Welcome to the rewrite of The Mystery of Lynn Potter! I've been working on this for a while and I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it :)

AGES:

Lynn Potter-Barrett: 14
Ryan Diaz: 16
Black Star: 17
Tsubaki: 19
Soul: 18
Maka: 17
Death the Kid: 17
Patty: 16
Liz: 18

"Another soul down!" A girl grinned as the iron club in her hand lit up, transforming into a much taller boy standing next to her. She cracked her knuckles and back loudly causing her partner to wince.

The boy huffed loudly. "Only forty more to go."

"C'mon, don't be such a downer Ryan." She teased. "We're over halfway there!"

"Whatever." Ryan swallowed the soul quickly. "It's your turn to report to Lord Death. I've done it the last four times."

The girl shook her head but walked up to the nearest window anyways. She took a deep breath and gently blew on the surface causing it to fog up. With a clean finger she traced along the window, chanting the numbers to herself as she did it. "42-42-564, whenever you want to knock on Death's Door."

They both stepped back as the window started to ripple unnaturally. It took a few moments before it stabilized, revealing the cartoonish man that they all knew as Lord Death. The pair immediately bowed to him. "This is club meister Lynn Potter-Barrett and weapon Ryan Diaz, we just collected our sixtieth soul."

"Ah, good job!" The shinigami exclaimed, bouncing about. "You're progressing along nicely!"

"It is my honor to serve you, Lord Death." Lynn bowed her head again when she blushed. "Thank you."

"Always so formal~" Death trilled. "Bye-bye then!"

The glass rippled again leaving the pair alone in the dark street. Ryan yawned widely and stretched his arms behind his head. "Let's head home. We still have homework to do."

Lynn groaned loudly but began to walk with him nonetheless. Their trek to their apartment was quiet, only the sound of their footsteps echoing throughout the streets of Death City. She threw her head back and exhaled loudly as she stared up at the stars. Sixty kishin souls. That was sixty monsters that would never hurt anyone again. Sixty humans that had allowed their own greed and bloodlust to warp them. Sixty once-human lives that she had ended with a swing of a club.

A hoot sounded loudly from the sky, catching her attention. There was an owl circling around their apartment looking as if it was trying to land. Lynn grabbed her partner by the wrist and motioned up at the bird. "Do you think it's a witch?"

"No witch would be stupid enough to show up in Death City." Ryan shook his head. "It's just a bird."

But something about that owl was so unnerving to her. The rest of the time it took them to head to their small apartment building she was watching it as it continued to circle the building. It was almost as if it was searching for prey and she has this sinking feeling that she was it.

They walked quickly up the stairs, huffing slightly by the time that they reached their sixth floor apartment. Ryan unlocked the door quickly and all but collapsed on the dingy couch that they owned, groaning loudly into a pillow. She laughed quietly at him before heading to the bathroom, yelling that she was going to take a shower.

The water was steaming hot when she finally jumped in, soothing her aching muscles. She watched dimly as the kishin's blood was washed off of her body, the water tinged red. Lynn set to scrubbing it off of her face, wincing when the soap on her hands was pink. An iron club really was the perfect weapon for her, but it was so messy. Bludgeoning a kishin to death usually ended with her covered in blood and that was just not something that she enjoyed.

She finished washing herself and stepped out into the foggy bathroom, wrapping her body and hair in fluffy towels. She grabbed her bloody clothes and walked across the apartment to throw it in the washing machine, giggling when Ryan groaned about her being naked again.

"We've lived together for the past two years, get used to it." She teased. "It's not like I have anything to look at anyways."

Ryan grabbed a pillow and threw it at her. "Your boyfriend is going to be pissed if I see anything."

"Kid is not my boyfriend!" She shrieked, throwing the pillow back. "We're just friends, why does everyone think that he's my boyfriend?"

"Because most friends don't get caught making out in the supply closet." Ryan snorted loudly. "That's Soul and Maka's spot, you should have known better."

"It was only one time!" She insisted as she walked into her room. "And it was a dare from Black Star, that's it."

He laughed loudly in response. "So last week in your bedroom was a dare too?"

"STOP LOOKING IN MY ROOM YOU CREEP!"

"DON'T MAKE OUT WITH YOUR BOYFRIEND WITH THE WINDOW WIDE OPEN!"

