The Best Inter-House Study Group

by three-days-late

Hogwarts AU. The Life and Times of the Straw Hat Study Group. Next: Chopper attends his first day at Hogwarts, does his best to not be overwhelmed, and tries to make a friend or two.

1. The Formation of the Study Group

Since it's both Harry Potter's 20th Anniversary and One Piece's 20th Anniversary, what better way to celebrate than with a One Piece Hogwarts AU!

Enjoy.

---

Luffy knocked on the Charms Professor's door before he barged into the room.

"You wanted to see me?" he said as he sat down.

"Yes," Professor Bones said as he organized the papers on his desk. "Mr. Monkey, I'm afraid, well, how should I put this," he hummed as he tapped his chin, "You know how we've talked about your struggles with my class in the past, yes?"

Luffy nodded. He liked Charms well enough, and Professor Bones was a great teacher, the afro helped with that. But it was hard focusing on the lectures, and the homework never made sense. Professor Bones was eager to help whenever he could, but even the extra help hadn't improved his grade much at all.

"I've talked to all your other teachers, including the Head of Gryffindor House," he explained, "Are you aware that you are failing all your classes?"

"I know I'm not doing well," Luffy said as he slouched further into the chair, "but I can't be failing all them."

"I've checked," Professor Bones tapped his fingers on his desk. "You've yet to receive a grade above a 'P.' Most of your grades linger at a 'D,' and some Professors have even sought fit to give you 'Ts.'"

"Huh," well when it was put like that, yeah that sounded pretty bad.

"Mr. Monkey, are you aware that if you fail out of too many classes you will not be able to come back to Hogwarts next year? It's happened in the past, but for a first year such as yourself it would be unprecedented."

Luffy blinked and sat up straight, "What? What do you mean I won't be able to come back?"

"It means just that. If you are found to be lacking in more than half your subjects, you will not be allowed to return to Hogwarts next semester. If you are to continue your studies, then you will most likely be homeschooled, but that is a decision between you and your guardian."

His grandpa would absolutely force him back into homeschooling. He shuddered at the thought of the old Aurour being his teacher. The first ten years of his life were more than enough to last him a lifetime, "I can't let that happen! How do I not let that happen?"

"As the Head of Gryffindor House, Professor Smoker should be talking to you about your option," Professor Bones tapped his fingers against his desk. "But he is a bit, occupied, at the moment, so I shall have to do it in his stead."

Luffy slumped in his seat, "There's gotta be something I can do. I like it here, all my friends are here," he crossed his arms, "I don't want to never see them again."

"Don't worry, there's always a way," Professor Bones handed him a tutoring pamphlet. "We're about halfway through the school year. If you can improve your grades across the board, then you'll be able to continue attending Hogwarts. There are many students who volunteer their time and effort to help students in exchange for House Points. I have no qualms in continuing to help you after class with Charms, but perhaps you should consider obtaining tutors for your other subjects?"

Luffy took the pamphlet and nodded. His best adventures here were still ahead of him, and he was determined to continue them at all costs. If that meant that he had to study, then he had to study.

He left Professor Bones's office, determined to find the best tutors the school had to offer.

---

"I can't believe you're failing every class," Zoro said to him over dinner that night.

"Yeah," Luffy was trying his best to bury his academic troubles under piles of whatever he could fit on his plate. Zoro, his best friend who was a year ahead of him, sat across from him. He was doing his best to protect his own food from Luffy's binge eating.

"How do you even fail out your first year?" he asked, "That's got to be a school record. Are you even failing Flying?"

"You can't fail Flying. Even you managed to pass after you got lost during the final flight test," he grinned as Zoro flicked a pea at his face. "Professor Bones said I need to study a lot and get my grades up, then I'll be okay," he sighed as he looked down at the open Transfiguration book in his lap, "But studying's hard."

"You need to find a way to focus, and get a Ravenclaw or twelve to help you."

"I tried, but they all took one look at my grades and said it was hopeless," he shoveled some of the turkey on his plate into his mouth. He swallowed and said, "I don't want to fail out of Hogwarts! I'll never get to see you again!"

"Hey, we'll still see each other even if you do fail out," Zoro said as he ate a spoonful of mashed potatoes, "There's always summer and the holidays."

"I guess," Luffy pouted, "But it's not the same as going through school together."

"Then pass your classes, idiot," Zoro turned back to his dinner, "If the Ravenclaws won't tutor you, find someone who will."

"Your grades are good, right?"

"My grades aren't failing, so they're better than yours," he tapped his fork against his plate, "But I wouldn't call them outstanding."

Luffy kept staring at him, his brown eyes growing wider and wider until he caved, "Alright, fine, I'll help you with Defense Against the Dark Arts, but I really can't help you with the others."

"Your Potions grades are pretty good," Luffy pointed out, "Can't you help with that too?"

"I can barely help myself with Potions," Zoro growled as he scooped some peas into his mouth, "If you can't find someone to help you with your other classes, I'll see who I can find, but you have a lot of friends, right?"

Luffy glanced around the Great Hall as he thought about it. A booming laugh drew his eyes towards the opposite end of the Gryffindor table, where a large boy with blue hair was telling a story to a group of people. They all started laughing, to the disapproval of the teachers sitting near them.

He looked away from them and his eyes landed on Sabo, one of his older brothers, at the Ravenclaw table. He would have asked him for help, but he knew Sabo was currently spending all his afternoons in detention with Ace, their other brother. Both of their grades were suffering as a result. Currently he was sitting among a group of boys who were roaring with laughter at something, although Sabo seemed less amused by the joke. At the far end of the Ravenclaw table sat a girl with long, dark hair reading a book. There were five empty seats between her and the rest of the Ravenclaws.

He spotted Ace over at the Hufflepuff table talking with a group of Hufflepuff boys. One of them turned to say something to a blond boy sitting a few seats away from them. Whatever he said caused the boy to snarl and shout something back, but Luffy couldn't hear it over the general dinner noises around him. One of the other boys said something in response. The blond's face went beet red as he slammed his fork on the table, grabbed his stuff, and stormed out of the Great Hall. Ace and his friends laughed loudly as a result.

At the other side of the hall, Luffy noticed a girl with orange hair at the Slytherin table that he recognized from a few of his classes. She was sitting with some other girls, who seemed to be talking amongst themselves. The girl was shifting in her seat, smile a bit off when she contributed to the discussion. At the other end of the table he saw a boy he recognized too, with dark, curly hair and a long nose, trying to talk to the boy sitting next to him. He turned away, and the long nosed boy sighed as he quickly finished his dinner.

"Yeah, I guess I can think of a few people."

---

"You're failing all your classes?" Usopp asked Luffy, eyes wide in disbelief, "Is that even possible? We're still-"

"In first year, it's never been heard of, yes I know," Luffy said as the rest of their Charms class practiced flying pillows around the room, "You're smart, you can help me right?"

Usopp was the same year as Luffy, but he was in Slytherin and apparently Gryffindors and Slytherins weren't supposed to like each other, or whatever. They didn't get to hang out as much as Luffy would have liked, which was a shame, because he liked Usopp. He had Charms and Transfiguration with the Slytherins, so he knew Usopp was both smart and a nice enough guy to help him out

"I mean, I guess I could help with your Herbology, it is my best subject," Usopp said, "I've tutored thousands of other students in Herbology, you know, even some 7th years. Why, the greatest Herbologists of our time often consult me on matters via owl if I'm unable to take a floo powder call."

"Great!" Luffy grinned, "We can set up a study time later tonight if you're free."

"What's this I hear," Nami moved next to Luffy, "You're looking for tutors?"

Nami was another Slytherin in his year. Luffy assumed she was friends with Usopp since they always paired up together during partner assignments, but he's never seen them together outside of class. She seemed alright, and she was really smart too, "Yeah, I'm failing everything. Can you help tutor me?"

Nami's grin was wide and mischievous as she leaned in closer to him, "Of course I'm willing to help you! That's what friends are for, right? I'll tutor you for, let's say, 5 galleons a session?"

Usopp gasped, "Nami! That's way too much there's no way he can-"

"Yeah, sure," Luffy grinned. He wondered if Nami would pick one subject like the others did or if she was willing to help him with the rest.

"Wonderful," she clapped her hands together, "We'll have the first session later tonight and we can work out the financials there."

As Luffy was nodding his agreement, one of the pillows fell out of the air right onto Nami's head.

"Ms. Belle!" Professor Bones said right behind her, "Please tell me I did not just overhear you extorting one of your classmates who is in need of assistance!"

Nami giggled nervously, "Of course not, Professor Bones, I was just-"

"Nami said she'd help tutor me for 5 galleons," Luffy answered. Nami punched him in the shoulder.

"Taking advantage of someone who needs help is a low I would hope my students didn't sink to," Professor Bones frowned, "Also paid tutoring sessions are against school rules. I won't take any House Points away since no money was exchanged, but you'll still receive a punishment," he tapped his finger against his chin, "I suppose I will give you a choice. Either you can serve your detention with me in the music room cleaning every Saturday afternoon for a month, or you can serve it in the library Wednesday nights with Mr. Monkey helping him with his Charms work, free of charge, of course. Which option would you prefer?"

Nami hung her head and sighed, "I'll tutor Luffy, Sir."

"Excellent, I'm glad that's settled," he said as he walked away.

Once he was gone, Nami punched Luffy in the shoulder again, "This is all your fault. You better show up or I swear you'll pay for it."

Luffy laughed, happy he had such nice friends willing to help him out.

---

"Attack wise, there's jinxes, hexes, and curses," Zoro was explaining as he and Luffy ate lunch in the Great Hall, "Jinxes are the least offensive, curses are the worst, hexes are in the middle."

"Okay," Luffy nodded as he shoved another piece of meat in his mouth, "but the homework's talking about counters?"

"Yeah, each type of spell can be countered," Zoro snatched his food away from Luffy's wandering hand, "But in order to know what counter to use, you got to know what spell is being fired at you, right?"

"I guess," Luffy glanced at the book that was open next to his plate, "but the book keeps talking about lights and wand movements."

