The common room was abuzz.
Younger students moved about, happily discussing their first day of classes. They bunched up together in little bundles of threes and fours, excitedly going over every moment and every lesson. It didn't matter that they had all experienced the same thing; they were all just so excited to be at Hogwarts, training their Pokémon and learning all they could that would let them become big shots in Avalon. Some were more excited than others, such as one overly excited Gryffindor named Colin who happily showed off pictures he'd taken with his camera while his Mime Jr. cheered in delight. The prefects knew from personal experience that there would be many tired students the next morning, as half the night would be spent lying awake, staring at the ceiling as their brains raced and their memories played over and over on a continuous loop.
The older students were also quite active, though for different reasons. Their attention and whispered gossip was focused entirely on a group of young Gryffindors seated in the far corner of the common room. The stories became more outlandish and wild with each telling, to the point that the truth had long been washed away and a sea of fiction.
Harry had heard bits and pieces of the rumors that were being spread about their battle at the base of Ravenclaw Tower. Some said that Harry and Neville had been possessed by the spirit of Godric Gryffindor himself and that the founder of their House had driven the boys forward to protect one of their own. They had, apparently, called upon the 'Sword of Gryffindor', a legendary Pokémon whose name had been lost to the ages but who was said to wait until the time when, at long last, the Heir of Gryffindor would rise up and return to take his place alongside the other lost Heirs to reclaim Avalon and bring it into a new golden age.
Others claimed that the story was all backwards and upside-down and it was Ginny and Luna who had saved the two 2nd years from the Ravenclaws. These students furiously described Ginny calling upon an swarm of Woobats to drive off the Ravenclaws and protect the two boys.
Their opponents ages and numbers seemed to always change and become more outlandish with each bit of barely-heard whispers Harry caught. A few 7th years were convinced that Harry and Neville had battle the entire Ravenclaw House in an epic battle that had lasted the entire day and saw 4 dead, 12 wounded and one converted into a religious zealot who now preached that the true creator of Pokémon was some sort of flying spaghetti monster. George and Fred were the source of that rumor, in Harry's opinion.
The bespectacled boy glanced over at his friends, each of them rendered silent by the day's strange turn. After Neville's proclamation the Gryffindors had followed their fuming Head of House back towards the tower, only for another confrontation to bubble up at the doorway. Ginny and Neville both refused to allow Luna to head back to Ravenclaw Tower. When McGonagall had coldly told them that despite her problems with a few members Luna had been sorted into Ravenclaw the red-headed girl and the shy boy (though that description no longer fit) had refused to budge an inch, threatening to sleep in the hallway if they had too.
It had been Hermione, who had her nose nearly pressed against the screen of her dex since the entire debacle began, who offered a solution. She'd gleefully informed them that student could switch houses if a relative or future relative was in that house and their guardian agreed. It was an old rule which hadn't been used in nearly 300 years, though Hermione had found a passing mention of it being attempted roughly 15 years early by the Black family. One quite note to Luna's father and they had gotten the permission needed to have Luna trade in her black hat for a red one.
McGonagall had finally consented and Ginny, absolutely thrilled that her friend would be now a member of their house, had dragged Luna away to the teleporter, wanting to show the far-gazing girl her new room. Several other first year Gryffindors had joined them, already jabbering away about how they would lend Luna clothes until 'that gallant Neville and Harry' won hers back 'in glorious battle'.
Harry shifted in his seat a bit, a pink tint coloring his cheeks. Most of his life had been spent out of sight and out of mind, being ignored by a vast majority of those around him. Remus had been helping to build up his confidence, of course, but that didn't mean he was like Prof. Lockhart, reveling in the spotlight when it swung his way. He found the light glaring and the constant stares put him on edge. He could manage when his fellow classmates saw him simply as the Boy Who Lived and Lily's Heir. It was a touch bothersome for Harry, at times, but it he would never let anyone know that, mostly because he didn't want it to seem like he was dishonoring his parents. His father was The Man Who Fought and his mother was a national hero, the slayer of Voldemort, The Woman Who Won; in Avalon they were beloved heroes who some believed should be made into saints. It wasn't his right, even as their son, to diminish them.
But it was, as strange as it was, his own accomplishments that made him embarrassed and would cause him to cringe. Being the youngest Runner on the Gauntlet team in Hogwarts history, already owning three Pokemon when most of his classmates only had one, his battle against Prof. Quirrell (though almost no one knew the true story, thankfully, as that would only make things worse)... all these things drew even more attention to Harry and he hated it.
