Just so you know! I'm not sure I'll be able to finish this story…don't get me wrong, I love this idea but truthfully I have no ending planned. So I'll go as far as I can and hopefully that will be enough for you. Or maybe you can give some ideas, I don't know…
We'll see about that! ^_^
Unexpected
Chapter 2
…
The Feast
The group reached their rooms at about five in the morning, with the not so kind help of the portraits that threw a fit for being woken up so late. They didn't want to call Dobby either as he had been kind enough to announce them about the Heartless and all, while also offering his assistance that they had to decline. That and the fact that they wanted to know the castle a little better.
By the time they crashed into their beds, the four Nobodies found a secret bathroom on the second floor with everything they could ever want to (that reminded Axel about Vexen and they all shared five minutes of laughing), then they've found a room that blended on the user's wishes (it took Zexion a good time to explain the others how it worked), and finally they've found a three headed dog, that seemed to love music seeing as Demyx's sitar saved them from becoming chewing toys.
So, the next day found the boys sleeping in their dorms until that afternoon when the Hogwarts express was on its way to the school.
…
*poke*poke*
A moan was heard from under the white covers of the bed until a heap of blonde hair popped out. "Axel…let me sleep!" he mumbled turning on the other side.
Dobby sighed and went on the other side of the bed as well. "Master sir! Please wake up! The feast will be in three hours!"
Roxas stretched his arm and pulled the blankets up to his face. "You can wake me up then!"
The house elf nodded sadly and disappeared, the sound startling the blonde and making him sit bolt upright. Looking around him confused, Roxas yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes then turned to the clock on the wall. It read 5:10 p.m.
"Guess I should get ready!" getting up the boy walked to the bathroom, beginning his usual routine and went to wake up Axel after that, knowing Dobby had no chance in doing so.
In the next room…
"Master please, at least say something to Dobby!" the answer remained the same snore as before. Dobby tried to shake Demyx awake but gained no reaction from the water wielder. He just kept the same position, spread on the bed, with the blankets and pillows on the floor, mouth open and tongue out.
Right then, Zexion burst into the room, holding a book. He looked around, eyeing Demyx before noticing Dobby bowing to him.
"I see Master is awake! Professor Dumbledore sent me to inform you about the feast sir! But…"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of him! And don't bother going to Axel, he's already up! You can go Dobby!" the elf bowed again leaving a smirking Zexion near an asleep Demyx.
An hour later…
"Did you really have to?" whined for the millionth time the Melodious Nocturne rubbing his soaring head. 'Books are certainly heavier than they look!'
Zexion ignored him, as he did for the last hour, and continued to read his book. He was lucky Hogwarts had such a huge library full of interesting books about magic. With this unique occasion, he would learn some new spells…and maybe he would find one that will make people shut up.
"Hey Dem! I think Axel is starting to doze off!" faster than the eye could see the fire wielder shot up looking frantically around before glaring at Roxas and Demyx.
"Ok that wasn't funny!"
Roxas chuckled innocently at him. "I was just joking!" They all fell in silence for a few minutes after this.
Demyx shifted on the sofa while playing with the cushion in his arms. He continued like that for a while before starting bouncing on it involuntarily, thought when he did realize it, he began jumping on it and laughing like a three year old kid.
"Come on guys, you should try it!" Roxas hesitated but started bouncing a little nonetheless until he was too jumping alongside Demyx.
Zexion rubbed his temples and moved to sit on a chair mumbling to himself. "At least Axel kept his sanity!"
"Weeee! Hey, you were right! This is fun!" Looking up, the blue haired boy shut his book and face palmed. Axel shrugged and kept jumping higher and higher. "Hey! Let's see who can jump higher!"
"That's not fair!" cried Roxas scowling at him. "You're the tallest! Of course you'll win!"
"Awww! I wish Superior would let us do this at home too!" said silently Demyx as Roxas and Axel continued their conversation.
Zexion rolled his eyes. "Why would he do it? You would get on everyone's nerves!"
"That's not right!" shouted back Demyx. "Xiggy would love it!"
"I wouldn't have expected anything else from that fun loving eavesdropper!" muttered the boy getting back to his book.
After a while, the three of them stopped, as they didn't see the fun in it anymore and let the time pass while talking about useless things, mostly about the other members of the organization.
"Roxas?'
"Hmm?"
"Don't you feel like wanting an ice cream?"
"There is no clock tower around."