Zoro frowned, "It's easier to do it than it is to read about it. After class today we'll find an empty room and I'll show you."

"Okay," Luffy said as he snatched a piece of bread off of Zoro's plate and quickly shoved it in his mouth. Zoro hit him over the head with his book, but Luffy just laughed.

"Hey bros," Franky said as he sat in the empty seat next to Luffy, "What's up?"

"Hey Franky," Luffy said with a smile. Franky was a Gryffindor three years above him, so they never got a chance to hang out, which was a shame, because Luffy liked Franky a lot. Franky had showed him around during the first few weeks of school and was always looking out for him and the other first years.

"I heard one of my little bros is struggling with his grades," Franky said as he lifted the sunglasses that he always wore to his forehead, "That's not cool. You still looking for tutors?"

"Yeah!" Luffy bounced in his seat, "You know anyone who can help with Transfiguration, Potions, and History of Magic?"

"You've got a super Transfiguration tutor right here," Franky said as he gave him a thumbs up, "Don't worry, I'm an ace at Transfiguration. You won't be failing on my watch!"

"Great!" Luffy grinned as they high fived, "Let me know when you're available so Zoro can work you into my schedule."

"When did I become your timekeeper?" Zoro asked with a pout.

"Still, word on the street is you're failing everything," Franky frowned and drummed his fingers on the table, "Potions is going to be a problem."

"I'm sure once I find a good tutor I'll be okay," Luffy said, "I've got to study, right?"

"For your other classes, sure," Franky shook his head, "But with the Potion Master, Spanda it's different. He's not going to let you pass."

"That's true," Zoro beat his fork against his plate, "I didn't think of that. Spandam's an absolute prick. Once he's made a judgement call about you that's it, he won't change his mind. He's probably already marked you as a failure and will continue failing you no matter how well you do from here on out."

"That's not fair," Luffy pouted as he ate another piece of meat from Zoro's plate.

"Yeah," Franky sighed, "If you're really struggling with everything, it'll be easier and less time consuming if you just forget about passing Potions. Focus on the other subjects and retake Potions next year."

Luffy frowned, "But I told Professor Bones I'd pass all my classes. I don't want to give up on Potions just because Spandam's a jerk."

"I'm only giving you my advice," Franky said as he held his hands up, "If you want to keep at it, then more power to you, but the only way you're passing Potions is if you find some kind of potion prodigy who can find a way around the system and doesn't mind pissing off Spanda."

Zoro choked on his mouthful of pumpkin juice. Luffy and Franky eyed him with concern, "You alright?"

"Yeah, it's just, I know a guy," he frowned as wiped the back of his hand over his mouth.

"Really?" Luffy grinned as he grabbed Zoro's arm, "Are they nice? Will they help?"

"Maybe? I mean, I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask," he sighed, "But I'll warn you now, he's an asshole."

---

"These are the worst grades I've ever seen," Sanji said as he flipped through Luffy's more recent Potions assignments, "Are you even trying at this point?"

Luffy shrugged, "Not really, no."

Sanji sighed as he leaned back on the stair he was sitting on and shuffled through the papers some more.

Luffy hadn't met Sanji before. He was a Hufflepuff in Zoro's year so he never had a class with him or any excuse to talk with him. Zoro said he was a good guy, a bit of a jerk, but a genius in Potions, and Luffy trusted Zoro's judgement, so he trusted Sanji.

"So what do you think, Curly?" Zoro said from where he was standing near the railing. They had managed to corner Sanji in the back staircases near the Great Hall before dinner, "Can you get him a passing grade or not?"

Sanji frowned as he looked up at him, "Is there a point? As you've already pointed out, Spandam won't let him pass."

"I'm not asking you to get Spandam to pass him," Zoro's met Sanji's stare with a glare of his own, "I'm asking you to get him to pass."

Sanji grinned, "I thought so. Luckily I do have an idea," he pointed at Luffy, "but it's going to take a lot of work from you. You are going to have to put forth an effort and show some improvement."

"Yeah," Luffy nodded, "I can do that."

"Great," Sanji handed him back the papers, "Then I'll see you in the library on Fridays after class. Make sure to tell the librarian that you're there to be tutored in Potions by me."

"Ah, okay."

"Wait a minute," Zoro said with a glare, "That's only if you're getting tutoring House Points. Don't tell me you're only in this for some points!"

"I don't give a shit about points, you should know that by now," Sanji glared back. After a minute of the glare down Sanji sighed and looked away, "I don't care about the House Points, I need a record of me tutoring him, just in case,." he looked over at Luffy, "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Nope," Luffy grinned.

"Good," Sanji stood up, "Then I'll see you on Friday. Don't be late."

---

Luffy frowned as he stared at the small print in his copy of A History of Magic, reading the words but not comprehending them. His most recent tutor, a third year Gryffindor, had given up and left him alone about ten minutes ago, so he was stuck trying to write this essay by himself.

When he realized he'd been staring at the same sentence for quite a while without understanding what it was saying, Luffy focused his attention on the sheet of parchment he had near the book, empty except for the phrase 'The Gargoyle Strike of 1911' written at the top. He tapped his quill against the parchment as he mulled over the words, glancing back at his textbook as he did so. Inspiration struck him as he frantically dipped his quill into the inkwell and carefully wrote down the word 'was.'

He sighed and put his quill back in the inkwell, "I'm not getting anywhere with this."

He was trying to do better in History of Magic, he really was, but he had yet to find a tutor that would stick with him for more than a session, and he just had so much trouble focusing on what Professor Clover was saying during the lessons. It was all just a bunch of names and dates that didn't mean anything to him, and he had never understood the point of learning about things that had already happened.

Luffy leaned back in his chair and looked around the library at the other students. There was a group of Slytherin girls off in a corner huddling over a large potion book, a table full of Hufflepuffs that seemed to be co-writing a very long essay, and a lone Ravenclaw girl at a table by herself reading a book titled Notable Wizarding Strikes: 1880-1925.

Luffy blinked as he studied the girl and her book. A quick glance around the library revealed no other Ravenclaws, so probably not with a group. She had a pile of books on a variety of topics next to her and a bag at her feet, she had no quills or parchments on the table in front of her, so probably not doing any homework.

Before he could rethink it, Luffy gathered his things and went over to her table.

"Hello," he said, giving the girl his biggest smile as she looked up from her book, "Do you like that book?"

"Um," her eyes darted around the library, "Yes?"

"Great," Luffy plopped his book on the table with a loud thud, startling the girl and causing the other patrons to shoot him nasty glares. He ignored them and continued, "I need to write an essay on some gargoyle strike or something, but I'm having a lot of trouble with it. Can you help me?"

"You want me to help you with your homework?" she furrowed her brows as she set down her book

"Yeah," he nodded, "If you're not busy and don't mind."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Nope, I just saw your book and figured you could help. Oh, sorry, I should have introduced myself," he extended his hand across the table, "I'm Luffy Monkey. It's nice to meet you."

She hesitated a moment before reaching across the table and shaking his hand, "Robin Nico."

"Great!" he smiled as they released hands, "Now that that's out of the way, can you help me with this essay or what?"

"Oh, uh, I guess," she pushed her books aside to let Luffy lay out his parchment, "What have you got so far?"

He turned the parchment so she could read the half of a sentence scribbled on top of it.

"I see," Robin said as she grabbed her book off of the top of the pile and flipped it open, "I guess we've got our work cut out for us."

By the time they were done, the sun was setting and the library had long since emptied out.

"Where is everyone?" Luffy wondered as he carefully rolled up the now completed essay and packed up his things.

"Dinner started ten minutes ago," Robin said as she gathered up her books, "So, barring an unfortunate accident, I imagine the Great Hall."

"What? It's dinner already?" he quickly shoved his remaining supplies into his bag, "I can't believe I'm missing it," he grabbed his bag and took a few hurried steps towards the door before he stopped, turned back, and smiled at Robin, "Oh! Thanks for helping me out!"

"Ah, you're welcome," Robin picked up her bag and twirled a lock of her hair with her finger.

"You're really good at this," he said as the both walked out of the library, "I'm terrible at History of Magic. Well, I'm terrible at everything I guess, since I'm failing everything, but t I'm especially terrible at History of Magic."

"You just need to treat it like a story," Robin said as they descended the stairs, "Instead of trying to memorize names and dates, try and learn the story of what happened. That seems to work better for you," Luffy hummed in acknowledgement as they both jumped over a trick step, "And what do you mean you're failing everything?"

He laughed, "I mean my grades are so bad I'm not passing a single class. It's okay, my friends are helping me out. 'Cept with History of Magic. Oh, hey," he turned to face her as they came to a stop outside the Great Hall, "You can be my History tutor!"

Robin blinked, "You, want me to tutor you?"

"Yeah! You're really smart, and you explain things in a way that I can understand them! You'd be great!" He grinned at her, but it turned into a frown when he saw her look away, "Unless you don't want to? If you're too busy or whatever-"

"No, it's not that," she bit her lip and looked back up at him, "Just, are you sure you don't mind being seen with me?"

"No?" His frowned deepened, "Why would I be?"

Robin tightened the grip on her bag as she looked away, "Most people don't like me. They think I'm cursed, so I'd understand if you wanted to avoid me."

"I don't care about that," he stated. She looked back up at him, eyes wide, as he continued, "What people think is their problem. You haven't done anything to make me hate you, you're fun to be around, and I need a lot of help with History of Magic," he crossed his arms and glared at her, "So will you help me or not?"

She smiled and nodded, "Yes, I'll tutor you. Does the same time next week work for you?"

"Great!" Luffy's laughed boomed across the hall. Some of the students sitting by the entrance gave him pointed glares that he ignored. Instead he waved cheerily at Robin as she went off to the Ravenclaw table.

He quickly located Zoro at the Gryffindor table, practically bouncing with excitement. He'd finally found a tutor for every subject.

Now all he had to do was pass the classes.

---

"It's levi-o-sa, not levio-sa," Name explained yet again as she slammed the feather back on the desk in the empty classroom, "Try it again."

Luffy scrunched his face and stared down the feather. Confidence pouring from his every movement, he thrust his wand forward and shouted, "Windard Levosi!"