Neville too had reverted to his old shy self. With Luna safely placed in the Gryffindor First Year Girl's Dorm, the young boy no longer needed to stand tall and fight against her enemies. Neville now sat on the couch of the common room, his knees tucked up under his chin while Flora rubbed his leg, cooing softly. She was making it clear that she was in complete support of her trainer and his actions.
Harry ducked his head towards Hermione and Ron, his voice falling to a whisper. "Alright, I have no idea what happened... one of you mind cluing me in?"
"What's got ya confused, mate?" Ron asked.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'd like to know what I got signed up for that could result in me losing Eevee!"
Ron just stared at him. "Well... I admit it would be bloody annoying but I don't see why it would be that big of a deal."
"That... that... RON!" Harry exclaimed. "Eevee is my friend... it is a big deal to lose him forever!"
Hermione scrunched up her brow in confusion. "Lose him for-? Oh... oh!" Hermione's fingers flew over the keys of her dex. "Yes, of course! I keep forgetting that you know so little about Avalon Customs." Harry's own dex buzzed. "I just sent you a guide so you can read up on it... something that just gives the pointers."
Harry opened the PDF attachment Hermione had sent, his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline as he purused it. "157 pages?"
"What, too short?" Hermione asked. "I did find one that goes into more detail about the bowing technique..."
Ron scoffed. "Leave it to you Hermione to make something like a Pokémon Battle dull. Look mate, I'll break it down real simple." The boys ignored the grumbling girl. "In Avalon there are families... many of them are just that, families. Mum, dad, so on. Occasionally though, one of them goes and does something important... defeats an army, finds a new Pokémon, so on and so forth. They do that and they get honored by the House of Trainers. Sometimes it is just a medal, other times they get some reward... but if they did something really special, they get a title."
"A title?"
"They become a Noble family," Ron stated.
"It's a hold-over from the days of Merlin and the Founders," Hermione stated.
Harry frowned. "Ok..."
Neville took over, feeling it was his right to inform Harry about everything, as it had been his brash proclamation that had gotten him into all of this. "Take my family... we got the title of Noble because my ancestor, Finnegan Longbottom, managed to cut a route through the Knight Forest and open easier trade routes between southern and northern Avalon."
"Ok... so what did the Potters do?" Harry asked. "I've heard of us referred to as the Ancient and Noble House of Potter."
"No one knows," Hermione admitted in annoyance; she hated an unsolved problem and an unanswered riddle. "The Potters have always been Ancient and Noble, at least according to the history books."
Ron waved his hand. "Alright, back to my point. There are then the Ancient families. They get that title when the family holds a position of some kind for at least 4 generations. Around half the gym leaders in Avalon are from Ancient families... the Longbottoms, the Potters, the Weasleys..."
"It uses to be all of them were," Hermione said, "but then the War happened and a lot of families were lost. The Black family is either dead or imprisoned, for example."
Harry slumped down in his chair. "Ok, this is interesting but I'd like to get to the part about me giving up Eevee."
"I'm sorry Harry," Neville said sadly, "I should have consulted you first... and let you know what was going on."
"Nev, I get it... if I was betrothed or whatever you and Luna are I'd have reacted the same way. But now I'd like some straight answers."
Hermione tapped a few buttons on her dex. "In the last 100 years there has been three major wars. The most recent was the Johto/Kanto War, which was fought between the Sons of Johto, led by Jack Kenway, and the armies of Kanto, led by Lance Blackthorn and Hirosama Koga." Hermione activated her dex's projector ability and the image of a bold looking young man silently giving a speech appear in the air in front of the group. "The first war, and the largest, was started by Team Manifest, led by the Hoenn terrorist Grindelwald. He preached that all regions should be united under one flag."
"He wanted to rule the bloody world," Ron said.
"He was defeated by the headmaster," Hermione said, switching the image to that of a tall, charismatic man with shaggy brown hair and cold, cruel eyes. "The second you know about... Avalon League Champion Tom Riddle, otherwise known as-"
"Voldemort," Harry whispered, staring at the image of the man that had murdered his parents.
"Right," Hermione said with a weak cough, turning off the image, realizing there was no need to cover that subject anymore. "The thing is, Harry, 200 years ago there had been in Avalon 30 wars in just a span of 15 years."
"What... why?" Harry stammered, trying to wrap his head around that.
Hermione sighed. "You had a lot of different families, each one with their own loyal followers, constantly butting heads over the smallest and silliest things. Honor is a huge part of Avalon's history and Ancient and Noble families don't like it when they feel that other people aren't showing them the respect they deserve.