"YOU ARE THE WORST PARTNER EVER!"

"NO, THAT'S YOU! ALWAYS LEAVING YOUR DIRTY SOCKS AND — OW!"

Lynn came running out of her room to see her partner rubbing his face. The owl that had been circling their building had come in through the window she had opened and looked like it had flown straight into her partner's face. Before she could stop herself she began giggling at the absurdity of the situation.

Between giggles she managed to squeeze out a few words. "Ryan, did you just get hit by an owl?"

"That damn bird doesn't have any brakes." He scowled. "Why did you open the window?"

"Because there's a nice breeze for once." Lynn rolled her eyes. She walked over to the owl and noticed it had something tied around it's leg. "Oh, what do you have here?" She cooed at the owl.

It stuck it's leg out automatically and allowed her to untie the thick letter that was attached. Lynn ran into the kitchen and grabbed a few slivers of chicken from the rotisserie they had picked up the day before. "There you go sweetheart, you must be hungry. Now what are you doing all the way in Nevada?"

She flipped the letter over and nearly dropped it when she read who it was addressed to. "You gotta see this Ryan…" He walked over to stand next to her, looking down at the letter with wide eyes.

MISS E. POTTER
THE SECOND BEDROOM
35 KICKED BUCKET LANE APT 622
DEATH CITY, NEVADA

"Is this some kind of joke?" Ryan asked. "How did they know what room you sleep in?"

Lynn swallowed hard. "Should I open it?"

At Ryan's nod she flipped it back over and broke the wax seal. The letter was written on thick parchment with shimmering green ink The letter almost fell from her grasp as she read what was written.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

She scoffed and tossed the letter onto the kitchen table when she was done reading it. "This is the stupidest prank ever. Black Star really is losing his touch."

Ryan settled down next to her with the letter in his hand. "I dunno, this seems a little too subtle for 'Star. But you're not a witch."

"Of course I'm not a witch." Lynn laughed. "I'm a little too sane to be one. And even if I was, Sid would have noticed when I was a kid."

"Maybe we should take this to Lord Death." Ryan suggested, earning another laugh from his partner. "I'm serious, he would know if this is a trap or not."

When she hesitated he nudged her softly with his shoulder. "C'mon, it'll make you feel better."

"Fine." She groaned, getting up and walking to the mirror hanging on the otherwise blank wall. She blew on the mirror to fog it up as she had just two hours before. "42-42-564, whenever you want to knock on Death's Door."

Their mirror rippled unnaturally before revealing Lord Death. She bowed quickly before standing up. "I apologize for calling so late Lord Death, but I received a troubling letter and I was hoping you would know what it meant."

"Of course~" The shinigami chirped. "What is is Lynn?"

"As of thirty minutes ago, an owl flew into my apartment and delivered a letter announcing my acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It seemed too elaborate to be a prank, I thought it might be a trap set by the witches." She said firmly.

Lord Death sighed and seemed to deflate slightly. "I hoped this day would never come."

"Are you saying that this is real?" Lynn's voice broke. "I'm not a witch, I swear!"

"What do you know about the separation of the American and European witches?" He asked, leaning forward so that his mask was closer to the screen.

"That when the witch burnings began the European witches went into hiding while the American witches bonded with animals and the madness in order to fight back." She replied. "But I thought the European witches died out because of their seclusion?"

Lord Death simply shook his head. "They stayed deep in hiding and suppressed the madness in order to stay alive. Many of them blend in with our society today. Lynn, what do you know about your birth parents?"

"They were civilians that died at the hands of a kishin and I was brought to Death City for protection." Lynn explained, an incredulous look on her face.

"Yes, that is the story we told you." Lord Death nodded. "Lynn, your parents were witches by the names of Lily and James Potter. They were murdered and when you were a year old your last living relative, an aunt I believe, contacted the DWMA to take you in. We agreed to raise you on the terms that we keep you hidden from the magical community and in return we would receive a child that most likely had the ability to become a meister."

"You lied to me?" She cried out. "Why?"

"The place you were born sought to raise you to suit their own agendas. Your aunt felt that you would be safer hidden in Death City. Those owls have been trying to get in here for years."

"Will the witches come for me now?" Lynn asked quietly, her voice uncharacteristically bitter.