With a loud bang the feather flew ten meters into the air. Purple smoke that smelled vaguely of rotten vegetables flowed out from the feather and surrounded them as it fluttered back to the ground.

"Hey, at least it made it into the air this time," Luffy said as Nami caught the feather, "That's improvement, right?"

She groaned and placed the feather back on the table, "I'll show you one more time, but pay attention, alright?"

Luffy nodded as he took a seat right by her. Nami stared at the feather, her movements like poetry in motion, elegant with a hint of flair. The spell came out naturally, as if she had been doing this all her life, and, full of the confidence that comes from knowing a craft so well, she said, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The feather hopped off the table about a centimeter. She flicked her wand again and the feather rose, higher and higher until it hit the ceiling. Another flick and she was bringing the feather back down before a final wave from her wand dropped the feather on Luffy's head.

"You make that look easy," he smiled as he took the feather off his head and put it back on the table.

"It is easy," she sighed, "Try again. Wait, you remember the wand movements, right? Just swish and flick?"

"Yeah."

"Prove it."

Luffy picked up his wand as he stood up and showed her, over exaggerating his swish and practically stabbing with his flick.

"That's too aggressive," Nami shook her head and walked over to him, "Most charmwark is gentle, so try and be more subtle with your movements."

He tried again, slower but still wide with his swish and just a tap with the flick.

"Better," she nodded, "But try and keep the swish part smaller so you don't accidentally poke yourself in the eye or something. Do you remember the words?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "Winmarda-"

"Wingardium," she corrected.

"Winpardmium-"

"No, Wingardium."

"Windramida."

"No," she held up a finger, "If you can't pronounce it in one go then break it down into parts so you can. Here, instead try, wing guard ee um. Okay?"

He nodded and tried again, "Wing guard ee um."

"Better. Now try Lev ee oh sa."

"Lev ee oh sa."

"Alright, now put them together."

"Wing guard ee um, Lev ee oh sa."

"Okay, now see if you can say that with the wand movements," she moved out of the way, "And remember, small and subtle."

Luffy turned to face his nemesis and aimed his directly at wand at the feather. Remembering Nami's advice about the wand movements, he brought his arm around just in front of his chest for his swish, then lightly tapped it out for his flick and said, "Win guard ee um Lev ee oh sa."

The feather hopped up in the air about a centimeter and stayed there, shaking but hovering. Luffy grinned as he flicked his wand up just a hair and the feather followed, not nearly as steady as Nami's had been, but it was floating.

"Finally," Luffy looked over his shoulder to see that Nami was smiling at him, "It only took you all afternoon," she glanced over at the feather as Luffy sent it higher and higher, "It's still shaky, probably because you're putting unnecessary spaces in the words, but with time and practice that should even out. You just got to keep at it."

"I can do that," he said as he started to bring the feather lower.

Nami sighed as she watched him, "I still don't understand how you can be so bad with this stuff."

"What, Charms?" he shrugged, "I've never been really good with wand stuff."

"Yeah, but like," she jumped up to sit on the empty desk, "Your grandfather is Garp Monkey, right? The famous auror?"

"I mean, yeah I guess. I don't think he's that famous."

Nami rolled her eyes, "Yeah, he is. But with a pedigree like that, how can you possibly be bad at magic?"

Luffy frowned, "That's got nothing to do with anything."

"Says the guy from a Pureblood family lauded for their magical talent."

He ended the spell, catching the feather in midair, and turned to face her, "What's that supposed mean?"

Nami rested her head in her hand and her elbow on her knees as she frowned deeply at him, "Isn't it obvious? You're the grandson of one of the most famous dark wizard hunters still in the game. You have all of this prestige and potential and you're just squandering it," she sighed and looked away, "Some of us don't even have half that."

"Who cares who my grandpa is," he stepped forward, "He's him and I'm me. That Pureblood stuff doesn't matter, no one actually cares about family history."

She glared at him, "A lot of people care. And maybe it doesn't matter to you because you have a family history."

They stood there staring at each other, not breaking eye contact until Nami turned away with a, "Whatever," jumped off the desk, and began packing up her things, "We're done for today."

Luffy went to get his things too, which were right next to hers, and said, "When I was little I couldn't do any magic at all. For the longest time, everyone thought I was a squib."

Nami froze as he continued, "When I say I'm bad at magic, it's not because I'm lazy or not trying; it's because I'm bad at magic. It happens sometimes. Being a Monkey doesn't suddenly mean I'll be good at it, and being my grandpa's grandson has always been annoying, so whenever I hear people say things like, 'you should be better, look at your family,' I know they're just being stupid. "

He grabbed his bag and headed for the door, but stopped when Nami grabbed his wrist.

"I don't know my family," she bit her lip and turned her head away, "I was adopted by a muggle when I was a baby. I could have the purest blood in the school or be another filthy Muggleborn, and I wouldn't know either way. And it's hard, not knowing and being in Slytherin where everyone knows their bloodline back to the Middle Ages. Where all that matters is your family."

The silence stretched on between them, hovering around them almost like a tangible force until Luffy finally broke it, "It sounds like you're hanging out with the wrong people."

She chuckled, "I guess," and looked up at him, "I'm sorry if I took my frustrations out on you."

"That's alright," he grinned, "We're still friends.

"Friends," she smiled, "You know, I've been so busy trying to be what would fit in with the rest of the Slytherins, I don't think I've even made a friend yet."

"Don't be stupid," Luffy said as they walked out of the classroom, "We've been friends this whole time."

Nami blushed but nodded as they made their way down to dinner.

---

Luffy stared at the object in his hand, "I mean, it's mostly a needle."

Franky gently picked it up and studied it, "It's silver this time, so that's good," he poked it against his thumb, "And it's sharp. That's even better," he ran the opposite end against the surface of the desk they were working on, causing it to spark and a flame to ignite, "But it still functions as a match."

Luffy groaned and put his head down on the desk, "Why is this so hard?"

"Don't sweat it," he tossed the needle-match onto the pile of other partially transfigured matches Luffy had attempted, "A lot of people have trouble with transfiguration. You're doing a lot better than when we started," he glanced up at the clock, "It's almost time for dinner, so why don't we end it here. We can go over your homework back in the common room if you want."

"Yeah," Luffy sighed as he started packing up his things.

Franky tapped his wand against the pile of almost needles, turning them back into matches and left them on Professor Dalton's desk before going to get his own things.

"So," he said suddenly, "I hear you've been hanging out with Robin Nico."

"Yeah," Luffy nodded, "She's been helping me with History of Magic."

"That's good I guess," he scratched the back of his head, "If it's only for tutoring, then super. She's pretty smart can be a big help, just be careful, okay? She's trouble and I'd hate to see one of my little bros get hurt because of her."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Luffy frowned, "She's been nothing but kind to me."

Franky sighed as he grabbed his bag, "I'm sure, but the thing is everyone who's tried to get close to her has ended up in a world of hurt. I'm sure some of it isn't even her fault, but word on the street is she's been dabbling in the Dark Arts, so it's better to keep your distance."

Luffy shouldered his bag, "I don't care about that."

"I know you don't take stock in rumors," Franky said as he followed him out the door, "but I've known her since our first year. She's like a cyclone of bad vibes that drags in everyone around her."

"I told you, I don't care," Luffy shot him a glare and kept walking, "I don't care what people say about Robin; she's been very nice to me. She tells good stories, has a nice smile, and explains the history stuff Professor Clover talks about in a way that I get. Robin's my friend."

Franky sighed, "I'm just trying to look out for you."

"People talk, it happens," he gripped the strap of his bag, "Everyone has always said bad things about me and Ace and Sabo, so I don't really care about things like that. I'd rather find out about people for myself," he shrugged, "Besides, if I'd believed the stuff everyone said about you we wouldn't be friends."

Franky frowned, "What stuff? Who's talking about me?"

"Not much, just that you have no respect for authority."

"Authority can have my damn respect when it earns it," he grumbled.

"Also that you're kinda a pervert."

"Okay, look, sometimes it's easier to work without pants, alright? I don't make a habit of going around pantless, at least not since last year," he scowled, "Who told you that anyway? Was it Iceburg?"

Luffy shook his head, "Sabo, he hears about everything. Also apparently you tinker with muggle things, and a lot of people think that's weird. And a little illegal?" he shrugged, "I'm not really sure."

"Muggles have been getting by for centuries without any magic, and they've made so much progress recently! But no one cares!" he threw his arms up in the air, "Someone should find out how that shit works. What's so weird about that?"

"Like I said, I don't care about that," he smiled at him, "I think it's cool."

"Damn right it's cool," Franky gave him a thumbs-up, "Seriously, who's been saying that, Iceburg? He's constantly trying to ruin my reputation."

"I told you, Sabo!"

"Who probably heard it from Iceburg, damn gossipy Ravenclaws," he growled, "Your brother needs to stop hanging out with my brother."

"I can't control that," Luffy laughed, "But yeah, people don't know what they're talking about. The coolest people I know are always people I was told to stay away from."

"Not a bad philosophy," Franky said, "but it might get you killed one day."

"I'm not dead yet."

He laughed, "I guess that's true."

They walked along in silence for a few moments. As they passed the library, Robin emerged from it, holding a stack of books. She smiled when she spotted Luffy, but paused when she noticed Franky.

"Hey, Robin!" Luffy waved, "Are you going to dinner?"

"Hello, Luffy," she nodded, "Franky. Yes, I was just on my way down now. You're running late, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he sighed as the three of them started walking together, "We were doing Transfiguration stuff. All this studying is really cutting into my meal times."

"The more you learn, the faster you'll get to meals," she laughed, "Maybe you should be studying more."

"I'm studying all the time anyway just to catch up," he sighed, "This whole school thing would be so much better with more food and less studying."

"That's the dream right there," Franky said as he glanced over at Robin, "Uh, those books look a little heavy. Do you need me to carry some?"

"Hm?" she looked down at her books, "Oh, no, I can manage," she furrowed her brows, "But, thanks for the offer."

"Yeah, no problem," they fell into silence for a moment before Franky broke it, "Did you finish that Goblin Rebellion essay yet?"

