I really apologize for this late submission. Schoolwork has been driving me insane for these past two years to the point where I couldn't even manage my free time anymore since there was so much. Anyhow here is the latest chapter. Hope you enjoy it because it's the longest I had to work on (consider it a present from yours truly :D).
Flashback
23 years old and he was like a father to them. N, it was far worse than that. During the past few weeks he would definitely classify himself as literally a housewife.
It was perfectly acceptable to call him one considering that he was in charge of the household after his parents left for France as part of their occupation. When they were around, he was given a lot more time to himself and less time to be devoted towards his younger siblings. His mother often stayed at home when she was free doing all the housework while her siblings lounged around the house watching television or sharing the latest gossip with each other. When she was away, several burdens were soon forced upon Izaya whose role as the older and more mature sibling was to care for his younger sisters. And as an adult, with the amount of work he had each night due to his job, he had to commit himself to housework when we was not relaxing in his personal office for his sisters needed the extra time in order to complete their homework. The housework of course involved the obvious and Izaya admitted to himself that he gradually was beginning to despise the word.
Chores. Lots and lots of chores. From cleaning the dishes to scrubbing the floor boards to even expelling all the dust from every nook and cranny of his apartment room via the use of a feather duster. His annoyance grew with each and every form of work committed and worsened when his sisters were actually beginning to enjoy his torment. On some occasions they would purposely drop food on to the spotless tiles of the kitchen or place a wad of soap in the bathroom doorway prompting Izaya to immediately trip when he was not looking and fall to the ground, knocking over various toiletries along with him. The few days when he was able to go to work were almost a blessing to his very soul, as though his position as an informant was a beacon of hope.
In other words, life at home without his parents nearby was exasperating.
He woke up sweating, his fruitless dream of him mind controlling Shizuo to wreck havoc amongst the Yellow Scarves interrupted by a loud crash from below his apartment flat. He leisurely heaved himself out of bed and slowly made his way to the bathroom, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Like a sloth he paced the bathroom almost blindly before coming to terms with his private toothbrush, smothering it with mint flavored toothpaste before approaching the mirror. What he saw surprised him.
The sly and mature face had been replaced by the youthful features in which he developed during his year at Raira Academy. He stared at his hands which were now creaseless with the scar he had gotten after a beating from Shizuo becoming non-existent. His body was incredibly thin, much slimmer than his usual toned structure. He was much shorter as well.
Something was not right here.
He dropped his toothbrush and wondered into the living room where his sisters were busy playing a dating sim. The moment he approached them they started giggling, which again puzzled him for their voices were much higher pitched than before. He did not remember their laughs sounding like this. Then he gazed at the television and almost fainted at the scene that played out before him.
This is why I hate Yaoi, he thought frustratingly to himself.
He cleared his throat and began to pull Maiya and Kururi Orihara away from the screen, his hand reaching out to switch the console off.
"Mairu, I feel weird," Kururi said, causing Izaya to freeze just as his finger touched the on/off button of the Playstation 3.
"What's wrong Kururi-chan?" Mairu, while hyperactive and joyful for most of the time would always seep back into concern whenever Kururi was feeling unhappy. Not that she could tell that much though considering that Kururi was as stoic and as monotonous as a doll.
"I have this weird feeling in my chest," she replied. "It's as though it somehow has gotten smaller."
"What do you - Oh my god!" Mairu crawled over to face her sister and as a result stared at her face. "Oh my goodness Kururi-chan, what has happened to you? What sort of unfortunate catastrophe has befouled my little sister! What happened sister? WHY DO YOU LOOK MORE KAWAII NOW?! WHY THE FUCK DO YOU LOOK 11?!"
"Oh shut up."
The two girls whirled around to see Izaya staring at them, an unusual expression of annoyance on his now adolescent face.
"Oh hey there Izaya-nee," piped up Mairu, a mischievous smile dawning her face. "It's a good day today isn't it? I hope you're gonna make us some breakfast because we're…"
She broke off, her face twisting in to a guise of outrage and alarm. Her eyes were almost bulging out of her sockets as she continued to gape at Izaya's face.
"What did you say was up with Kururi?" he demanded. "And why are you staring at me like that? You look like you've seen an unholy spirit."
"Bi.. bi… Bishounen," she stammered.
"Huh?"
"What the hell Izaya!" Mairu screamed. "Why the fuck are you trying to impress me like that? Don't go around trying to make yourself look like some anime character! Have you no dignity?"
"What Mairu? I don't even…"
"Shut up!" Her yells were getting to point of hysterics at the moment. Izaya quickly tried to find a way to quiet her down before the neighbors started knocking. "I'm going to tell mom when she gets home! She is going to whoop your ass for using Botox!"