"It would be a death sentence for a witch to enter Death City." Lord Death was serious for once. "We will go to them. The Headmaster of this school is hosting a tournament and if our intel is correct, they are still in need of one more school to compete."

Ryan walked over to where they were talking and placed his hand on Lynn's shoulder protectively. "We can't just send Lynn over there. What if they don't let her come back?"

The shinigami stared back but they could almost feel his smile. "I will send members of the Spartoi as competitors, they will be enough to protect Lynn from any possible kidnappings."

The pair began to protest but were cut off when Lord Death raised one of his white palms to quiet them. "You will meet in the Death Room for your assignment at 0800 tomorrow. Good bye~"

He disappeared as the mirror returned back to normal, leaving the partners standing in their living room in silence. Ryan went to say something to the girl but she just shook her head and walked into her room with the letter clutched tightly in her hand. She locked the door firmly behind her and threw herself on the bed.

Lynn shoved her face into her pillow as tears began to fall from her eyes. Everything about her life had been a lie. All her life she had imagined her parents as the strong people, fight against the kishin that they couldn't hope to win against. Instead of the valiant heroes, they were witches!

She was a witch.

Did that make her evil? All she had ever done was try her best to fight for the good of the world, she had soaked herself in the blood of kishin to stop them from ever harming people again. Everything she had done was done to protect people and now she was inherently evil.

She stood up and walked over to the mirror that hung on her closet door. Frowning, she looked over her whole body. Nothing seemed to be different. Same green eyes, same black hair, even the weird scar on her forehead was the same.

There wasn't anything physically different yet she felt like so much had changed.

Lynn rubbed her eyes and groaned when she realized that she had forgotten to take her contacts out. She quietly opened her door and snuck into the bathroom to avoid speaking to her partner. Once she was in there she began the tedious process of removing her contact lenses. She blinked roughly once they were out, fumbling around the sink for the glasses case that she kept there. After struggling for a few moments, she got the case open and slid the round glasses on her face.

She looked in the mirror more intently before sighing loudly. Nothing she did tonight would make a difference. As she snuck back into her room and quickly slid under her covers, her thoughts were still racing. Lynn forced herself to close her eyes and drift off to sleep, if only to quiet the sound of her own mind.

\\\\

The next morning found her alarm going off at five a.m., pulling a loud groan from her. She sat up in bed, yawning widely as she looked out her window into the still dark city. Lynn huffed to herself as she padded to the bathroom, brushing her hair and teeth and putting her contacts back in.

Her nose crinkled as she stood and walked over to her closet. The young girl dressed rather quickly, throwing on a baggy gray tank top over a pair of blue jean shorts. She slid on her sneakers and socks before pulling out her large suitcase from the back of the closet. She stepped back and looked at all her clothes, trying to figure out what to pack. Since most of her clothes were suited for the hot environment of Death City, she didn't have much.

Lynn immediately reached in and started packing away the outfits she had purchased for the last time she and Ryan had to chase a kishin over in Ireland. That must have similar weather to Scotland? She could faintly hear the sounds of her partner moving around in his room as his alarm finally went off.

"Hey, Ryan? Scotland is all rainy like Ireland, right?" She shouted at him through the wall.

"I don't know, I've never been there." He shouted back. "And you don't have to pack so damn early either!"

"You know I like being prepared!" Lynn rolled her eyes and continued to pull everything from her closet. She shoved all the heavy coats, sweaters, and warm pants she could into the suitcase. When she looked over at the clock her eyes widened to see it was 7:45, giving them only fifteen minutes to be in the Death Room ready to hear their assignments before class.

She threw her backpack on and ran out of her room, pounding on Ryan's door. "DUDE WE HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES, WE GOTTA GO!"

A loud thud sounded from the room followed by the sound of Ryan cursing to himself. A couple of minutes later he bust out of the door looking disheveled. The pair quickly rushed out of their apartment, barely remembering to lock the door behind them. They stormed down the stairs and unlocked their bike chains as fast as they could and began peddling through the streets of Death City.

By the time they got to the DWMA they were dripping in sweat and the long climb up the stairs did nothing to help that. By the time they came huffing into the Death Room they had only a minute to spare. Lynn came crashing into Black Star's back, knocking both of them over.

She looked up at Lord Death with a red face and rubbed the back of her head. "At least we're on time?"