"Oh, yes," she said with a nod, "I just finished now."

"I got about halfway through before I ran out of things to say," Franky laughed, "Professor Clover always says my essays ramble on, so maybe he'll appreciate this one being so short."

"Robin can help!" Luffy piped in, "She's great with essays."

"Oh, well, yeah," he scratched behind his ear, "I could use some help, but I wouldn't wanna impose if you're busy or whatever."

"Oh, no, it's fine," she said quickly, "I don't mind. That is, if you want my help, I'll be happy to give it."

"Yeah, that would be super," he smiled at her, "Thanks."

Luffy smile spread from ear to ear. He always liked it when his friends got along.

---

"Hey, Luffy!" Luffy looked up from his breakfast to see his brothers standing in front of him.

"Ace! Sabo!" Luffy grinned. Since his brothers were two years ahead of him in different Houses, he didn't get to hang out with him nearly as often as he'd like to, "What's up?"

"We're going to Hogsmeade later today," Sabo said as they sat down on the empty bench across from him, "I'm pretty sure I know where the passage under Honeydukes comes out in the castle if you want to sneak in and join us."

Luffy lit up at the thought of spending his Saturday with Ace and Sabo, gorging on candy from Honeydukes, maybe hitting up the Three Broomsticks on the way back, but then he remembered he already had plans for today, "Sorry, but I said I'd spend today with Sanji working on potions stuff."

"Sanji Black?" Ace frowned, "I didn't realize you guys were friends."

"Yeah, he's my potions tutor," Luffy explained as he shoved more eggs in his mouth, "He's great."

"I didn't think they did tutoring on weekends," Sabo said.

"No, but Sanji says I'm more of a 'hands on learner,'" he did the air quotes and snatched some bacon off his plate, "Normally we'd be allowed to use the potion dungeons for more practical stuff, but Spandam hates us both so he won't let us," he shrugged and grabbed a sausage, "I asked if we could just do it in the library or whatever, but apparently it's against school rules to brew potions anywhere but the potions room."

"Yeah," Sabo nodded, "I heard one year some students tried to make a Polyjuice Potion in the toilet."

"Ew, that's gross," Ace said, "Luffy, don't do that."

"Yeah, but what else are you going to do?" Sabo tapped the table, "Break into the potion room?"

Luffy shrugged as he swallowed a mouthful of pumpkin juice, "I don't know. Sanji said he thought of something and that I should meet him after breakfast."

"Well, be careful," Ace said, "Black's kinda a lose canon, so I'm not sure what he's planning on doing."

Luffy frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, he's rude, has a bad temper, and is prone to violence. He doesn't talk to any of the girls, and only curses out the guys. Not exactly Hufflepuff qualities, yet there he is. I don't think he's ever helped anyone in his life, so the fact that he's helping you is pretty suspicious."

Luffy frowned, Sanji hadn't been like that at all. He'd been very helpful, being patient when Luffy didn't get something obvious right away, and while his words may have been harsh at times, his actions never were. He didn't know why their takes on Sanji were so different, but it wasn't like Ace to lie to him either.

"He's a Black, right?" Sabo asked, "Like, one of the Blacks? Why isn't he in Slytherin?"

"Beats me," Ace shrugged, "Rumor is he tricked the hat somehow, although why I couldn't say, since the whole House hates him and he'd be welcomed in Slytherin like a returning King."

"Sanji's been helping me a lot. He's a good guy. Zoro's friends with him," Luffy nodded as if that settled that matter, "You should be friends with him too."

"I mean, I'll try, for you," Ace sighed, "But he's always such a pain."

"We should get going," Sabo said, looking at the crowd of people leaving the Great Hall, "So, no sneaking into Hogsmeade. Do you want us to get you something at Honeydukes?"

"Yeah!" Luffy grinned, "Get me five of everything!"

"We're not made of money," Ace stood up and ruffled his hair, "Pick like three things.

"Alright, get me Pepper Imps, Chocolate Frogs, and Ice Mice. And Fizzing Whizzbees. And Exploding Bonbons. And some Bertie Botts, oh, and some of that pineapple stuff too, and I really want a Sugar Quill and-"

"Nope, no more. That's your limit," Sabo said with a grin, "We'll see you later. Study hard!"

Luffy waved at them as the left, then quickly finished up his breakfast and followed the remaining crowd out of the Great Hall.

Sanji was waiting for him right by the staircase, eyes following a group of Ravenclaw girls as they walked by.

"Hey," Luffy said as he walked up to him.

"Hey," he kept watching the girls until they left the castle. When they were gone, he shook his head, blinked, and focused on Luffy, "You ready?" Luffy nodded, "Then let's go."

Sanji led him away from the staircase and down a side hall away from the Great Hall, and down a set of stairs towards the basement. While they were walking, Luffy asked, "You know Ace, right? He's in Hufflepuff too, a year ahead of you."

He frowned, brow furrowing, "Portgas? Yeah, I guess, but not very well. Why?"

"No reason," Luffy shrugged, "Did you know he's my brother?"

"I did not," Sanji said with genuine surprise, "I didn't realize he had a brother."

"Yeah, him, me, and Sabo from Ravenclaw are all brothers. Not by relation, just by choice."

Sanji nodded, "I can respect that."

"Anyway, I think you and Ace should be friends."

"Why?"

"Because I like you," Luffy said with a short nod, "And I like Ace, and I think you'll like each other."

"Ah, hm, well," he ruffled his hair, "I mean, I don't really get along well with the other Hufflepuffs."

"Yeah, Ace said they didn't like you. I still think you should be friends."

"I've never really had friends, so I don't know-"

"You've got me and you've got Zoro, so you do have friends."

"Zoro's not my friend," Sanji said as he looked away.

Luffy knew that was a lie, but he let it slide, "You've still got me. And that doesn't mean you and Ace can't be friends, just that you should be," they stopped in front of a portrait of a bowl of fruit, and Luffy looked up at him, eyes pleading, "He said he'd try to be you're friend, so you should try to be his."

Sanji sighed, giving in, "Fine. If he tries, I'll try. But it's not going to work."

Luffy grinned, convinced that it would work out great, "So, where are you taking me."

"Right here," Sanji turned towards the portrait and reached out a hand, then stopped, and turned to Luffy, "Actually, turn around."

Luffy pouted, "Why?"

"Because I've seen you eat and I get the feeling that if I let you know how to get into the kitchen, the castle will never have food again."

He perked up, practically bouncing, and said, "We're going to the kitchen?"

"Yeah, but not until you turn around so I can open the door," he twirled his finger in the air.

Luffy pouted again, but did as he was told.

"And no peaking!"

He frowned and covered his eyes, grumbling under his breath the whole time. After a few seconds he heard something laugh, then a faint click and the sound of a door opening, "Can I turn around yet?"

"Yeah."

Luffy wasted no time turning back around, the heavenly smells wafting from the kitchen already calling to him, and lunged for the opening.

"Hold it," Sanji grabbed him by the back of his shirt and held him back, "Some ground rules first. One, you're not allowed to eat anything until you've succeed at brewing a potion."

"Oh, come on," Luffy pouted, "How am I supposed to concentrate when I'm this hungry?"

"You literally just had breakfast," Sanji rubbed his temple, "But fine. You can have a small snack before we start, but after that no eating until you're done, okay?"

Luffy nodded, "Got it."

"Don't disturb the house elves while they're working," he continued, "And please don't ask them to make you things while they're in the middle of cleaning up. That's rude."

"What if they offer something first?"

"If they offer, fine, but again, no eating until we're done," Luffy tried to go forward, but Sanji continued to hold him back with an iron grip, "This is the most important, so pay attention, alright?"

Luffy stopped fidgeting and nodded, "Okay."

"Potion making ingredients and supplies never leave the corner we're working in. Ever. And don't mix the potion ingredients with the food ingredients or we won't be allowed back."

"I thought potion ingredients were edible?"

"Yes, most potion ingredients have a degree of edibility to them and are used in various food dishes, but if there's too much cross contamination between what you're cooking and what you're brewing the results could be catastrophic. A misplaced food ingredient can destroy the integrity of a potion, and a mixed up potion ingredient has the potential to kill."

"I didn't understand like, half of that," Luffy said, "But what I did get is mixing them is bad so don't do it, right?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Got it," he nodded, "Anything else?"

"Listen to everything I say, and I have the right to alter and add on rules as I see fit."

"You're the king, this is your kingdom, your word is law, understood," he started fidgeting again, "Can we go now?"

"Fine," Sanji finally let go, and Luffy was off like a rocket, hurtling into the kitchen at top speed.

Inside the kitchen was bright and warm, thanks a roaring fire on the other side room. Most of the space was taken up by four long tables similar to the ones in the Great Hall that Luffy just left. Right now they were piled high with the leftover food and dishes from breakfast. The smells that had enticed him outside were doubled now that he was at their source, although most of the cooking was over with for now and clean up was well underway.

The hundred or so house elves milling around gathering the dirty dishes stopped what they were doing as soon as Luffy had entered and stared at him. Luffy grinned in response, "Hello!"

"Hello!" they greeted in chorus. Some went back to their cleaning tasks, but a few stepped forward with the remains of breakfast in their hands, "Would you like some food?"

"Yes, please!" he said, grabbing the plates from their hands and shoving as much as he could in his mouth.

"Ah, there's more, there's more!" a few rushed off to gather more breakfast leftovers and brought them to Luffy, "Here! Help yourself!"

He decided there and then that this was the best place in the whole castle, "Thanks!"

"You've been in here for two seconds and you're already causing a scene," Sanji said as he emerged from the portrait hole behind him, doing his best to weave between the house elves currently bringing Luffy whatever food they could find, "This was a mistake."

"Hello, Sanji!" one of the house elves greeted as he entered, "How was breakfast? Was it to your liking?"

"Breakfast was outstanding, thank you," he said with a smile, "I brought my friend Luffy today, if that's okay."

"Absolutely, the more the merrier! Are you here for cooking or for potions today?"

"We were hoping we could work on some potion homework before you started lunch. Is that alright?"