"There is!" spoke Demyx gaining the duo's attention. "I mean is not like the one in Twilight Town, but I saw it when Hagrid took us to Dumbledore.
"Well then, let's go!" said the red headed getting up.
Zexion cleared his throat as everyone looked at him. "I don't want to ruin your fun…or maybe I do want, but outside is quite a storm. I doubt you're going to peacefully eat your ice creams!"
"Then we're gonna stay inside the clock."
15 minutes later…
"Do you need anything else?" asked Dobby watching the four Nobodies in front of him. They all shook their heads and answered with some 'thank you' before turning toward the glass of the clock showing the rain outside the castle.
"I wouldn't want to be outside right now!" muttered Axel taking a bite from his sea salt ice cream.
They went on eating their desserts in silence except from Demyx who kept moaning, holding his head with his hand. Zexion looked suspiciously at his ice cream at first but found out that it was quite good and refreshing.
They sat there even after they were done eating and continued to stare at the storm. Shortly after, they could see the shapes of many carriages leaded by what looked like horses coming toward the castle. After they came in, they saw Hagrid struggling to guide another group of students to the castle through the thick rain.
Everything fell silent again as the four of them waited for Dobby to call them in the Great Hall so they could present themselves. But before that happened, another figure walked on the school's grounds.
"Is that a Heartless?"
Zexion frowned. "I don't think so Demyx!"
"Does that mean, we're gonna let it in the castle?" asked Axel playing with the stick of his ice cream.
"We'll see soon enough!"
Just then, a lightning shot through the sky, lighting up the grounds and the place where the quartette was standing behind the clock, casting shadows in every corner of the tower and revealing every gear and bell inside of it.
Demyx whimpered and came closer to Zexion who rolled his eyes. After another few chats, Dobby came and announced them to come.
…
Earlier…
"This is so cruel!" Hermione snapped putting her fork down and crossing her arms.
"Hermione, they don't want to be paid!" spoke Ron watching exasperated as the brown haired girl huffed and turned her head.
"Then what about holydays? About medical insurances? Shouldn't they have those too?" the girl almost yelled bitterly.
"And what would you do about that?" asked the red haired boy jokingly. "Hunger strike?"
"Slavery! That's what made out dinner! SLAVERY!" With that she refused to take another bite and glared superiorly at anyone who dared to stare at her.
After everyone finished their dinner, the desert appeared on the tables. There were all kind of cakes and flans and waffles capable of attracting everyone's eyes with their variety and sweet smells. In a few minutes everything was gone and the humming in the Great Hall ceased when Dumbledore stood up.
"So, now that our stomachs are full I will ask you to listen to some usual announcements." Begun Dumbledore smiling. "Mister Filch asked me to tell you about the list with the prohibited objects. There are 437 objects if I'm not mistaken and you can find the list in Mr. Filch's office, if you want too…" a small smile tugged on his lips before he continued. "I also want to remind you that the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade aren't locations allowed for the students in the first and second year. And now I have to regretfully inform you that this year there won't be any Inter-house Quidditch Championship…"
In that second a wave of protest and yells came from the four house's students and stopped when Dumbledore raised his hand. "This is because – "
The thunder boomed almost shattering the windows and the doors snapped open letting a cold wind blow in the hall. In the threshold stood a man supported with a long stick and covered with a black cloak. Every eye was glued on him as he took off the hood and walked toward the teacher's table.
A clamp was heard each time he took a step closer to the front table. He limped until he came face to face with Dumbledore who to everyone's surprise warmly invited him to sit down. Another lightning descended from the sky and the students were stupefied at the sight of the man's face. His features were dominated by scars and part of his nose was missing. Also his eyes were different and not different in a way closer to normal. One was small and black and the other was big, blue and moved steadily without even blinking.
"Please, let me introduce you your next Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher…" said Dumbledore happily. "Professor Moody!" The only applause came from the headmaster himself and Hagrid while the other teachers and the students remained at the staring part.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued his speech. "As I was saying, this year the Quidditch Championship will be replaced with a bigger event that will deploy on the whole school year; an event that hadn't taken place for a century…I have the honor to announce you that Hogwarts will house this year the Triwizard Tournament!"
"YOU'RE JOKING!" the Weasley twins screamed over the cheers and yells that engulfed the whole student body, Moody's sudden appearance now long forgotten.
