”

Roku blinked. “Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that.”

“But hold on!”

“Let's play!” Roku said brightly. He splashed to the edge. “Come on, Jett! Let's have hermit crab races.”

“But…!” Harry protested.

“Come on, Harry!” Alexa grabbed his arm. “How long can you hold your breath?”

“What?!”

“Think like a hermit crab!” And Alexa pulled Harry under the water.

Not much later, Harry clung gasping to the edge of the bath, his forehead slumped on his arms. “I thought you said you wouldn't let me drown!” he moaned to Hadeya.

“It seemed like you were holding your own.”

“That was desperation!”

Hadeya chuckled. “It builds stamina.”

“Why does everyone think I need stamina?!”

“Harry!” cried Hermione's voice. “There you are! We wondered what happened to you.” She and Ron entered the bath and stared curiously.

“Oh! Um!” Harry pressed up against the side of the tub, acutely aware that Hermione was a girl and he was completely naked. “You shouldn't be in here when boys are bathing!” he exclaimed.

Hermione's lips pressed into a thin line and she pointed at Alexa and Jett. “They are not boys,” she said in a clipped tone.

“Well, but, they're little girls!” Harry exclaimed.

Hermione folded her arms, glaring, but Ron suddenly grabbed her arm and pointed wildly across the bath.

“Her… Hermione!” Ron stammered. “It's a… a… tiger!”

Hermione's eyes went as round as Ron's and they both stared.

“Harry!” Ron exclaimed. “What are you doing in a bathtub with a tiger?”

“Oh, well, you see,” Harry floundered. “Um, it's, well, uh…”

“It's Roku!” Jett announced, causing the lights to dim and a small tsunami to crash across the bath.

“Quietly, Jett,” Hadeya admonished her.

“Sorry!”

“Roku?” Ron stammered in confusion, but Hermione was squinting more closely at the tiger.

Roku swam across the bath and shimmered into human form. “Hi, guys.”

“Ah!” Ron shouted and he skittered backward several steps.

Harry suddenly squinted at Roku. “Wait a minute! You had clothes on when you changed before. What happened to them?”

“I put them in my storage space so they wouldn't get wet.”

“But you change shapes almost instantaneously!”

“I do it a lot.” Roku grinned. “I can't very well have clothes on when I'm a tiger. They wouldn't fit anyway. I'm not as big when I'm a boy.”

“You're an animagus!” Hermione squealed and she clapped her hands. “That's absolutely marvelous. Can you change back again?”

“Sure.” Roku shimmered back into tiger form.

Hermione bent over and stroked his fur. “Oh! It's real! This is so amazing!”

“Hermione!” Ron gasped. “How can you just touch him? He's a tiger! What if he bites your hand off?”

“Don't be an idiot, Ron!” Hermione laughed. “It's Roku! Why would he bite my hand off?” She stood up. “Anyway, Harry, you should get out. It's almost dinner time and you need to change clothes.”

“Uh, right.” But Harry made no move to exit the bath.

“Oh, honestly!” Hermione exclaimed. “I'll wait outside.” She marched out the door with her nose in the air.

Hadeya chuckled. “In many cultures, it is common for men and women to bathe together.”

“Well, it's not common in England!” Harry said. He heaved himself out of the water and quickly put on his still-damp clothes. “You'd better hurry, too, Roku.”

Roku climbed out of the bath and shook furiously, showering water in all directions.

“Ugh! Roku!” Harry exclaimed. “Wasn't I wet enough already?”

“Sorry!” Roku shimmered into human form wearing dry clothes.

“That's not fair!” Harry grumbled.

“I can dry out your clothes if you want.”

“Really? You'd better use your wand, though, or Hermione will get mad.”

“I don't have it.”

“You don't have your wand?” Ron was scandalized.

“Mama told me not to put it in my storage space, so I keep forgetting it. It's with my books and robe.”

“Well, let's get it. You'll need your robe for dinner anyway.” The three boys left.

“All right, girls,” Hadeya said. “Time to get out. We need to dress for dinner.”

“Yay! Food!”

And so the days went although, impressively, the weather managed to get worse every day, until the Gryffindor Quidditch team was practicing in what seemed like gale force winds. And then the other shoe fell. Oliver Wood announced to the team that they would be playing Hufflepuff, not Slytherin, because the Slytherin seeker was “too injured” to play.

“Can you believe it?” Harry fumed to Roku privately later. “That wretched Malfoy isn't hurt at all! I had to grow bones back and I still didn't miss a match and he got some pissing little hippogriff scratch weeks ago and can't play? It's ridiculous! Buckbeak should have ripped off his head.” He flung himself into a chair in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room.

Roku sat on the rug in front of the fire. “I think I could do a hippogriff,” he said thoughtfully.

“What?”

“I think I can turn into a hippogriff. Then I could fly with you during the Quidditch match just in case.”

“Um, I don't think that would be a good idea.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

The day of the Quidditch match was the foulest anyone had seen for a long time. The clouds were so thick that it might as well have been night. Wind howled across the pitch, whipping the flags and making the stands creak. Rain pelted down out of the sky, instantly soaking anyone foolish enough to step out in it, which of course meant everyone at Hogwarts, because everyone scurried down to the field to watch the match.

Duo was positively gleeful and Heero glowered at him suspiciously.