The shinigami laughed loudly at her antics while she and the other meister sorted themselves out. "Settle down, there is much to be discussed~"

Everyone in the large group brought themselves to attention, staring up at Lord Death expectantly. "As of last night, the European witches have broken their seclusion to make contact with one of our meisters, Lynn Potter-Barrett. I made contact with the Headmaster of this witch school this morning. On the morning of October 29 you will fly to Edinburgh, Scotland. From there you will meet with a Hogwarts representative and they will transport you to the school."

Lord Death paced in front of them, uncharacteristically serious. "They have agreed to allow weapon-meister pairs to compete in this tournament, but any meister competing must be 17 years old. That means only Black Star, Maka, and Kiddo will be able to compete. The protection of Lynn Potter-Barrett is the most important task. You will gather information on the witches and decide if they are worth forming an alliance with as well."

"We will make you proud, Father." Kid bowed respectfully. The shinigami dismissed them immediately, leaving all of them to rush to their classes before they were too late.

Class that morning passed rather slowly, Lynn finding herself unable to focus completely. She and her partner had only been in the E.A.T. class for the past year and they still had a lot more to learn but she could not force herself to pay attention to the lessons at hand. By the time the bell for lunch rang, she was rushing out of the classroom to go find her friends.

The majority of Spartoi was sitting at a large table at the back of the cafeteria. She made a beeline for the table, settling down next to Kid with a slight blush on her face. Ryan came walking over a minute later with two lunch trays in his hand. He dropped one of them in front of Lynn. "You've got to remember to eat." He scolded her.

"I've been a little distracted, sorry." Lynn shrugged as she took a bite out of the apple on her tray. "We've got two days to get ready to go to Scotland for Death knows how long, and there's a bunch of creepy witches who think I'm one of them."

"You don't have a witch's soul," Maka frowned as she looked over Lynn. "We would have noticed a long time ago."

Lynn snorted. "That's because I'm not a witch. Just because my birth parents were apparently crazy European witches doesn't mean that I am." She sighed and stretched her arms out behind her. "So why isn't the rest of Spartoi coming? There won't be a lot of us there."

"Kim and Jacqueline are on a long term mission," Kid replied with a small frown on his face. "Ox and Harvar declined the mission, and Kilik and the twins are still with Azusa. This was everyone we could afford to spare."

"Kid's right." Liz nodded. "We'll have to get you and Ryan a few sets of the uniform. And we'll have to do something about those eyebrows…"

"NO!" Lynn shouted, glancing over at Kid with panic on her face. "Kid just did them and it took a month, I'm not letting anyone mess with the symmetry."

Kid smiled slightly down at her, pulling a darker blush to her face. She stood from the table abruptly. "I-I have to go ask my dad something. I'll see you guys later."

She dumped her tray and rushed out of the cafeteria, resisting the urge to smile when she heard Kid make a similar excuse. Looking around the hallway and seeing no one around, she slipped into the janitor's closet hoping that he would figure out the right one.

A smile stretched across her face when the door opened a minute later revealing Kid. She grabbed both of his hands and pulled him closer, standing on her toes to wrap her arms around her neck. Kid leaned down and pressed a short kiss to her lips. "I missed you." She admitted, a blush on her face.

"It's only been a week." Kid smiled widely, revealing his perfect teeth. She resisted the urge to curse, even the way he smiled was perfectly symmetrical. "But I missed you too."

"Would it have been better if you were gone for eight days?" Lynn teased, kissing him on both cheeks quickly.

"Of course, as you know, eight is the perfect number. It is perfectly symm- mph!" She cut off his speech with another kiss, this one more passionate than the last. The pair lost themselves in the kiss, only the push of their lips against each other taking over their senses.

Lynn pulled away with a flushed face. She just looked up at his symmetrical face, butterflies filling her stomach. "What are we?" She blurted out, covering her mouth the next second.

"I mean, are you my boyfriend or is this just a fling because I really don't want to get hurt over this." Lynn looked down at her toes. "I really like you Kid. I know that I'm young but I also know how I feel."

He leaned back against the wall frowning. "I had believed you were already my girlfriend. Was I wrong?"

"No!" She resisted the urge to smile like a fool. "I just… We never talked about it and people keep calling you my boyfriend and I didn't want to overstep or anything.."