Dumbledore chuckled seeing the atmosphere lightened up among the children. "I assure you I am not joking, Mr. Weasley! But I've heard a very good joke this summer about a witch, an elf and a troll who entered a tavern and…" Ms. McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "Right it's seemed not a good time…no. So where was I? oh yeah, the Triwizard Tournament. The Triwizard Tournament was formed about 700 years ago by the three most prestigious schools of magic from Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. A champion is chosen from each school to represent it in the three magical tasks. Once every five years, the schools were chosen to house the tournament until some fatal cases happened and that led to its interruption."
Hermione exchanged worried glances with Harry and Ron, the latest only partially paying attention. The others didn't seemed to hear either the last part as they continued to whisper with the persons around them.
"With the help of the department of 'International Magical Cooperation' and 'Magical Games and Sports' we've succeeded to bring it back and make sure none of the champions will be in any moral danger. The headmasters of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will come in October with some of their students and the selection of the three champions will be made on the Halloween night. The prize is a thousand galleons!"
Another wave of cheers erupted in the Great Hall at the sound of the prize, but Dumbledore continued.
"even though I'm sure you all want to bring glory to your school, the headmasters decided on an age limit. Only the students older than seventeen are allowed to sign up and this – Dumbledore raised his voice when the revolting screams of the students reached his ears – this is a protection measure as it's too dangerous for the younger students to participate. Also…"
The students quieted slightly when Dumbledore's face showed signs of seriousness. "I have something else to tell you. Something very important! We've recently discovered around Hogwarts some unknown creatures called Heartless, creatures that from what I've heard are capable of taking your lives."
The whole hall apart from Dumbledore gasped when tendrils of darkness appeared out of thin air, swirling upwards and forming a black void from which got out one after another four hooded figures. The portal disappeared when the last person stepped out and Dumbledore nodded at them. They nodded back and lined up beside the headmaster waiting.
"You don't have to worry about the Heartless thought as I hired guards specialized in fighting them. They will supervised the whole school – and maybe even help with the tournament - until the problem is fixed and please…do not provoked them. They may not show it, but they are capable of crossing that line too." He watched attentively the whole room and nodded when he thought the message sunk in. "Now, you must rest and prepare for the next day when classes start, because we all know how much you like getting up early in the morning and listen to the teachers speak on and on and on…" he smiled kindly and few of the students did the same even thought they still kept their gaze on the black figures beside him.
The headmaster bid them goodnight and they all ran on the doors before Dumbledore decided to tell them another rather shocking announcement.
"This was quite a feast, wasn't it?" muttered Ron as he followed Harry on the stairs.
"Yeah! I wonder what are those Heartless and why needed Dumbledore to hire somebody to take care of them." He replied as they both waited for Hermione to catch up with them. The girl was moving slower than usual and her eyes were a mixture of curiosity, fear and amazement.
The boys frowned and Harry decided to ask. "What are you thinking at, Hermione?"
"Nothing…"she shook her head and they continued to walk through the maze of corridors, taking as many shortcuts as they could. "It's just that I've never heard of these Heartless…and it kinda creeps me out and I don't know why?"
"C'mon Hermione! You can't know everything!" the girl glared at the red haired boy when she felt a hand squeezing her shoulder. Looking up she saw Harry smiling at her.
"I'm sure it's gonna be ok! If Dumbledore said so than so it will be!" she nodded at him feeling somehow better.
"Now that that it's over, we can think of a way to sign in the tournament. Imagine just how would you feel to win one thousand galleons. It would be so great." Rom smiled to his ears as the thoughts of holding the Triwizard cup swam in his head.
Beside him, Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "Ron do you really think Dumbledore didn't make sure that none of the under age students will be able to sign up?"
"Yeah, but that would still be really cool." Added Harry thinking at how impressed would be Cho if he won the tournament.
"You're hopeless."
"Just because you don't have dreams beside taking good grades doesn't mean we're not allowed to have either. Right Harry?"
"Excuse me?" Harry laughed as Hermione's temper already started to give Ron a hard time. He felt good to be with his friends again even if their arguments could annoy the heck out of him. Now, walking on the seeming endless corridors of Hogwarts gave him a familiar warmth that made him feel alive and very happy.
The only thing he could think of in that moment was…'It's good to be back home!'
Finished this one in a good mood because I am in a good mood! Thank you to each and every guy or gal who reviewed or added my story to favorite or on their alert list. And I have to apologized for the long wait. The latest news about the story kicked in my interest and forced me to grab that damn book and type until my fingers bled. I still didn't start the next chap but I have an idea of what is gonna happen. And it may be some action in Kingdom Hearts style. ;-)
angel-devil ^_^