"Then one day the House of Trainers hit upon a brilliant idea. They created Honor Battles, which allowed families to settle their differences with Pokémon in controlled battles, rather than in bloody wars."
"Ok, great... so what exactly is an honor battle?"
"Just what it sounds like, Harry," Ron said. "Two trainers, one of whom is from at least a Noble or an Ancient house, battle each other with their Pokémon. The entire thing is arranged by neutral third parties, in this case our head of house and Prof. Flitwick, and done in front of a group of witnesses to make sure everything is fair. There are agreed upon terms-"
"Like me losing Eevee forever?" Harry asked.
Neville shook his head. "Harry... do you think I'd ever risk Flora... or Eevee?"
"Well... no," Harry admitted. He felt a bit of shame that he had leapt to that conclusion; Neville would never do that to him and, more importantly, Neville loved Flora like she was his sister.
"To surrender a Pokémon to someone else is more of a symbolic thing. In the old days, yes, a family might hold onto a Pokémon as leverage, to ensure that the losing trainer didn't retaliate. But nowadays it's all just for show. If you and Neville lose you have to give Eevee to the Ravenclaws, they will make a little speech about how they are merciful, and then give you Eevee back."
"...huh?" Harry said in confusion.
"Again, its all about honor," Hermione said. "By giving up your Pokémon and needing your opponent to give it back, you are surrendering to them and their whims. It is a way to show they are better than you. You won't lose Eevee... just have to deal with some embarrassment if Chang and Edgecombe win and they make a big show of handing back Eevee to show how magnanimous they are. There is no way any of the professors would let them, or us, keep any Pokémon."
Harry stared at his three friends for a moment, his face twisted into a look of disbelief. "... THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU ALL BLOODY WELL SAY THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!?"
The three friends all tilted their heads in perfect synchronization, staring at Harry with befuddled looks.
The boy blushed... even more so when he realized that everyone in the common room was now openly staring at him.
"...never mind," Harry mumbled.
"Ron, could you and Hermione..." Neville trailed off, running his palm along Flora's bulb.
"Could we what?" Ron said blankly.
"Come on Ron, let's go see what Seamus is doing."
"Why?" Ron asked as the bushy-haired girl dragged him away. "Hermione, what-"
Neville motioned for Harry to come sit next to him, the Gryffindors mulling about the common room returning to their previous conversations. Placing Flora on the ground so she could stretch her legs, Neville looked at Harry and smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry I got you into all of this, Harry."
"Nev, I'm not mad at you for getting me involved with this. I'd be mad if you hadn't." Harry smirked. "Are you forgetting who was the first one charging at those Ravenclaws?"
Neville smiled back, though it wasn't as strong as Harry's grin. "Still, I shouldn't have spoken for you."
Harry shrugged. "Well, the next time I drag you off on some wild adventure involving trap doors and Snorlaxes, just consider us even."
"Deal," Neville said.
Harry leaned back, folding his hands behind his head. "The truth is I am mad about how little I know. I thought I was beginning to get Avalon figured out and suddenly I'm back to being the kid who doesn't know anything. Driving me bloody crazy."
"Harry, I've grown up in Avalon my entire life... my gran has been preparing me to take over our gym since I could hold a Pokeball... and I still don't understand half the things that happen in this region."
Harry chuckled at that. "Yeah..." he flashed Neville a sly smile. "So... you and Luna?"
Neville groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. "I am never going to live this down, am I?"
"You tell me, Mr. Betrothed. Is... whatever this is... common?"
"Depends," Neville admitted.
"On?"
"Who you are," Neville admitted. "And exactly what kind of betrothal you are dealing with."
"Losing me here, Nev," Harry stated.
Neville considered his words carefully for a moment. "Promise this stays between the two of us?"
"Well, since we are going to be partners in an Honor Battle, I figure we should be able to trust each other."
"Ok... first off, about 70% of the people in Avalon wouldn't ever have betrothal contracts."
"Why's that?"
"Mostly because it is an old Ancient House thing. All of this is really old, traditional stuff... add into that the fact that anyone practicing these things would want to keep it in house..."
"Neville," Harry said, "could you stop circling your point?"
"The people that would do betrothal contracts are like the Blacks, before they were wiped out, or the Malfoys. Your either a family that has done it for years or a family that WANTS people to think you've done it for years. Hermione's parents would never think of doing such a thing and Ron's family isn't rich enough to get away with it."