His hands slid down her arms to grasp both of her hands firmly in his. "I care about you. That's all that matters."

Before she could lean up and kiss him again, the bell started ringing loudly to announce that lunch was over. Lynn groaned and reached up to kiss both his cheeks quickly before she slipped out of the closet and into the bustling hallway. She all but ran to her classroom, sliding into her seat next to Ryan just as the bell rang.

"Your hair is messed up." Ryan leaned in and whispered, causing her to frantically smooth down her hair. "You're welcome."

She reached over and pinched his thigh. "You're the best weapon ever Ry-Ry."

The boy simply huffed and turned back to where Sid was teaching, but there was still a hint of a grin on his face. She shook her head and started writing down the notes, her life perfectly at ease for once.

/

The next two days flew by in the blink of an eye and before they knew it they were on a plane scheduled to land in Scotland in only ten minutes. Lynn squirmed nervously in her seat pulling a chuckle from her parter. She glared up at him playfully and snuggled further into her scarf. The entire Spartoi crowd was dressed in their uniforms, which was perfectly fine for the hot Nevada weather but something told her that she would be freezing her ass off in Scotland. Their layover in New York had been rather chilly so despite her boyfriend's complaints about symmetry she had dug into her carry on and pulled out the thick scarf Ryan's mother had given her last Christmas. It was everything that her partner hated and that was what she loved about it so much. It was fluffy and pink and she could probably wrap the whole thing around her body.

The plan finally began its descent a moment later, making her stiffen. She reached over and gripped Ryan's wrist tightly while she tried to breathe deeply. It was far from her first time flying but something about the landing had always terrified her. She was a ground fighter, being in the air just felt wrong to her.

He smiled at her softly. "Hey, it's alright. Just look at me and take deep breaths. It'll be okay."

Lynn looked up at her partner and tried to do just that. She mimicked his breathing, taking slow and calming breaths. There was a thud as the plane landed and then it was all over. She leaned her head back against the seat and sighed. "Thank you, really."

"No prob, pipsqueak." He ruffled her hair. "C'mon, we gotta get out of here. Don't want the big bad witches to get impatient."

A book came crashing down on the top of his head, wielded by a fuming Maka. "This is serious DWMA business, Diaz."

He rubbed his head with a wince. "Got it, sorry."

Lynn shoved at his shoulder to get him out of his seat, pouting when he had to grab her bag for her. They caught up to the rest of the group, easily finding them after following the sound of Black Star's voice. She subtly placed herself next to Kid, intertwining their fingers as they walked. The students headed somewhat quietly to customs as to not draw attention to themselves, moving through easily the moment they showed their DWMA I.D.s.

They all grabbed their bags quickly and met right outside in the arrival hall. Lynn looked around the airport for any sign of a witch. "So who did they say was going to meet us?"

"Some stupid witch named McGonagall!" Black Star laughed obnoxiously. "What kind of name is that?"

"Mine." A crisp Scottish voice sounded from behind them. They all whipped around to see an older woman with a severe bun in her graying hair holding a sign in her hands. "I trust that you are the students from the… Death Weapon Meister Academy?"

Maka smiled her 'media sweetheart' smile and stepped forward, sticking her hand out for a handshake. "Maka Albarn, three star meister. It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. McGonagall."

"Quite. Please follow me." The woman turned and set off at a brisk pace towards the exit. She let them to an alleyway, looking around to see if they were undetected. From her small bag she pulled out a blackened tea kettle and stared expectantly at them.

"Please place your hands on the portkey and do not let go." She held out the tea kettle, a single eyebrow raising when no one moved.

Hesitantly Tsubaki placed her hand on the tea kettle, glancing at the others. They all hesitantly followed suit. Nothing happened for a moment before they felt a jerk at their bellybuttons and the world began to spin. Lynn could vaguely hear Black Star screaming at the top of his lungs and if she hadn't been so sick from spinning she would have laughed.

They all hit the ground with a loud thud, Lynn's knee's screaming from the effort of not crumpling to the ground. Whispers surrounded them almost immediately, causing all of them to go into high alert. They relaxed when they looked around to see a bunch of students in four large sections, obviously separated by color.