“What are you so cheerful about?”

“Hee-hee!” Duo chuckled. “I got a bunch of Gryffindor fans to give me four-to-one odds on Hufflepuff. And then I got a bunch of Slytherins to give me three-to-one odds on Gryffindor. I'll clean up either way.”

Heero rolled his eyes.

Once the match started, it was nearly impossible to follow the action. Quidditch is a naturally fast paced game, but with clouds and rain obscuring everyone's vision, following the players and the balls was difficult. Duo was the only one who seemed to know where everyone was at any given moment, but suddenly he ducked his head with a grunt.

“Damn! It's those stupid dementors!” He rubbed his right temple.

“They're not supposed to be on the grounds!” Heero growled and he leaped out of his seat. “Wu-Fei! Come with me!” Still rubbing his temples, Duo dashed after Heero and Wu-Fei.

Down on the field, dementors suddenly appeared out of nowhere, staring up into the sky. Freezing cold swept over the stands and it suddenly got darker. The spectators, who a moment before had been shouting in excitement, fell into a strangled silence.

“Look out!” someone suddenly shouted. “Harry's falling!”

Heero and Wu-Fei dashed out onto the field with the other Gundam pilots on their heels.

“Get behind me!” Wu-Fei ordered and he shot fire across the field, singeing dementors indiscriminately.

Zechs, however, braving both fire and dementors, raced onto the field and skidded to a halt under Harry, catching the young wizard as he fell.

“Thank you, everyone,” Dumbledore said, his voice all business. He pointed his wand and a searing white light washed across the dementors, causing them to scatter like leaves.

Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker, landed in a panic, the golden snitch clutched in his right fist. “That's a foul!” he exclaimed. “We should have a rematch!”

“No,” Dumbledore said quietly. “The game is over. Hufflepuff wins.” He turned toward Harry. “Let's get him to the infirmary.”

Ron and Hermione hurried after the floating stretcher along with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Roku went with them.

Ron glanced at Roku. “I thought Professor Chang wasn't a wizard.”

“He's not.”

“How did he make the fire, then? It was like it just came shooting out of his mouth.”

“Oh,” Roku grinned sheepishly. “Sometimes Papa Wu-Fei breathes fire.”

“What?”

“It's nothing, really. It was a gift from a dragon.”

“What?”

“He hardly has any other dragon traits at all, except for the scales.”

“Scales?!” Ron stared. “Professor Chang has scales?”

“Not everywhere. Mostly just on his back.”

Ron's mouth worked silently.

“Hurry up, Ron!” Hermione said. “I want to make sure Harry's all right.”

“Did you here what he said?” Ron demanded.

“Of course. Professor Chang breathes fire and has scales. Now can we please focus on what's important? Harry might be seriously hurt.” Hermione hurried ahead with a strained look on her face.

“A fire-breathing man with scales is not important?” Ron exclaimed under his breath. “She needs to get her priorities straight.”

But as it turned out, Harry was not hurt, just disoriented from the mental assault of the dementors. But he became horribly depressed when he learned that Gryffindor had lost the match and his Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick had been whacked to bits by the Whomping Willow. He had to stay in the infirmary for a few days and he received a constant stream of visitors, but nothing really cheered him up. But then Sunday evening after dinner, Jett and Alexa invaded the infirmary with Zechs and Hadeya carrying the Chutes and Ladders board between them.

“We came to play with you,” Alexa said. Jett nodded gravely.

“Oh, thanks.” Harry sat up and crossed his legs so Zechs and Hadeya could put the board on his bed. The little playing pieces stood in a group in one corner, staring up at him. Harry stared back. “Are those real people? They look real.”

Zechs chuckled. “We decided it was better not to ask Roku how he made them. But they don't seem to eat or excrete, so we don't think they're real.”

“Roku said they were self-projecting holograms,” Hadeya said. He frowned slightly. “I do not quite understand what that is.”

“I want this one,” Alexa said and she picked up a playing piece that looked like a little girl wearing a flowered dress. The piece grasped Alexa's fingers and wiggled its legs as it was moved to the starting square.

Jett picked a piece that looked like a tall man wearing a bowler hat.

After a slight hesitation, Harry picked a piece that looked like a young man wearing a wizard's robe. The piece squirmed in his fingers and he quickly moved it to the starting square. He looked at Zechs and Hadeya. “Are you going to play?”

“No, we'll just watch,” Zechs said. The two men sat down on the beds on either side.

Harry ducked his head. “By the way, thank you,” he said to Zechs. “I heard you caught me when I fell.”

“You're welcome,” Zechs replied with a smile, “although I doubt Dumbledore would have let you hit the ground at full speed. He was right on top of the situation.”

“I hate dementors!” Harry declared angrily. “They shouldn't have been there. They made us lose the match!”

Zechs nodded. “You've a right to feel that way. It was pretty disruptive.” He smiled at Harry. “How would you like a few private fencing lessons as a consolation? You have good reflexes. That's what makes you a good Seeker and I think it would lend itself well to hand-to-hand combat.”

“Really?” Harry immediately perked up. “That would be great!”

“All right then, we'll do that. Our next fencing lesson is on Tuesday, so why don't you stay afterward?”

“I will and thanks!” Harry felt much better after that, even when his tiny playing piece was forced to slide down a long chute and squealed like a girl the whole way.