"Yes, of course!" the house elf beamed, "We've left your things in your usual cabinet. Please let us know if there's anything you need."

"Thanks," he turned and grabbed Luffy's wrist, "Let's go, we've got work to do."

Luffy swallowed his mouthful of sausage as Sanji dragged him away, "You said I could have a snack."

"Yeah, and you've had it," he said as he led them through the throng of house elves towards the other side of the kitchen. Along the way most of the house elves smiled at Sanji and greeted him by name.

"They like you a lot," Luffy noted.

Sanji shrugged, "They like anyone who's nice to them."

That sounded right, Sanji was a nice guy, "Do you come here often?"

"When I can," he said as he brought them to a far off corner on the other side of the tables, "My dad owns a restaurant and we live above it, so I feel pretty at home here. The house elves are great, and they let me practice cooking or work on potion stuff when Spandam won't let me in the dungeons."

"Wait, back up," Luffy said as Sanji opened one of the cabinets, "You can cook?"

"Yeah, a little," he pulled out a cauldron and placed it on one of the nearby tables, "I'm pretty good the muggle way, but I'm still learning food charms and stuff."

"That is so cool," Luffy grinned, "I've always wanted to learn how to cook."

"Potion brewing is pretty similar to cooking," he said as he pulled a potion book and a notebook out of his bag and put them next to the cauldron, "So let's teach you how to do that first before we start on cooking lessons."

"Right," Luffy sat down and pulled out his own book, "Let's do this."

About two hours and five exploding mixtures later, Luffy had his Forgetfulness Potion looking pretty much what the book said it should be as it simmered. He was currently grinding the extra ingredients in his mortar under Sanji's watchful eye.

"Is that good?" Luffy asked as he showed him what he had done so far.

He leaned in close and looked at it with a scrutinizing eye, "Yes, that should work."

Luffy grinned, the latest explosion had been caused by the ingredients not being ground fine enough, and eagerly leaned forward to dump it into the cauldron.

"Is that what's next?" Sanji asked, causing Luffy to freeze in his tracks.

"...Yes?" he tried.

"Are you sure?"

Luffy pursed his lips together. He'd put in the herbs, added the berries, ground them all together until he got what Sanji described as a medium fine powder, the next step was just to mix it with the rest of the potion, right?

"If you're not sure, check the book," Sanji reminded him as he nudged the book forward.

Luffy backed away from the cauldron and looked down at the book. Add two measures of Standard Ingredient, he'd done that. Add four Mistletoe Berries, Crush into medium fine powder, he'd done that too. Was Sanji just trying to trick him or, oh, wait. He turned back to the cauldron and this time only added two pinches of the mixture.

"Good, don't be afraid to check the book if you're not sure," Sanji said with a nod, "Do you know what's next?"

"Stir it, right?" Sanji nudged the book forward again. Luffy pulled it forward and read out loud, "Stir five times anti-clockwise. Yeah, I was right."

"Get into the habit of checking anyway," he said as Luffy started stirring, "Since one misstep means the entire potion fails."

"I'm not going to have the book for the test," he said as he finished stirring and pulled out his wand.

"Learn how to make the potion first, then worry about memorising it."

Luffy hummed in acknowledgment as he tapped the cauldron with his wand. The potion released a small puff of smoke and settled down, looking exactly how the book described it, "Neat, it worked!"

"Good job," Sanji scooped the Forgetfulness Potion into a small bottle. He topped the bottle and handed it to Luffy, "By the end of the year, let's have completing the potion be the norm instead of a surprise."

Luffy laughed as he wrote his name on the bottle, "I can eat something now, right?"

Sanji rolled his eyes, "Yes, go ahead."

He grinned, "I want a steak pie."

"Alright," Sanji nodded towards the house elves who were just starting their preparations for lunch as he started cleaning up the potion ingredients, "ask the house elves to make it for you."

"Can you make it?"

Sanji froze in his tracks and glanced up at him,, "I mean, I guess if you really want?" He ran a hand through his hair, "The house elves could make it better, though. I'm not the best with food charms."

"You're very good with food charms!" one of the house elves piped in, "And you're getting better every day!"

"You can make a steak pie!" another house elf came forward and grabbed Sanji's hand, "It's easy, and good practice!"

"I've never really cooked food for someone else with magic before," he protested as he let himself be led to the cooking area. Luffy turned to finish packing up their things, but was surprised to see that the house elves had already taken care of it, carefully putting their ingredients back into the cabinet, and had already started cleaning the cauldron.

"Oh, I could do that," Luffy said as he went over to help.

"It's quite alright," the house elf said as she finished cleaning it with a flourish, "Please sit down and relax."

He grinned, "Thanks," and did as she suggested.

"You'll be fine," the house elf leading Sanji away said, "And it will be a big help since we're already very busy with lunch."

"I guess," he sighed as he pulled out his wand. The house elves cheered as he waved his wand and summoned all the ingredients he'd need for the pie.

Luffy was content to sit back and him work. When Sanji had been showing him how to make the potion, he had noticed the delicate touch in his actions, a simple flourish here and there that had turned the mundane tasks that he performed into almost an art. He saw the same thing as Sanji cooked but increased tenfold, every wave of his wand almost like steps in a dance. He still had more to learn, there were certain tasks such as cutting that he hadn't mastered the spells for and had to do by hand, but even in those Sanji was able to showcase his love for the craft.

It was the most beautiful work of magic Luffy had ever seen, and not just because the end result was food.

With one last wave of his wand, Sanji finished the pie and presented it to Luffy, "Bon Appetit."

Luffy grabbed a fork nearby and dove right in, eating a good quarter of the pie in the first bite.

"It's probably not the best," Sanji said, playing with his fingers, "Baking's a bit tricky for me the muggle way, and I haven't really mastered it with magic yet, so-"

"This is delicious!" he said around a mouthful.

Sanji froze, a faint blush on his cheeks, and scowled, "You don't have to lie just to be nice."

"I wouldn't lie to you, especially about food," he swallowed, "This is seriously one of the best pies I've ever eaten."

Sanji looked away, but Luffy could see the small smile on his face, "Thanks."

Luffy grinned and started shoveling more pie into his mouth. If Sanji cooked for him after every session, he would absolutely put more effort into potions in the future.

---

"Here," Usopp put the potted plant on the worktable where Luffy was sitting, "This is a nettle."

"Oh," Luffy poked one of the green leaves and frowned when the plant didn't react, "It looks boring."

"It's not gonna kill you if that's what you mean," he took out his wand, "but the leaves can sting you so be careful."

"Ow," Luffy pulled back as he was instantly stung.

"I told you," Usopp sighed as Luffy put his finger in his mouth, "The stings are harmless, but they are annoying, so just cut the leaves off with a severing charm," he pointed his wand at one of the leaves and muttered, "Diffindo," causing it to fall off the plant and into his open, waiting palm, "The leaves don't sting once they're off the plant."

Luffy pulled out his own wand and pinched a leaf between his fingers, only to be stung again. He hissed as he let it go.

"You don't have to touch the leaf to cut it," Usopp explained, "Just aim your wand at the stem."

Luffy did as instructed and said, "Diffindo." The leaf came off with a sharp snap and fluttered onto the table where he scooped it up and stared at it, "So, what does it do?"

"It's a potion ingredient, like most plants here," he said as he cut off a few more leaves, "Fresh nettles have different effects then dried ones. I hear it's also good in soups and teas, but I've never tried it."

Luffy hummed, wondering what nettle soup tasted like and if Sanji could make it, as he practiced cutting off another leaf. He winced as his hand brushed against a leaf.

"Don't touch it," Usopp reminded him, "The essay for your homework is mostly about its care and upkeep, so remember to mention not to touch the leaves."

"Yeah," Luffy said as he glanced over at the blank parchment in front of him.

"How are your classes going?" Usopp asked as Luffy reached into his bag and pulled out an inkwell and a quill, "You found enough tutors, right?"

"Yeah, they're all great," he said as he set up the inkwell, "I think I'm doing better, but it's hard to tell. Professor Bones and Professor Smoker both said I was doing a lot better, so there's that."

"I know Nami's helping you in Charms, but who's helping you with Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"My friend Zoro," Luffy said, "He's a year ahead of us."

"Oh," Usopp winced, "You mean, that green-haired kid that looks like he could kill you with a well placed glare?"

"Yup," Luffy grinned as he tapped his quill on his parchment, "That's him."

"How did you become friends with such a terrifying person?" he shuddered, "And how did you convince him to tutor you?"

"I asked him and he said he would," he shrugged, "And we both have a habit of staying up late and just hanging out in the Common Room, so we'd talk and do homework together and stuff. Later I noticed he sat by himself for meals, so I started sitting next to him. Then we were friends."

"I feel like you're leaving out the part of the story where you save him from like, a giant snake or something and he now owes you a life debt."

"Hm," Luffy scratched his head with the quill, "I mean, I did jump into a fistfight between him and a group of Slytherins my first week, but he doesn't owe me a life debt for that."

"I was joking, but yeah, that would be the start of the story," he said, playing with one of the leaves on the table, "I was going to ask if I could borrow your Defense Against the Dark Arts tutor, but I didn't realise you got such a scary guy."

"That's a great idea," Luffy said, grin spreading wide across his face, "you should join us! We usually just met up in the common room after classes, but I'm sure Zoro won't mind moving it to the library for you."

"Haha, yeah right," Usopp shook his head, "I doubt Zoro would want to tutor me."

"Why not? He's already tutoring me. There's no reason why he can't help you out too."

"Well, you guys are friends, and you're both Gryffindors," he rested his head in his hand as he played with the cut leaves on the table, "He's not gonna wanna tutor a Slytherin."

"I don't see why that matters," Luffy frowned.

"I know you don't care about things like House rivalries, and that's fine, more power to you, but the rest of the school does, and the Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry is the worst in the history of rivalries. No self-respecting Gryffindor would ever lower themselves by tutoring a Slytherin."

"That's dumb," Luffy laughed, "Who cares about things like that?"

"I just told you," he threw his hands in the air, "the rest of the school!"

