Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing Goes to Hogwarts ❯ Hogsmeade ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10: Hogsmeade

As Ron and Harry worked over their cauldron in Potions class, Ron kept throwing glances at Neville and Roku, who were working together. Roku had a very pensive look on his face as he measured out the ingredients for the day's potion but Neville looked utterly bewildered.

“I say, Harry, maybe one of us should have paired with Roku and the other with Neville. Lord only knows what's going to come out of their cauldron at the end of class.”

Harry glanced quickly at the pair, but immediately returned his attention to the frog he was flaying. “It's too late now.” He scowled as he used a tiny pair of tweezers to lift away the frog's internal organs, looking for the spleen. “I don't understand why we can't be given this ingredient. They must have them in the storeroom.”

“Because frog spleens are best if used fresh, Potter,” Snape sneered from above and behind him. “So pay attention to what you're doing.”

“Yes, sir,” Harry growled.

Snape moved away and Ron muttered “Uh oh!” under his breath. Snape was staring at Neville and Roku's ingredients.

“Why is your frog not yet prepared, Longbottom?” Snape demanded. “You'll never complete the potion by the end of class if you don't remove its spleen now.”

“Um, well…” Neville fumbled.

“I took it out already,” Roku said.

“What?!” Snape stared down at their obviously not dead frog.

“I took it out,” Roku repeated. “Frogs can live without their spleen, just like people, so I removed it without cutting him open.” Roku smiled at the frog. “He seemed like a nice frog so I didn't want to kill him.”

Snape gaped incredulously. His mouth worked silently for a moment. “Pray tell me,” he finally rasped out, “how did you remove the spleen without killing the frog?”

All around them, students watched in hushed silence.

“Oh,” Roku blinked up at Snape. “Well, I phase-shifted the scalpel so it could go in the frog without cutting and when it got to the spleen I shifted the tip back in so I could cut it free and then I phase-shifted the spleen so I could take it out and then I flash-heated the tip of the scalpel to cauterize where I cut.”

Snape's mouth was hanging open. “How…” he croaked. “How could you see what you were doing?”

“I made the frog translucent first.” Roku patted the frog. “Except for his spleen, of course, so it was easier to see.”

“Made… translucent…” Snape stammered.

Roku looked up at Snape innocently. “Professor Snape, have I minced up my dried snakeskin fine enough?”

Snape stared down at Roku's snakeskin, which was so fine it was nearly a powder. “It's fine,” he said in a strangled tone.

“Thank you, Professor.” Roku moved on to his next ingredient with a satisfied smile.

Snape turned and marched stiffly to the next table. “What are you doing, Goyle?” he snapped, uncharacteristically yelling at a Slytherin. “Your minced snakeskin is abominable! It must be much finer than that!”

“Yes, sir!” Goyle cried and he began mincing so wildly that bits of snakeskin flew in all directions.

Ron was practically glowing. “That was brilliant!” he whispered to Harry. “Roku completely crushed Snape and didn't even get in trouble for it! He's fantastic!”

“Yeah,” Harry chuckled. “He's the best.”

After Potions class, Harry and Ron pounded Roku on the back when they were safely out of Snape's sight.

“That was fantastic, Roku!” Ron exclaimed. “I've never seen Snape put in his place by a student like that before! You were magnificent!”

Roku blinked. “But I didn't do anything.”

“Didn't do anything?” Ron choked. “You made your frog translucent! I bet Snape doesn't even know how to do that! And phase-shifting! What's in heaven's name is that? I bet Snape doesn't know either! He practically slinked away!” Ron threw his head back and guffawed loudly.

Ron was in good spirits the rest of the day and even magnanimously forgave Hermione when Crookshanks tried to sneak up the stairs to the boys' dormitory right before dinner. At dinner, every third year Gryffindor who was in Potions class that afternoon repeated the story of Roku's stunning defeat of Snape to anyone who would listen. Even Percy cracked a smile before admonishing the students not to speak ill of a teacher. Snape himself sat at the teachers' table with a scowl so dark it was hard to tell his face from his greasy black hair.

“Sounds like you had an interesting class today, Snape,” Duo said brightly. “The third years are all atwitter.”

Snape glowered at Duo without answering.

Duo returned his glower with a bright smile. “It must be very fulfilling as a teacher to know you've reached your students with a lesson. What were they making today?”

“…” Snape muttered.

“What was that?” Duo put a hand by his ear. “I couldn't quite hear you.”

“What is Duo playing at?” Quatre muttered. “He's always complaining how loud everyone's thoughts are.”

“Truth serum,” Snape growled in a louder voice.

“Truth serum? Really?” Duo's eyes went round and he blinked several times. “Did it work?”

