Project Hogwarts

Chapter One: Project Hogwarts

Warnings: Slash, Americanized British

Disclaimer: Don't own either Harry Potter or Gundam Wing.

Pairings: Nothing concrete…yet.


The year was After Colony 196. With the war finally over and now peace reigning over both the colonies and the Earth Sphere United Nations the five original Gundam wielding terrorists who played several key roles in winning the war were still trying to find their place within their new, 'normal' lives. While doing so, they found comfort in staying in the same residence under the Winner name, as each found their own niche in society. Heero Yuy and Wufei Chang, prior owners of the Gundams Wing Zero and Shenlong, respectively, went on directly after the war to become full time Preventers, an organization dedicated to sustaining peace within a world that was still healing from wartime. Quatre Winner, the ex-pilot of Gundam Sandrock, continued to run the family business in memory of his father, while Trowa Barton of Gundam Heavyarms aided Quatre as his personal assistant. Usually traveling during the weekdays, they took weekends like this to relax with the other ex-pilots, dozing and laughing around the manor.

Duo Maxwell, previous pilot to Gundam Deathscythe, had the most difficult time conforming to the peace. With first failing at his scrap yard venture with co-owner Hilde Schbeiker and then becoming bored as his time as a part-time Preventer, Duo found himself becoming lost in the new world peace. Just as he was at his wits end, Duo finally found a job that could keep up his interest and lacked the monotony of say, bodyguarding Vice-Minister Relena Darlian-Peacecraft.

At Quatre's insistence, Duo became a professional video game programmer.

Although it lacked the bombs and excitement of terrorizing Oz troops, video game programming provided something reminiscent of hacking and still gave him full use of his imagination. He even helped in creating story boards and character profiles--it kept Duo busy, and more importantly, it kept Duo happy. His coworkers were interesting, and his teammates--well, his closest and only friends really--were extremely supportive of his newfound love. Quatre provided him a rather large space within the manor dubbed 'Da Studio' and equipped it with the works--desktop, laptop, storyboards, and any software and hardware Duo could only dream of. Even Heero and Wufei assisted when they could, offering advice on coding, battle strategies in war games, and character design (Wufei was surprisingly a good artist, second only to Trowa who also often dropped in Duo's "Studio" to help Duo in making characters and their profiles).

Really, it was more than a guy like Duo could ask for.

"Whew! I didn't thought I'd ever finish," Duo sighed, slumping back in his seat as the screen in front of him displayed a 'Congratulations, Task Completed!' window. Duo flexed his fingers and enjoyed the cracking sound they made, and enjoyed the relaxing effect even more. Three months--three months of nonstop codes, development, and other technical bullwinkle and now…now he could finally reap the rewards.

Three months ago, Duo was forced to take the week vacation time offered by his workplace. Instead of going anywhere special (and trust, Quatre did offer any place in the world or space), Duo launched into his own private project--Project Hogwarts, he had proudly named it. It quickly became his obsession, running home at the end of the work day just to continue working on it, night and day. The other pilots, while slightly concerned, checked in to help him, but Duo wanted it to be a complete surprise when it was finally finished. He poured his heart and soul into the program, every waking moment that he was not eating or sleeping to work on it.

And now finally…finally he was complete.

"Hey guys! I'm finished! I finished it!" He howled from the doorway, fearful of leaving his pet project alone in the room. "Come check it out!"

Not very doubtful that he would be ignored, Duo bounced back to the computer screen clicking a few buttons. The sound of shuffling behind him alerted him that at least three of the other Gundam pilots had arrived.

"Maxwell, this better not be a waste of time," Wufei sneered, but could not help the glint of curiosity that overcame his dark eyes. He walked over to the computer to look at the program's preface on the monitor, and snorted. "It's a giant castle."

"It's Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Duo pronounced, and Quatre smiled.

"Interesting name. What kind of game is it?" Quatre asked, walking forward.

"I'll be able to tell you when a certain Hee-man shows up," Duo teased, and Quatre chuckled. Trowa walked forward to stand next to Quatre.

"Last I saw, Heero was on vid-call with Relena," Trowa said, and Duo scrunched up his face. "I'm sure he'll be coming right after he's done. Actually, he should be finishing up now."

True to Trowa's word, Heero slipped in the room not a minute later, looking more than a little annoyed. "Relena needs a bodyguard for the next inter-colonial convention. I told her the security should be sufficient, seeing as how they were handpicked by me. However, she chose to insist that we never spend enough time together."

"Well Heero, you are well aware of her infatuation with you," said Quatre, hands on his hips and a vague smile on his lips. "Can you blame her?"

Heero chose not to answer, and instead walked forward. "Is this it?"

Duo's smile grew to the lengths of a Cheshire cat before he started his explanation. "It's a completely simulated world where magic exists and is hidden from the regular non-magical populace. I have an entire line of characters where I've completely set up every detail--from how they behave to their personalities, but the game's protagonist is a teenager our age named Harry Potter. His history is one of tragedy, his parents are murdered when he was one by a psychopath killer. You play the game from his point of view (meaning it's a role-playing game, of course), and help him defeat his murderer."

"Sounds pretty interesting Duo. Do the other characters interact with you as you play?" Quatre asked, as the other pilots simply listened.

Duo nodded, excited. "They're a key part of the game. I didn't really have the time to put in dialogue, so I installed programs that would determine certain things about that certain character to help them with dialogue and future behaviors. It's like watching a child grow up--you help them become a certain way through Harry and their classmates' behavior, and the characters can change as the story progresses."

"Wow," Quatre said, breathless. "That is some amazing stuff, Duo. It's almost like real life isn't it?"

"It is real life," Duo said, his eyes glowing. Turning back in his seat toward the monitor, Duo typed in a few codes before the game began to load.

"The graphics are impressive," Heero admitted.

"As if I'd make something so low-tech," Duo scoffed as he smiled. "This is going to be---"

Duo never got to finish his sentence, because as soon as the game finished loading, a bright light filled the room. If there were any shouts, they remained unheard as the white light only brightened. After a minute, the bright light was sucked back into the monitor, leaving only an empty room in it's wake.


Okay, like? Dislike? First story, and I couldn't resist since I love HP/GW crossovers. Hoping to make something different. As for pairings, I'm really leaning toward a DuoxDraco, and other pairings are up in the air. 1x4 or 3x4 though is sounding pretty good….

Next Chapter: The boys meet Duo's eccentric creation, Dumbledore.

Critical R&R appreciated :)