"It'll be fine," he waved him off, "Once you and Zoro meet you'll be friends. Come to the library tomorrow after class and you'll see."

"Fine, whatever," Usopp sighed, "He's gonna kick me out though."

"No he won't," Luffy said as he turned back to his parchment and started writing down the things Usopp had told him about nettles.

"Who's your potions tutor?" Usopp asked after a few moments, "My potion grade could be better."

"Sanji," he frowned as he tried to remember which potions nettles were used in, but kept drawing a blank, "He's Zoro's year, in Hufflepuff. What potions were nettles in again?"

"A few, but just use Boil-Cure for fresh nettles and Herbicide for dried ones as examples," Luffy nodded and jotted that down as Usopp continued, "Wait, you don't mean that delinquent Hufflepuff Sanji Black, do you?"

"Yeah, that's him," he should probably talk about nettles in food too. Robin always told him that the more you could say about a particular subject the better the essay, and he could write books about food, "We meet in the library after class on Fridays if you wanna come."

"Yeah maybe if I want him to sabotage my already struggling grade," he rolled his eyes, "He's a snake in badger's fur."

"Nah, he's pretty honest," he tapped his quill against the parchment. He should absolutely mention the stinging, but couldn't quite figure out how to work that into what Usopp told him about taking care of the nettles, "He knows a lot more about potions then Spandam."

"A transfigured sponge knows more about potions then Spandam."

"You'll like Sanji, he's a good guy," he figured if he wrote it all down it was bound to make sense at some point, and proceeded to do just that, "Come join us on Fridays."

"Fine, but only because I'm desperate," he tapped his fingers on the table and glanced over at Luffy, "Next you'll be telling me Robin Nico is your Transfiguration tutor or something."

"Nah, Franky does Transfiguration," he looked down at his essay. It wasn't quite the foot and a half Professor Heracules asked for, but he couldn't think of anything else to say about nettles, "Robin's History of Magic."

Usopp's elbow slipped off the table, causing him to bang his head against it. He recovered quickly and stared at Luffy, "Do you have some kind of amulet for attracting the most dangerous students in the school?"

"Don't be silly," he pushed the parchment across the table for Usopp to look over, "I went looking for them."

---

"So wait," Sanji said as he pulled out his books, "Who else am I tutoring?"

"My friend Usopp," Luffy answered as he sat down at their usual table in the library, "he said he needed help with potions too, so I said he could come. That's fine, right?"

"Yeah, I don't mind," he flipped through the pages of the book, "But why is your pet moss here?"

Zoro glared at him from his seat next to him, "I'm here to observe."

"Zoro's having trouble with his homework and needs you to help him," Luffy told him. Zoro smacked his head.

"It's only a write up on Sleeping Draughts, we made that on Wednesday," Sanji smirked, "Or was it so effective that you slept through the whole thing?"

Zoro's face went red as he ground his teeth, "Just shut up and lend me your notes!"

Sanji laughed but slid his notebook across the table to him.

Luffy had opened his own potion book and was flipping to the part about Boil Cures when he spotted Usopp and Nami entering the library and waved them over, "Hey! Over here!"

He felt a sharp kick to his shin as Sanji whispered, "Quiet, we're in the library," but his friends had seen him and were now coming their way.

"Hey guys," Luffy greeted as they sat down, "I didn't realise you needed potion help too, Nami."

"I don't," she said as she situated herself between Zoro and Usopp, "but this guy didn't want to come alone, so here I am."

"They don't need to know that," Usopp hissed as he glanced around the table. Zoro was more focused on Sanji's notes, and Sanji hadn't taken his eyes off of Nami since she sat down, "So, introductions?"

"Oh right," Luffy cleared his throat, "Usopp, Nami, this is Zoro and Sanji," Zoro gave a small wave, Sanji's knuckles went white as he tightened his grip on the end of the table, "Zoro's here to borrow Sanji's notes. Sanji, Zoro, these are my friends Usopp and Nami."

"Hey," Usopp said as Nami smiled.

"Hello!" Sanji's voice squeaked. He slapped a hand over his mouth and cleared his throat before trying again, "I, uh," his face went red as everyone at the table gave him weird looks, "I just, I gotta," he stood up suddenly, knocking his chair over, "I gotta go," and bolted from the library.

Usopp, Nami, and Luffy stared after him, "What the heck was that about?" Usopp eventually asked.

Zoro looked up from Sanji's notebook, "Oh, sorry about him. He's a dumbass and is useless around girls."

"Should I, like, go?" Nami asked, hand on her bag.

Usopp grabbed her arm, eyes wide, "Please don't go."

"No, you're fine, he's the one being stupid," Zoro stood up and sighed, "I'll go bring him back," and followed Sanji out of the library.

Luffy laughed loudly, causing some of the neighboring tables to turn and shush him. "What a funny guy," he said, ignoring them.

"I know right?" Nami laughed too, much quieter, as she pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts book, "Usopp kept going on about how he was the last heir to the House of Black and what a terrifying wizard he must be," she smirked at him, "But it turns out he's more of a dork than you."

"Nami, you naive fool," he shook his head, "No one in this school is more of a dork than me. The most he can hope for is second."

The three of them laughed, earning them glares from the other students, before settling down and starting their homework.

A few minutes later Zoro returned, practically dragging Sanji behind him. He sat down as Sanji remained standing.

"Hello, yes, my name is Sanji," he said as he turned to Nami, "Sorry about before. You are the most beautiful person I've ever laid eyes on and I think I'm in love with you, but I need to ignore that right now because I promised I'd help Luffy and Usopp," his cheeks turned a bright pink as he sat down and cleared his throat, "Sorry about that."

Nami giggled and leaned forward on the table, "Don't apologise. I always appreciate a guy who's forward," she winked at him.

Sanji's blush spread all the way to the tips of his ears. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out and he quickly closed it again, giving him the appearance of a fish out of water.

"Stop teasing him," Usopp chastised, "We need his help."

"No, keep teasing him," Zoro said with a smirk, "I want to see if he actually explodes."

Sanji glared at him and gave him the middle finger, a gesture which Zoro gladly returned. When they were done Sanji turned his chair away from him and focused on Luffy and Usopp, "So, what were we doing?"

"Cure for Boils," Luffy said as he showed him the page.

"Right, yes, that's a helpful potion," he glanced over at Nami before looking back in the book, "Not that I would know. I've never needed it."

"Anyway," Usopp pushed his notes across the table, "This is what Spandam said about it, but half of it contradicts the book, so I'm not sure what to put in the essay."

"Always go with the book over Spandam," Sanji picked up his quill and started editing Usopp's notes, "The potion itself is pretty straight forward, but you need to take it off the fire before adding the porcupine quills or else the entire thing will be ruined."

Usopp winced, "Good to know."

"Here," he gave the notes back to Usopp, "That should cover everything Spandam got wrong and the book doesn't cover. You can start your essay from that."

"Oh," Usopp grabbed the notes and read them over, "Uh, thanks."

Luffy grinned as Sanji turned to him and started walking him through the brewing instructions. Across the table he noticed Zoro point out something in Nami's book, and the two began discussing something in hushed whispers, and his smile grew even wider.

"Hey," Sanji's voice brought his attention back to him, "what are you so smiley about?"

"Nothing really," he shrugged, "Just, this is nice, right?"

Sanji glanced across the table at Nami and his blush returned in full force, "Yeah, I guess."

---

Luffy fidgeted in his seat outside Headmaster Rayleigh's office. He glanced around at the interesting things on the shelves surrounding the room, but none held his attention for long. Beside him, Sanji was slouched in his chair, arms crossed, an unlit cigarette between his teeth.

"Are we gonna get kicked out of school?" Luffy asked.

Sanji scowled, "No, probably not. Spanda's just being a sore loser."

"Okay," Luffy said, looking off at the shelves again.

"Mr. Monkey, Mr. Black," Professor Rayleigh called from his office, "Please come in."

Sanji stood, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and shoving it into his pocket, "Let's get this over with."

Luffy nodded and followed him into the office.

Professor Rayleigh was seated behind his desk, half his face hidden behind his hands, as they came in. Standing near the desk was Spandam, gloating smirk dancing across his face with barely contained glee. Sitting off towards the side were Professor Bones and Professor Smoker, both frowning with troubled looks on their faces.

"Have a seat," Professor Rayleigh said. They both sat down in the chairs in front of his desk, "Do you know why you are here?" They shook their heads, "Professor Spandam has concerns that you may have been cheating."

"May have been?" Spandam snorted, "They most certainly have been."

"We have not!" Luffy shouted back.

"Now, now," Professor Rayleigh said, "Let's all relax. Professor Spandam, you haven't given me any solid evidence of cheating."

"What evidence do I need?" Spandam sneered, "Mr. Monkey's grades at the start of the term were terrible, Ds all around, I'd even felt the need to give him some Ts. Now suddenly he's getting As and Es."

"I fail to see how a student doing well is a bad thing," Professor Bones said with a frown.

"It is when they don't earn it," Spandam said, "The only way he could have improved so much in so little time is by cheating his way there, and I have no doubt that Mr. Black has been helping him cheat the whole time."

"What makes you say that?" Professor Rayleigh asked.

"I've seen them around the school together," Spandam glared at Sanji, "And Mr. Black has always been a disruptive influence in class. It wouldn't be past him to find other was to be disruptive."

"This is absurd," Professor Bones scowled, "Mr. Black has been tutoring Mr. Monkey, which is why you've seen them together and why Mr. Monkey's grades have improved."

"I can confirm that," Professor Smoker added, "Mr. Monkey is receiving tutoring for all his subjects, and his grades have improved in all of his classes."

"I see," Spandam frowned and looked away, "Then that proves that Mr. Monkey and his band of ne'er-do-wells have all been cheating."

"That's ridiculous!" Sanji scoffed, "We've been tutoring him, since your head is so far up your own ass you can't even teach him properly!"

"How dare you speak to me like that, insolent brat!" Spandam screeched, "Headmaster, this is the exact kind of disruptive behavior that I've been telling you about!"

"Calm down," Professor Rayleigh said, "Let's deal with the cheating issue first. You seem so sure that that's what's going on, but I've yet to see any proof that they've been cheating, just your assumptions."