“Truth serum must steep for three weeks!” Snape snarled. “The students' concoctions will be tested after the holidays.”

“Oh, I see.” Duo nodded with pursed lips. “I find this all terribly fascinating, you know. Do you mind if I visit your class that day to see how it comes out?”

Snape made a strangling sound.

“I'll just sit quietly in a corner,” Duo promised. “You won't even know I'm there.”

“This cannot turn out well,” Quatre said under his breath to Trowa.

“Maybe we should tell Heero to keep an eye on him.”

“Duo, Heero and Snape together in a roomful of students,” Quatre murmured. “That could end disastrously.”

“Don't worry. Roku will be there.”

“Somehow, that does not make me feel any better. He's the one who started all this.”

“You worry too much.”

“Someone has to.”

“You're adorable, Quatre.”

“Oh, really?” Quatre frowned at Trowa. “One would hardly think so given how little attention you've paid to me lately.”

“What?”

“I bet I'm getting tight.”

“What?!”

“You spend so much time hiking off into the woods with Hagrid I'm starting to think I don't attract you anymore.”

Trowa blinked in astonishment. “That's impossible, Quatre! You know that!”

“Do I?” Quatre sniffed. “You left me alone in bed the other night.”

“That was one night! And I had to go at night because that's the only time you can see moon-wraiths!”

“I suppose.”

“Quatre…”

“You said the moon-wraiths were beautiful,” Quatre sighed plaintively. “Were they better-looking than me?” He tipped his head to one side and made enormous blue puppy-eyes at Trowa.

Trowa put a hand over his face. “Stop that! You know I can't stand it when you do that!”

Quatre sighed again. “I bet you'll go wandering off with Hagrid again tonight and leave me all alone in bed with no one to keep me warm.”

“I won't!” Trowa exclaimed hoarsely.

“I haven't been properly kissed for days.”

“That's… not… true!” Trowa said, growling the words out between clenched teeth. “I kissed you this morning!”

“That wasn't much of a kiss. My sisters kiss me like that.”

“Argh!” Trowa exclaimed. “Finish eating! We're going upstairs!”

Quatre grinned happily. “Ok!”

“That was impressive,” Treize remarked as Trowa and Quatre left.

“Indeed,” Zechs agreed. “Clearly, Trowa just needed reminding of how thoroughly he's wrapped around Quatre's finger.”

“So it would seem.”

Zechs eyed Treize casually. “Do you need reminding?”

Treize blinked. “Absolutely not.”

“Because I would really hate it if you started taking me for granted.”

“There is no way I could possibly take someone as beautiful, intelligent, skilled and desirable as you for granted.”

Zechs nodded. “That's good to know.”

“I'll prove it to you later.”

“Repeatedly?”

“You'll have difficulty walking.”

“That sounds nice.”

“What is it with blue-eyed men?” Heero grumbled.

“Aren't you glad you're in love with me and not someone all needy like that?” Duo said cheerfully.

“I'm not in love!”

“Of course you're not,” Duo chuckled.

“Shut up!” Heero growled.

At the Gryffindor table, once talk of Snape died down, everyone began chattering about the upcoming visit to Hogsmeade. As the Christmas holidays neared, another student excursion to Hogsmeade was scheduled before the winter break.

“You should come with us this time, Roku,” Ron said excitedly. “Hogsmeade is an amazing place.”

“But Harry still can't go,” Roku said.

“That's all right, Roku,” Harry said, trying not to sound as down as he felt. “You should go. You don't want to miss it on my account.”

So when the weekend arrived, Roku lined up with the other students to go into town. Harry was left alone to wander the halls of Hogwarts, worrying about running into Filch or Snape and having his already depressed mode turned into one of bottomless despair. But instead, he ran into George and Fred, who gave him a marvelous gift: the Marauder's Map. Armed with the map and feeling like things were finally going his way, Harry prepared to go into Hogsmeade. Standing in front of the hump-backed witch statue with his wand in his hand, Harry nearly leaped out of his skin when someone spoke from behind him.

“What have you got there, Harry?”

Harry whirled around in a panic to find Duo standing behind him. “Oh… uh… nothing!” He tried to hide the map behind his back, even though he was sure Duo had already seen it.

Duo grinned. “Planning to sneak into town, eh?”

“Who, me?!” Harry squeaked.

“Yeah, you,” Duo chuckled. “Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I'm not on duty at the moment.”

Harry sighed in relief. “Thanks.”

“So what's that?” Duo pointed at the map.

“It's a map of the castle and the surrounding area. It shows where the secret passages are.” Harry's brow wrinkled. “Fred and George said I should keep it a secret.”