Lynn looked up to see an old man with a rather long white beard standing in front of them, his blue eyes twinkling as he smiled. Kid parted from the group to walk over and shake his hand. "Headmaster Dumbledore, it is an honor to be allowed to represent my father at this tournament."

"Yes, my boy." Dumbledore smiled wider. "So the saying goes; when Death calls, one must answer.

Dumbledore motioned for them to head into a hall where a large group of girls and boys in thick red coats were already sitting at a large green table. She made a beeline for the red table on the opposite end, trying to avoid the witches as well as she could. The others followed her, grouping together in weapon-meister pairs in case a situation arose.

It was only a few minutes later that the students from outside began pouring in, settling themselves at the tables matching the colors they were wearing. Lynn ducked her head down from where she was between Ryan and Black Star. Something about being there was making her oddly nervous and she had a feeling that it was more than just being around a bunch of witches.

As she was lost in her thoughts a girl with curly hair came barreling through, bumping into Lynn and Ryan's backs as she walked. The girl went sprawling across the floor while the other students snickered at her. She could hear the girl sniffle slightly and before she could think about it she was leaping up to help her.

"Hey, you okay?" Lynn asked, grabbing the girl's book and handing it back to her. "That looked like a pretty nasty fall."

"I'm alright, I should have been paying attention." The witch shoved her wild curls from her face. She went to keep walking when Lynn impulsively grabbed her by the arm. The way that the other students had laughed at the girl told Lynn that she would probably end up eating alone and it made her heart twinge a little.

"Why don't you sit with us?" She suggested, forcing Ryan to scoot down so that she was between him and the witch. "We don't know too much about this school, maybe you could answer some questions?"

The witch sat down hesitantly, almost as if she was waiting for all of them to laugh at her. "Umm, okay. I'm Hermione Granger, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Hermione," Lynn smiled widely. "I'm Lynn and this is my partner Ryan. So you're part of the red group?"

Hermione blinked and cleared her throat slightly. "Gryffindor, yes. We call them houses here. The yellow is Hufflepuff, the blue is Ravenclaw, and the green is Slytherin."

"That's weird." Ryan deadpanned. "Why don't you just do it by age?"

"B-Because it's been that way since Hogwarts was founded!" Hermione sputtered, her face tinged pink with anger. "The founders believed that—!"

Ryan cut her off with a snort. "Witches are just weird, you don't have to defend it."

"You say that like you're not a wizard." Hermione crossed her arms and huffed.

Lynn couldn't hold back her giggles at that. "Hermione, we aren't witches."

"What?" Hermione's jaw dropped. "What school do you come from..?"

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and — most particularly — guests," said Dumbledore, interrupting their conversation. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

She looked up at him, something about his bright blue eyes unnerving her. The man seemed to stare right at her with a startling amount of intensity. Lynn broke eye contact quickly, looking down to stare at the table.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"

With a wave of his hand the golden platters in front of them were suddenly full of food. She grinned despite herself and began filling her plate. Hermione was still sitting next to her looking rather tense, but Lynn ignored her in favor of devouring the feast in front of her. All they had gotten to eat the past day was airplane food and she was starving!

Chatter filled the air as students began to speak, obviously excited about the tournament. Lynn couldn't stop herself from peeking down to where Kid and Maka were conversing quietly. She shrugged and looked back to her plate assuming that they were probably making plans for the tournament.

Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. "The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket, just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" — there was a smattering of polite applause — "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and the representative from the DWMA on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students "The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways...their magical prowess — their daring — their powers of deduction — and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing. "As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete."

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

Lynn yawned widely and stretched, turning back to Hermione. "I'll catch you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay then.." Hermione was quickly carried away by the crowd. The DWMA students stayed in their seats until the same woman who had picked them up from the airport approached them with a stern look on her face. Lynn eyed her carefully, her hand sliding down to grip Ryan's wrist in case there was a need to defend themselves.

"Follow me please for your accommodations." McGonagall stated crisply. The students slowly stood and began to file after her, carefully positioning themselves in a defense formation. The meisters kept their hands ready to catch their weapons at a moment's notice.

McGonagall led them through the castle and down the stairs to a dungeon looking level. Slowly she walked up to a a statue of a monk with his head bowed in prayer. "The password as of now is 'soul' as requested by your headmaster. However, you may feel free to change it any time you see fit."