Spandam seethed and took a few deep breaths before smiling wide, "I don't need proof, Headmaster. As the Minister of Magic's eyes and ears inside this school, my informed opinion should be enough for him, at least."

"Really, Professor, you're going to take a simple matter of cheating all the way to the Minister?" Professor Rayleigh chuckled, "I'm sure he has better uses of his time."

Spandam crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared, "Well they can't prove that they haven't been cheating."

"Of course we can," Sanji rolled his eyes, "The Librarian keeps a record of everyone who's being tutored."

Spandam glared, "You could have lied to her."

"Alright, that's enough," Professor Smoker stood up, "It's clear Professor Spandam came in here with a grudge to settle and no actual evidence to back up his cheating claims. This whole discussion is a waste of everyone's time."

"Agreed," Professor Bones stood as well, "I believe this meeting is over."

"It's not just the cheating!" Spandam said, "I do know for a fact that they've been brewing potions unsupervised in the kitchen."

"That's cause for detention at most," Professor Raleigh said, "Not expulsion."

"Besides, the House Elves were supervising them," Professor Bones added.

"House Elves aren't supervision," Spandam snorted, "Students need proper human supervision from their great and talented Ministry appointed Potions Master to make sure they don't hurt themselves."

"The House Elves are advanced potion brewers in their own right, and their own brand of magic is better suited for preventing any accidents that may arise," Professor Bones said, "Also it's not like they had many options after you refused to let them use the potions room."

"How dare you pin the blame for this on me? I did no such thing!"

"You most certainly did," he nodded, "That's why I offered the kitchen as an alternate option in the first place."

"That's, that's completely unacceptable!" Spandam shouted as he stomped his foot, "You went above my head, Brook! You had no right!"

"Mr. Black and Mr. Monkey just wanted to learn," Professor Bones hit him with an icy glare, "You had no right to deny them that."

"This whole thing is pointless," Professor Smoker rolled his eyes, "It's obvious Professor Spandam is just trying to stir up trouble, but if someone needs to be punished here, it certainly isn't Mr. Monkey."

"Excuse me?" Professor Bones turned his glare on him, "I'm sorry, but what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"If someone should be punished here it should be Mr. Black, who made the choice to brew potions outside of the proper room, and not Mr. Monkey, who was only along for the ride," he shrugged.

"I'm sorry," Professor Bones turned his full attention on him, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop, "But I again fail to see why Mr. Black's punishment is so obvious to you."

"I'm not saying either of them should be punished," he said, "But since Professor Spandam is clearly after blood, if a punishment should be handed out, he's the clear choice. I know he's in your House and you want to protect him from punishment, but he's a troublemaker, a bad seed. It happens to the best of us. Mr. Monkey's a bit dim, but he's got a good heart. If anyone was causing trouble here, it was Mr. Black."

"Well," he cleared his throat and dug a hand into his pocket, "I could certainly turn your own argument around, about how since Luffy's in your house you're trying to protect him from punishment, but i'm not going to, because I don't believe students should be punished for the ineptitude of their teachers."

"What are you trying to say?" Professor Smoker growled.

"I'm saying that perhaps you think of Sanji as a troublemaker because his last name is Black. That if he does tend towards trouble, then what other choice does he have if every adult at this school already assumes the worst from him," the temperature in the room dropped a few more degrees as he continued, "I'm saying that Luffy was struggling with his studies for months without any help from the Head of his House. You have a responsibility towards your students, Professor, all of your students, not only the ones you believe have potential, and in certain cases you have been failing."

Professor Smoker clenched his teeth, a vein on his forehead was close to popping, as he whipped out his wand. Professor Bones pulled his out in retaliation.

"Enough," Professor Raleigh said, "This situation has escalated quite enough, I think. Put those away." They did so with reluctance, "Now, I think it's clear what has happened here, and what punishment needs to be dealt.

"Sanji, Luffy," they both sat up straighter in their chairs as the Headmaster turned his full attention on them, "It's obvious you haven't been cheating, and while brewing potions outside of the potion room is against the rules, I can acknowledge that it was out of necessity, so consider this a verbal warning. Don't do it again, unless you have to, of course," he smiled, and they each offered him a smile in return.

"Professor Bones," he said as he turned his attention to the teachers, "If you have a problem with your colleagues, don't duel them while there are students present. At the very least, talk to them first, and if it comes to a duel, do it in your own time. Consider this your verbal warning."

"Yes, Headmaster," he said.

"Professor Smoker, same thing. Don't duel your colleagues in front of students. What you do in private, however, is up to you. As for neglecting the academic needs of your students, that will have to be a more official warning. You have a responsibility towards them, whether you think it's a waste of time or not. Please do better about it in the future."

"Yes, Headmaster," he said with a sigh.

"Professor Spandam, you're getting two citations."

"What?" he squawked, "What did I do?"

"One for the false cheating accusations, of course, and one for denying Sanji and Luffy access to the potions room when they requested it."

"This is absurd! The Minister will hear about this!"

"Of course he will," Professor Raleigh smiled, "That's the point of a citation. Now, this meeting is over. Everyone get out of my office."

Professor Smoker and Professor Brook agreed to escort Luffy and Sanji back to their dorms while Spandam stomped off to the dungeons with a huff.

"Is he gonna get fired now?" Luffy asked.

"Probably not," Professor Bones said with a sigh, "He's received hundreds of citations since he started working here, and nothing's ever come from it."

"He's the Minister of Magic's special appointee," Professor Smoker explained, "As long as the Minister feels he needs someone in the school to keep an eye on things, he'll have a job here, no matter what he does."

"That's dumb," Luffy said. The professors and Sanji agreed.

They made it to the end of the corridor, where Luffy and Professor Smoker had to go up and Sanji and Professor Bones had to go down, but before they could go their separate ways Professor Smoker stopped them, "I think I owe you an apology."

Professor Bones and Sanji stood still, waiting, and Professor Smoker continued with, "I'm sorry."

Sanji shrugged, "Whatever," and started to leave until Professor Bones nudged him with his elbow. He turned back around to face Professor Smoker and said, "I accept your apology."

Professor Smoker's gaze turned to Professor Bones, "Do you have anything you want to say to me?"

He shook his head, "Not particularly, no. I meant every word I said, although I do regret that it came to wands," he put his hand on Sanji's shoulder and guided him down the stairs, "Let's go, Mr. Black."

"Why did I have to accept the apology if you were just gonna blow him off?" Sanji pouted as he followed his professor.

"I am your teacher. It is my job to teach you how to behave properly in civilized society, even if I refuse to do so myself,' he said as they made their way down the stairs and out of sight.

"Sometimes he really pisses me off," Professor Smoker shook his head and turned to Luffy, "Especially when he's right. I should have put more effort forth with you."

"S'okay," Luffy shrugged, "I did just fine on my own."

"Don't be a brat," Professor Smoker mussed up his hair and made his way up the stairs, "You've got some good friends, Monkey. Weird, but good."

Luffy grinned as he followed after him. He already knew that, but it was always nice to hear it acknowledged.

---

"Hey, Robin," Luffy waited for her to look up from her Arithmancy homework before he pointed out a word in his own book, "What's that mean?"

She leaned over, eyes darting across the page, "Defenestration? It's the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.'"

He frowned, "Why can't they just say that? 'Emeric threw them all out the window' is easier to understand."

"Maybe," Franky said as he scribbled some numbers on his parchment, "but what's the point in having a word that means 'toss something out the window' if you don't use it whenever you can?"

"Defenestration also implies that the window was broken as a result," Robin explained, "It's one thing to toss someone out of an open window, but to toss them out a closed window, to add lacerations from the glass on to their injuries, that involves a different set of emotions and motives entirely, so it gets its own word."

"How's your reading coming along?" Franky asked, "Are the Bertie Botts helping any?"

"Ah, well," he glanced down at the edge of the book where Robin had set up the candy before he started reading and told him he could eat one after every line he finished, "I sorta just ate them all in one go."

Franky pouted, "The point was to motivate yourself to finish the chapter."

"I was motivated," Luffy grinned, "to eat all the Bertie Botts."

"I thought that might happen," Robin giggled as she reached into her bag and pulled out the bag of jellybeans, "How about instead I give you more every time you finish reading a page?"

"Okay!" Luffy said as he threw himself back into his reading. Franky rolled his eyes as Robin chuckled.

They continued their work in silence for a few minutes until suddenly there was a disruption in the front of the library.

"I know what I'm talking about," Zoro grumbled as he, Usopp, and Sanji entered.

"You clearly don't," Sanji said as the three of them made their way to the back.

Zoro snorted, "Have you ever been in a car?"

"I've been in taxis."

"Taxis aren't cars."

"Yes they are!" Sanji thrust a finger at his chest, "Have you ever seen a car?"

Usopp grabbed a book off the shelf and looked around, eyes falling on Luffy, "Hey, look, Luffy's here," he said to the bickering duo, "Let's go talk to him."

Luffy looked up from his book as his friends approached his table, "Hey, what's up?"

"I needed a book," he said as he held out a book titled Encyclopedia of Toadstools, "I ran into these two on my way here, but then they started fighting about," he looked over at Zoro and Sanji, whose discussion had turned into muttered name calling and pokes, "I don't know about what, honestly." He looked up and noticed he now had the full table's attention, "Oh, uh, who are you friends?"

"Ah," Luffy sat up, "This is Robin and Franky. They're helping me with my homework. Robin, Franky, this is my friend Usopp," Usopp waved, the other two waved back, "And, well, Franky knows Zoro, but his friend his Sanji."

"We're not friends," they both snapped simultaneously as they glanced over at their new audience.

Robin laughed, "It's nice to meet you both, regardless."

Zoro acknowledged her greeting with a nod. Sanji's eyes widened as he went white, then red, and stuttered out, "H-hello."

Robin's smile fell a little. Franky glared at him as he cleared his throat and followed that up with, "My name is Sanji and you are very pretty and I can't really think right now."

Robin blinked, but laughed a little and smiled, "Ah, thank you."