"What about the Potters?" Harry asked nervously. He didn't like the idea that one morning he'd wake up to find someone that look like Crabbe or Goyle in a dress standing at his bedside, proclaiming themselves in intended while holding a contract his mother and father had signed.
"Not sure but I doubt it. Your dad married Lily Evans and everyone knows she wasn't from a rich or powerful family. I doubt your mum would force you to marry someone you didn't know."
Harry nodded, not totally convinced but willing to put that fear aside for the moment. "So... you are Luna..."
"Not like that," Neville said, chewing on his lower lip. "You know that my gran raises me, right?"
Harry nodded. He had never found out the whole story about what had happened to Neville's parents and he could never muster the courage to ask. He could sense that it was a private story and one Neville would share only when he was ready.
"I... I didn't have a lot of friends growing up. I knew people, like the Weaselys and Draco, but they weren't friends. I was just expected of me to be civil to them, since we were all going to end up gym leaders one day. But there weren't sleepovers or anything like that... just parties where we were expected to behave."
Harry frowned at this. He was ashamed to admit that his first thoughts were not of Neville but himself; would that have been his life? His father had been a gym leader, and his father before him. Did James Potter subscribe to the same ideas that most gym leaders in Avalon apparently believed in? He had assumed since learning about his mother and father that growing up with them would have been wonderful and a million times better than being with the Dursleys. And yet now he could not be so sure. Had James and Lily lived would they have made him grow up like Neville did? Would he have been shown about as much love as he received at the Dursleys? Or worse, would he have grown up to be another Draco?
Neville, unaware that his words had caused such a crisis of faith in his friend, continued on. "When I was 5 years old there was this summer party... I don't remember what it was about; I only know that it was really hot. Flora had been born a few weeks earlier but I wasn't allowed to claim her yet, even though I knew she would belong to me the moment I saw her hatch." Neville slumped a little in his seat. "All the other boys were running around out in the garden of the estate... I think we were at the Greengrasses… but I just wanted to be by myself. The other boys wouldn't have wanted to play with me anyway... I was the slowest and was never good at wild games.
"So I am sitting under this tree, feeling really bad for myself, when this little girl came up to me. She had the biggest, widest eyes, like the whole world was one big surprise and she didn't want to miss out on a single thing. She sits down next to me and says, "I'll be your friend". I hadn't even said a word and she knew exactly what I needed." Neville shook his head, smiling slightly. "But that's Luna... completely blunt and saying things you'd never expect."
Harry smiled back at his friend. "Luna's a real original, I'll give you that. How did the betrothal contract happen?"
Neville scratched Flora under her chin. "When I got my letter to go to Hogwarts Luna suddenly got real quiet. She stopped sending me messages and when we hung out at parties she didn't laugh like she use to. It was kinda like how she was in the Headmaster's office... she was there physically but you could tell that mentally she was off someplace else. When her mum d..." Neville sucked on the inside of his cheek for a moment, unable to finish that thought, "anyway, she had already retreated into herself a bit and after that letter she went even further. I finally got her to talk and she told me..." The boy let out a blast-like breath. "She told me that it was easier to distance herself now, rather than find out the next summer that I was leaving her behind for all my new friends."
"How could she think that?" Harry wondered out loud.
"Fear is an amazing thing, Harry... I know that better than most." Neville didn't elaborate, choosing instead to continue his story. "I knew I had to do something to show her that I valued her and would never leave her."
"The contract," Harry stated.
Neville nodded. "It had other benefits too. Luna's mother was the head of the Percival Gym but her family was not an ancient or noble house... neither were the Lovegoods. I knew that there would be people like Cho that would try and take advantage of Luna, especially with the whole 'Gaze' thing... the betrothal contract protects her."
"Using their traditions against them," Harry muttered. "But what if you two decide you don't want to be together?"
Neville shrugged. "We break it. Since I arranged it with Luna we are the ones to decide. I don't know what will happen... we're only 12... but until I decide I want to protect Luna."
"And you have, Nev," Harry said, patting his friend on the shoulder. "And you can count on me to have your back when we take Cho and her sidekick down."
"Does that make you my sidekick?" Neville asked with a smile, standing up and stretching his arms while Flora busied herself with playing with a throw pillow.
"As long as I don't have to wear pixie boots and green tights mate," Harry said with a smirk.
As the boys teased each other, across the room a gathering of the Gryffindor Gauntlet team was taking place.
"So... those two are going to take on the Claws," Katie Bell said with a smirk.