“You can trust me,” Duo said airily. “I'm good with secrets. So let's go to town before someone catches us.”

“You're going to go with me?”

Duo nodded. “Heero's trying to get me to do work again, so I thought I'd slip away for a beer or two. You were about to do a spell.”

“Right.” Harry turned back to the statue and tapped it with his wand. “Dissendium.” The hump opened, revealing a dark, narrow passage.

“In you go,” Duo said.

Harry slipped into the opening with Duo right behind him. The hump closed above them as they slid down into darkness.

“This passage is supposed to lead into the cellar of Honeyduke's,” Harry whispered.

“Why are you whispering?” Duo replied. “We're underground.”

Harry blushed. “I guess it's the dark.”

“Make some light and let's go.”

“Right.” Harry held up his wand and light flared from the tip. They set off down the tunnel.

“We must be getting close,” Duo said after a while. “I can hear a lot of people.”

“Really?” said Harry. “I can't hear anything.”

“Trust me.”

Not long after, they came to the end of the tunnel. Carefully, Harry pushed opened the door to reveal a darkened cellar. Except that it didn't stay dark because a door somewhere above their heads opened and they could hear voices.

“Hide!” Harry whispered quickly and the two of them slipped behind the crates of goods stacked in the basement. Harry watched nervously as Mr. Honeyduke came down the stairs, hefted a box and went back up.

“Let's go!” Duo whispered and the two of them crept up the stairs, listened for a moment and then slipped out. They scurried out from behind the counter and immediately blended in with the dozens of students packing the store. “My, oh, my!” Duo exclaimed. “Look at all the sweets! What a marvelous store! Let's shop!”

Duo had just finished buying a large quantity of all manner of goodies when Harry tugged at his elbow. “Mr. Maxwell, we're going to have a look around the town. Care to go with us?”

“Sure.” Duo grinned when he saw Roku standing next to Hermione and Ron. “Hey, Roku, do you mind carrying all this stuff for me?”

“Ok.” Roku accepted Duo's bag of sweets and tucked it under his arm.

“You must have huge pockets in that robe,” Hermione remarked. “You already put a bunch of stuff in there.”

“It's not in my pocket,” Roku said. “I put it in my storage space. There's lots of room in there.”

Hermione's forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Storage space?”

“Oh, that's right!” Ron smacked his forehead. “Hermione doesn't know!” He leaned close to Hermione and lowered his voice. “Roku has a magic storage space that's like another dimension. He can put things in and take things out whenever he likes. It's totally amazing!”

“Really?” Hermione studied Roku speculatively. “Another dimension? But how do you reach it?”

Roku shrugged. “It's just attached to me. It goes wherever I go.”

“But can anyone put things in and take them out?”

“No, just me. But that's because it's my storage space. Other people have their own storage spaces; although Papa Heero is the only one I know besides me who ever uses his.”

Hermione's eyes widened. “You mean I have a storage space?”

“Yeah.”

Hermione grabbed his arm. “How do I use it? Tell me!”

“You can't use your wand to get at it,” Roku cautioned.

“I don't care! Have you any idea how much my books weigh? And I could check out even more books from the library and have extra scrolls and ink whenever I need them! You have to show me, Roku! Please!”

“Ok. I'll show you when we get back from Hogsmeade.”

“Thank you!” Hermione did a little jig.

Ron exchanged a long look with Harry. “That's just what she needs!” he whispered sarcastically.

“No kidding,” Harry whispered back.

As they trooped out the door of Honeyduke's into the blowing snow, Duo put his mouth next to Roku's ear. “You might want to tell her there's a limit on how much she can put in there,” he said quietly.

“There is a limit,” Roku replied.

“Really?”

“Yeah. You have to remember everything you put in there, otherwise stuff disappears.”

“It does?”

“Yeah.”

“Where does it go?”

“I don't know; it's just gone.”

“Have you lost stuff?”

“Just once. At Camelot I put a dead mouse in there and forgot. I remembered about it later, but then I couldn't find it.”

“That's probably just as well.”

“That's what Mama said.”

Duo paused. “What a minute! Does that mean you remember everything that's in your storage space right now?”

“Uh-huh. I do an inventory every night before I go to sleep just to be sure.”

“Well, I'll be damned.” Duo scratched his head. “So how much of it's mine?”

“By quantity, about a third. By volume, about a quarter.” Roku grinned. “My mobile suits take up a lot of space, even though I shrank them.”

Duo flung an arm around Roku's shoulders. “Have I mentioned lately that you're a pretty amazing kid, Roku?”

“Not lately,” Roku said happily.

“Hey!” Ron called. “We're going to the Three Broomsticks to get some butterbeer.”

“Beer?” Duo immediately perked up. “I'm in!”