Franky grumbled out a, "She's not that pretty," while the other three laughed loud enough to disturb the other patrons and earn them a "Shush," from the librarian.

"Oh, Franky," Zoro said after everyone calmed down, "You take Muggle Studies, yeah? Can you tell Sanji he's wrong?"

Sanji blinked and turned his attention from Robin back to Zoro, "You're the one who's wrong!"

"What's up?" Franky asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The back of a car," Zoro explained with gestures, "It's called a boot because that's where Muggle's keep their boots, right?"

"Wait," Usopp turned to them, "That's what you were fighting about this whole time?"

"I mean," Franky scratched his head with his quill, "You can put boots in there, but it's not specifically for boots if that's what you mean."

"I know you can put other things in there," Zoro rolled his eyes, "But the reason it's part of a car is for boots, right?"

"It's just for general storage, dude."

"I told you!" Sanji shouted, earning him several shushes and annoyed looks. He apologized quickly and repeated in a whisper, "I told you so."

Zoro glared at him and frowned, "But then where do they keep the boots?"

Franky snorted, "Usually on their feet."

"I mean the spare boots!"

"What spare boots?"

"The spare boots for when the boots they're wearing get worn out," Zoro crossed his arms over his chest, "from all the running."

The whole group went silent for almost a minute, "How exactly do you think cars work?" Usopp eventually asked.

"They put their feet through the floor and they run to make it go."

They were all quiet for a beat while they processed what he said, then everyone exploded with laughter, loud and boisterous, disturbing everyone.

"That's it!" the librarian screeched, "Out out out! All of you! Right now!"

Still laughing, they packed up their things and left. They'd gotten about five meters away from the library before they had their laughter mostly under control.

Zoro, who'd been silently fuming the whole time, muttered, "It's not that funny."

The other five burst into a renewed round of laughter. Zoro seethed, face turning red.

"Um," Nami stopped short as she turned into the corridor where they were standing, "What's so funny?"

"Ah, Nami," Luffy said between giggles, "We got kicked out of the library,"

"Dare I ask why?"

"They're all being stupid," Zoro said with a huff.

"Mr. Roronoa has some very interesting assumptions about how Muggle transportation works," Robin, who had calmed down the most, explained, "I suppose our amusement was a bit disruptive."

"You were all jerks about it, is what happened," he growled and looked away.

"Where did you even get the idea that that's how cars work?" Sanji asked as he caught his breath.

Zoro glared at him then looked away before answering, "I saw it on a TV show once."

"Wait wait wait," Usopp sputtered out between chuckles, "Did you see it on a cartoon?"

Zoro's blush deepened as he stubbornly refused to answer.

"Don't tell me," Nami started laughing, "That you saw an episode of the Flintstones and thought that's how cars worked, right?"

This sparked a new round of laughter from the group.

"Like any of you know how cars work," Zoro muttered darkly.

"There's an engine," said Usopp

"It runs on petrol," said Nami.

"We're going over mechanics in Muggle Studies," said Robin.

"An internal combustion engine turns petroleum into energy, causing the car to move," said Franky.

"I know it's not feet," said Sanji.

"Zoro's such an idiot," said Luffy.

Zoro grabbed in and put him in a headlock, "I don't want to hear that from you," after a brief struggle Zoro released him with a, "Whatever. If you guys are going to be the worst, I'm going outside for some air." He turned and walked away.

"Wait, you're gonna end up lost in the Astronomy Tower again," Sanji laughed as he walked after him. Before he got too far, he turned back around and said, "Ms. Nami, Ms. Robin, I apologise for leaving on such short notice, but I should go after him."

"The rest of us have names too, you know," Usopp said, but Sanji left with just a wave.

"Anyway," Usopp sighed as he heaved the encyclopedia in his arms, "I should get started on this. See you guys later." He waved goodbye and started off in the opposite direction from Zoro and Sanji.

"So," Nami said, glancing down the hall at the library, "If you got kicked out of the library, where are we supposed to study today?"

"Oh," Luffy's eyes darted around the hallway as if a solution would magically produce itself, "Uh…"

"There's a place by the lake where I like to read that I could show you," Robin said, "If you don't mind studying outside."

"That sounds perfect," Nami said as she followed Robin down the hall, "Studying outside in Spring is the best."

"You're friends are pretty interesting," Franky said as he and Luffy followed after the girls.

"Of course they are," Luffy grinned, "They're my friends, after all."

---

Exam season came too soon for Luffy's liking. He felt like he had just gotten the hang of most of his classes and now suddenly he was being tested on them. It wasn't that he was worried about them per say, his friends had helped him out a lot and he believed in them, but he still needed an E or an O on the final exam for most of his classes in order to pass. And all this last minute cramming was getting annoying by cutting into his meal time.

"Where do Doxys live?" Zoro read off the notecard in front of him.

"The curtains," Luffy answered as he chewed on his bacon and crept his hand towards Zoro's plate.

Franky laughed around a mouthful of eggs, eyes glued to his own Herbology book, "Well, you're not wrong."

"Like, what continent?" Zoro said as he smacked Luffy's hand away from his breakfast.

"Uh, here? Europe?" he frowned as he grabbed more sausage, "And Canada and America."

"Close enough," he swallowed his eggs and drank some pumpkin juice before asking, "What's their Ministry classification?"

"Beast," he said as he bit into his sausage, "I think."

"You're right," Zoro tapped his wand against the card and a new topic appeared, "Okay, spell incantations. What do you say for red sparks?"

"Verm-ill-ee-us," Luffy said around his sausage as he grabbed Zoro's toast, "Or was it Peri one?"

"Either or, Periculm's a bit stronger," Zoro snatched his toast back from Luffy, "What about green sparks?"

"Verdi-mill-ee-us," he said between bites of his own toast and washed the rest down with pumpkin juice.

"Good," he took a bit from his own sausage, "Bogie Curse?"

"Mucus and Mausoleum."

"It's ad nauseum, but you're close," he slapped Luffy's hand away from his plate again, "How about the Knockback Jinx?"

"Flipendo," Luffy loaded his plate with more sausage and bacon.

While Franky was still engrossed in his own studying, he snuck his hand towards his toast, only to be smacked away with a, "Don't even think about it."

"And what do you say for light?" Zoro said, brining Luffy's attention back to him.

Luffy rubbed his hand and frowned, "Fumos."

"Fumos is smoke, lumos is light."

"Oh yeah," he chewed on his bacon, "Light, L. L, Lumos."

"Right," he tapped the card once more and it went blank, "That's everything."

"How'd I do?" Luffy asked with a mouthful of bacon.

"You did better with the magical creatures than the spells," Zoro said as he put the card back in his bag. Luffy took the opportunity to steal the rest of his sausage while his head was turned away, "but I know you're better with the spells when you actually do them, and luckily Professor Smoker's big on practical exams, so you should be fine," he looked back down at his plate, "Did you eat my sausage?"

"Yeah," Luffy burped, "It was good."

Zoro growled as he grabbed some more, "Would you eat what's on your own plate?"

"Sorry," Luffy said unapologetically as he looked around the Great Hall.

Over at one end of the Ravenclaw table, he saw Robin quietly reading giant textbook next to Sabo and Iceberg, who were engrossed in books of their own. She looked up from her book to take a sip of pumpkin juice, meet Luffy's eyes, and smiled. Luffy smiled back and glanced away once she went back to her book.

At the Hufflepuff table, he saw Sanji sitting across from Ace and next to a girl with bright blue hair from Luffy's year whose name he thinks is Vivi. Vivi had a book open in front of her and looked like she was asking Sanji a question. Sanji's ears and face were very red, but other than that, to his credit, he was talking to her normally. Ace was laughing at something, but stopped and waved when he noticed Luffy. Luffy waved back, and doubly so when Sanji and Vivi turned to wave too.

Over at the Slytherin table, Usopp and Nami were pouring over an open book, no doubt cramming for one of their exams later. Nami turned to ask one of the older Slytherin girls something, and once she got an answer, turned back to Usopp to relay it. He nodded enthusiastically, scribbling something down on the paper in front of him as they both returned to the book.

"So," Zoro said, bringing Luffy's attention back to him, "You think you'll do well on your exams?"

Luffy glanced back around the Great Hall, at his friends who had helped him up until this point with the belief that he could pass his classes, and knew that he couldn't let them down here.

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine."

---

"I must say, Mr. Monkey, I'm impressed and pleased with the academic progress you've made over the past few months," Professor Bones said as he looked over Luffy's final exam grades.

"I had a lot of help," Luffy grinned.

"I certainly wouldn't want to diminish the efforts put in by your friends and tutors, and I am glad that you have such outstanding people in your life to support you. However that would all had been meaningless if you hadn't persisted and prevailed," he smiled at him, "And for that, I offer you my sincerest congratulations."

"Thanks," he smiled back, "You helped a lot too. Not a lot of the other teachers were very helpful with my grades."

Professor Bones laughed, "You're a remarkably bright boy, but maybe not the best student. It would have been a shame if you had to leave Hogwarts before given a proper chance."

"You know," Luffy said as he swung his legs just above the floor, "I don't like school all that much. I went to Muggle school for a bit when I was little, and a lot of the teachers gave up on me or didn't even try. I thought Hogwarts would be different, but it really isn't. Except for you. Thanks for believing in me, Professor Bones."

"You're an easy student to have faith in, Mr. Monkey," he stood up and held out his hand. Luffy stood as well and shook it, "I hope you continue these efforts throughout your next six years here."

He laughed, "I'll do my best, for whatever that's worth."

"Your best is more than enough, and all I could ask for."

Luffy grinned even wider, the smile spreading from ear to ear as he said, "Thanks for everything, Brook."

Brook smiled back, "It's not a problem at all, Luffy."

Luffy gave him one last nod as he made his way out of the office. As he approached the door, he stopped, turned around, and said, "See you in September!"

Brook smiled back, grin almost as wide as Luffy's, "I look forward to it."

---

If you're wondering where Chopper is, he's younger than Luffy, so he's not here yet. But don't worry, if/when I write another fic for this Hogwarts AU, Chopper will be the focus.