"Thank you for the warm welcome." Kid smiled at her. "We can get ourselves settled from here."

He looked up at the monk and stated the password, only the slight twitch of his brows betraying his shock as the statue bowed and stepped aside to reveal an entryway. The rest of them followed him into a large living room with a roaring fireplace. It was decorated with various shades of brown, overall looking quite neutral. To the sides were four different sets of doors presumably for the four meister-weapon pairs.

They heard the statue leap backing place, effectively sealing them into the room. Everyone sighed with relief and settled themselves around the room. Soul and Maka claimed the cushy love-seat by the fireplace, wrapping around each other with a deep familiarity. Black Star was sprawled across the floor while Tsubaki claimed a simple reading chair. Kid and the twins settled themselves on the couch, being as symmetrical as they possibly could.

There were no seats left, Lynn noted to herself while she and Ryan stood there awkwardly. It was that moment that reminded her that while she was allowed on this mission, they were by no means a part of Spartoi and they never would be. They had still been members of the NOT class when the whole debacle on the moon happened.

"Uhh, Ryan and I are just gonna get settled then." Lynn said awkwardly. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

Everyone else mumbled a good night as they leaned in to discuss strategy amongst themselves.

/

She felt a pang of hurt before Ryan grabbed her by the arm and gently pulled her to the closest door. Her jaw dropped as she took in the room in front of them.

A set of twin sized beds were opposite each other against the wall, their luggage settled at the end. There were elaborate wardrobed pressed against the wall and a window allowing the eerie green light of the water to shine in. She could see creatures swimming in the lake, her eyes softening in wonder.

"Ry, this is so cool." She said as she threw herself down on her bed "The witches are totally weird, but this is awesome. We're under a lake!"

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "They also threw us in the dungeons, in case you didn't notice."

"Okay then Debbie-downer! I don't know about you, but I'm going to sleep all that lovely jet lag off. Turn around so I can change." Lynn laughed as she pulled a pair of pajamas out. "On second thought, can I have one of your shirts? I left my Deathbucks one back home and I need a big t-shirt to sleep."

"Your wish is my command, oh powerful meister." Ryan teased as he dug through his duffel bag. He pulled out an Iron Meister shirt and tossed it over to her, laughing to himself at the little happy dance that she did. He quickly turned back around when she started to change, respecting her privacy as best as he could.

If he was being honest, the room that they were in reminded him of the dorm room that they had shared the year before even if Hogwarts was much nicer. They had gotten used to changing around each other and were generally very comfortable. It was part of what made them such good partners.

He pulled out a pair of DWMA sweatpants and a plain t-shirt out. "I'm gonna change real fast. You're welcome to the show but I'd keep my back turned if I were you."

"Ryan!" She exclaimed, tossing a pillow at him before making a show of covering her eyes. "I don't want to ruin your pure, virgin body with my nasty little witch eyes."

Lynn laughed when he tossed the pillow back at her hitting her square in the face. "Ugh, you suck."

"Yeah, yeah." He replied. "You know where the damn bathrooms are here? I've got to brush my teeth and I know you've had those contacts in for at least 15 hours."

It was the moment that he said that, that a door appeared on their wall out of nowhere. They approached it carefully, ready for any kind of attack when they opened the door. Lynn laughed in relief when it was just a bathroom and nothing else. The pair set to getting themselves ready for bed relatively quietly.

Once they were done they settled themselves into the twin beds, the lights dimming around them as if by magic. Only the pale green light from the lake was filling the room and casting their faces with an eerie glow.

"Hey, Ryan?" Lynn whispered across the room, her eyes wide.

"Yeah?" asked Ryan.

"You don't think the witches are going to force me to stay here, do you? I mean, they've tried for this long just to reach me. What if just visiting isn't enough for them?"

He rolled over to face her, his face soft in the dim light. "I won't let them take you. You're my best friend, no matter what happens I'm going to be by your side."

Everything went quiet for a few minutes and just when Ryan was beginning to think that she had fallen asleep, he heard her whisper a soft "Thank you."

"It's no problem Lynn." He took one, two deep breaths and closed his eyes and then everything went black.

And that's the first chapter! I tried to make them a little more realistic, and I actually went through the plot. There will be a lot of changes, to the characters as well as the relationships that are in GoF.

Thank you! And don't forget to review!