"It better not interfere with practice," Oliver grumbled.
Fred rubbed his chin. "I do say, Ollie, I'd think you'd be more behind this little match."
"Yes," George added. "The little Claw Harry is facing is Ravenclaw's Runner... and our first match is with them."
"I wonder what it would do to their confidence if Harry went out and destroyed her?"
"Shatter it, most likely."
"Yes, brother, I believe so. Or make her angry and want to try and prove herself."
"Which would make her make mistakes, my smart brother."
"Indeed, my handsome brother."
Oliver glanced at the twins, a sinking feeling filling the pit of his stomach. "What are you two planning?"
Fred and George shared dual grins. "Tell me, Ollie... if the first key to battle is knowing your opponent, what is the hammer that breaks that key?" When the rest of the team merely stared blankly at him Fred rolled his eyes. "George, please educate them the proletarians."
"If you want to throw off your enemy... throw something at them they'll never expect."
"Like a new attack?" Katie asked.
"A new Pokémon," Fred said with an almost maniac grin. "A strong one… a FORBIDDEN one."
"And we happen to have a Forbidden Island near here, do we not?" George pointed out.
"...you are not... you couldn't..." Katie began, only to suddenly stop and mimic the twins' grin. "I'm in."
"I believe this is the part where we share an evil laugh," George said as the rest of the Gauntlet team quickly agreed to the unspoken plan.
"Yes, I believe you are right," Fred said before throwing back his head and letting out a wicked laugh that was picked up by his brother and then the rest of the team.
Neville and Harry shared a look. "I've got a bad feeling about that," Harry muttered.
~MC~MC~MC~
Author's Note: First things first, for all you X and Y players: Do you want to get something special for your game and also find out more about this story? Send me your Friend Code and I will send you mine. My Code will unlock a Psychic Friend Safari where you can capture a Grumpig (the evolved form of Spoink, Merlin's lead Pokémon!) and a Duosions (The second stage of Remus' Reuniclus!). The third Pokémon, you ask? The Pokémon that Hermione will catch and name Crookshanks! Find out early what Hermione's next Pokémon will be by going on my Friend Safari!
Simply send your friend code either by PM or in the body of your review (please have more than just your code in the review, thanks) and I will send you mine ASAP. I will friend back every person that sends me theirs. Then go get some Pokémon. Of course, be prepared for me to randomly select you for trades, send O Powers, so on and so forth. And you never know when I might be in the mood for a battle… especially if I have some of Harry's, Neville's, Ron's, Hermione's, Remus', or even The Lord of Sevii and Jack Kenway's Pokémon. I will, at times, even trade off Pokémon based on ones from this story to random lucky fans, including Dobby the Kadabra, Harry's Eevee and Ludwig the Litwick, or Neville's Flora.
Now, onto to the story. So we get an explanation of the Ancient and Noble families. I wanted to make both titles mean something, so that when you heard it you got a clue about the family and their importance. So, we have the Ancient House of Weasley (just Gym Leaders), and the Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter and Longbottom. Dumbledore's house would be just a Noble House (as only he has been Headmaster), and the Malfoys have neither title, since Lucius' family moved from Kalos when he was a boy.
A ton of little notes in this story of interest, and I'll be curious which ones spark more interest in you guys.
So many people were freaking out that Neville was risking Eevee… I considered stringing you along a bit more but decided to stick with my notes. I got the idea of the Pokémon give-and-return from Game of Thrones, only I made it a bit nicer.
I want the image of Crabbe and Goyle in dresses trying to snog Harry to be the last thing you all see before going to bed tonight (shudders).
Just as a side note, I have decided, per some suggestions from you the readers, to alter which regions represent which lands. This has resulted in a minor change to where Luna's mother is from, as the Veelas are now from Kalos. It now goes as such:
Kanto- Japan with some English mixed in. Home of Prof. Oak, Lance Blackthorn, and Ash Ketchem
Johto- Irish with some USA mixed in. Home of Jack Kenway.
Hoenn- Undecided. Possibly a mix of Spanish and Greece. Definitely Mediterranean.
Sinnoh- Germany. Home of Victor Krum
Unova- USA. Home of Drayden Arkenstone and Iris.
Kalos- France. Home of the Fleur.
Avalon- British. Home of Harry Potter.
What can I say, these things are always altering. I will discuss massive changes from my original notes when I come to them… this story has a huge one towards the end.
A note about the Ancient and Noble houses… while Avalon uses this, expect other regions to have their own titles and ways of honoring families.