The five of them hurried up the street to the warm and cozy pub. They found a little table in a corner beside a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and settled down to enjoy warm mugs of butterbeer, except for Duo who opted for mead instead.

He downed his entire first drink in a single pull. “That's mighty tasty!” he declared. “And perfect after the cold outside. I think I'll have another.” He went back to the bar and returned with four more mugs.

“Is that all for you, Mr. Maxwell?” Hermione exclaimed, faintly scandalized.

“I'm just getting the chill off, Hermione,” Duo assured her. “It would take way more than this to get me drunk.” He downed his second mead without pausing for breath. “There now, that's better.” He sipped the third more slowly.

The door opened and Harry nearly choked on his drink. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick entered the pub with Hagrid and Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. Thinking quickly, Hermione and Ron shoved Harry under the table and Hermione caused the Christmas tree to drift in front of them.

“Harry's not supposed to be in town!” Hermione whispered to Duo. “He didn't get his permission slip signed.”

“I knew that,” Duo acknowledged.

The five of them listened to the conversation of the adults on the other side of the tree. Ron and Hermione exchanged shocked and frightened looks as they listened, their hands resting on Harry's shoulders comfortingly. When McGonagall and the others left, Harry crawled out from under the table looking miserable.

Duo patted his hand sympathetically. “That's bad news,” he said. “Here, have a pull of this. It will get rid of the bad taste.”

Without thinking, Harry accepted the mug full of mead and chugged about half of it. He wiped his mouth. “That was… horrible…” he stammered.

“Drink some more,” Duo advised.

Harry chugged the rest of the mead and thumped the mug down. “My parents…” he gasped.

“Better drink this, too,” Duo said. He handed Harry the last mug of mead.

Harry chugged the whole thing down without stopping. When he finished, he put the mug down with excessive care and squinted at Duo. “Tha's purty goo',” he mumbled. “Ne'er had mead b'fore.”

“That's not surprising.”

“Can I have `nother?” Harry swayed in his seat.

“I think that would be ill-advised,” Duo responded.

“But…” Harry swayed even more dramatically. Ron caught him by the shoulder and steadied him. “Thanks, Ron.” Harry squinted at him blearily. “Yer a real frien'.” And then his head thumped onto the table.

“He passed out!” Hermione squeaked.

“That was my plan,” Duo said calmly. “Move the tree, would you? I'll take him back. You three should head back, too.” Duo hefted Harry over one shoulder and quickly left the pub.

“Do you suppose he'll take him back through the tunnel?” Hermione asked as they followed him out.

“He can't,” Ron replied. “He wouldn't be able to open the exit.”

“Oh, that's right.”

By the time the three of them got back to the castle, Harry was already in his bed sound asleep and Duo was nowhere in sight.

“How did he get back so fast?” Hermione exclaimed when Ron and Roku came down to report Harry's status. “We ran the whole way!”

“Papa Duo's a trained mercenary,” Roku said. “Running full speed for that far carrying someone is easy for him.”

“We can thank him at dinner,” Ron said.

Not surprisingly, Harry did not wake up before dinner, so Ron, Hermione and Roku went down without him. When they entered the great hall, Duo came over to them.

“Harry still passed out?” Duo asked.

“Yeah,” Roku said. “He drank a lot of mead.”

“Bad news is easier to take with a hangover,” Duo said sagely.

“What?!” Hermione and Ron exclaimed in unison.

“Trust me. I have a lot of experience with this.”

“How would you know?” Heero exclaimed from behind him. “When have you ever had a hangover?”

“I had one once!”

“Yeah, right!” Heero scowled at him. “So who did you get drunk?”

“Harry,” Roku said.

“You got a student drunk?!” Heero exclaimed.

“There were extenuating circumstances.”

“Oh, really?”

“There were!”

Roku, Ron and Hermione all nodded.

Heero crossed his arms. “All right. I'll let that go. Just explain to me what you were doing in town, since you were obviously in town since that's where the students were.”

Duo grinned sheepishly. “Ah, well, you see, it's like this: I went along to keep Harry out of trouble.”

“Indeed?”

“Yes. And it's a good thing I went, too! It turns out he's in danger.”

“He is?”

“Yes!”

“From someone other than the thoughtless person who got him passed-out drunk?”

“Yes!” Duo said indignantly. “And as a member of Hogwarts security, I consider it my duty to protect Harry whenever he goes into town!”

“You wish!” Heero snapped. He grabbed Duo by the braid. “Come along. We're going to have a nice long chat about your duties around the castle.”

“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Duo cried as he was dragged away. “Let go! Man, I'm withholding! You hear me?”

“Like that's ever gonna happen,” Heero growled under his breath.