"Mairu honestly," Kururi said, impassively. "Izaya doesn't look bad at all. In fact he looks more handsome and younger now. He reminds me of that Mikado guy in fact." Izaya hoped she would stop comparing him to people he knew.
"That's the whole point Kururi!" Mairu retorted. "Remember what mom said about tampering with your face so as to make yourself a bishie. Oh she is going to be pissed when she gets home now."
"Shouting match?" Kururi wondered hopefully.
"Oh definitely…"
"Will you girls just listen already," Izaya said, placing his palm over his face in aggravation. "I did not do anything to my face. If you still don't believe me then what's the explanation that your sister looks a bit younger then?"
Mairu sat there, her hand resting against her chin in a gun-like pose. "To be honest I don't know." She touched her own chest then looked at her reflection in the television set. This resulted in her curling up into a ball in fear. "I feel the same now. Kururi, don't worry. You are not alone!"
"Chill out," Izaya said calmly, unsure of how to comfort them. He did not care anyways since it was not part of his supposed duty to do so. He strode to the kitchen pondering about the events that have occurred in the morning. Perhaps it had something to do with the letters sent by the Magic school. Maybe this was the Wizard's way of punishing people for tearing up their letters.
"How can I chill out?" Maiya demanded. "I am not even past puberty yet!"
"You've always been that way. I and I bet all of your friends will fail to see any difference in you," Izaya retaliated, earning a hard punch to the stomach by his sister. Sometimes he wished he could just torment Mairu instead of Shizuo. And in a way in which she would not notice. He doubled over in pain, his eyes suddenly drifting to a letter that was lying in front of him.
How did that get there? It just seemingly appeared in the middle of the room. That was not supposed to happen?
He picked it up. As expected the letter told him his address including the number of the Apartment room he was staying in. There were two individual letters beside it for both of his sisters, all of them displaying their names and addresses in full detail to even the least important information such as their room numbers. When he saw their bedroom numbers listed on there, he can't help but guess that the wizards were psychopathic stalkers as well.
Well, might as well know what the fuss is all about then, he thought.
He tore open the top of the envelope and pulled out the letter, reading it with the littlest amount of interest as though an invisible entity was behind him and binding him to this spot unless he had finished reading it. The two sisters crowded together behind him, trying to catch a glimpse of the words, inquisitiveness etched on their now pale faces.
"What does it say Iza-nii?" Mairu asked.
"Just something about inviting us to this magic school," he murmured. The letter was written entirely in English so he could understand why the two would not be able to read it properly. Luckily for him, his knowledge in this language was adequate enough to pick out enough words and phrases to make it explicable. "There's an equipment list on the bottom and it says we need to go to somewhere called Diagon Alley."
"Where the hell is that?" Mairu questioned. "I've never heard of that place!"
"It says it's in London."
"What the hell Iza-nii!" Mairu mouth flew open in a wide o shape. "If we go there our parents are gonna murder us! They'll be worried sick!"
"Well they're going to murder us anyways because of the fact that we somehow made ourselves younger," Kururi said.
"Yeah well that too! Oh man I wish they are here now. If they were they would understand and then they could help us!"
"What's the matter sister?" Izaya mocked. "Are you so young now that you need your mommy and daddy to hug you and kiss your lovely little cheek when you go to sleep?"
Apparently teasing Mairu was a huge mistake on Izaya's behalf. It all happened in practically a millisecond, courtesy to his sister's advanced reflexes. First he felt pain, a lot of pain as he felt his teeth almost get smashed apart. He then coughed blood onto the carpet, his cheek suddenly bruised where his sister's feet had connected.
A few knocks sounded from beyond the living room door. Izaya advanced towards it and peered through a tiny glass hole on the door to see who their visitor was. It was a man with skin color that matched Simon Breznev's one and he was clothed in very loose clothing consisting of an overweight linen shirt and velvet slacks. The expression on his face was an indication that this man was an individual of high authority. It was quite reminiscent of the judges at the local court. But why would a person with great respect, come to his home in the morning clothed in garments that would not look out of place if he were a street artist.
Whoever this man is, Izaya thought. He has a bad taste in fashion.
After wrenching the door open, the man held out his hand which Izaya, almost in a reluctant but curious fashion, shook. His mouth curled into a smile, but his eyes still made it clear that power and respect was still present.
"Good morning," he said. "I believe this is the Orihara household isn't it?"
"Yes it is," Izaya said. He was about to trick him into thinking he was Shinra instead but decided against it. If this man was really one of exquisite status, then lord knows what will happen if he found out his honor was being challenged.
"Excellent, I was hoping this would be the place," the man said, sternly. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kingsley Shacklebolt, a high ranking and loyal member of the Ministry of Magic."
Magic. The guy just said the word "magic." Izaya knew immediately that he was most likely the one who had been sending all these letters. Maybe he had the explanation as to why they had somehow gotten younger.
He also found the need to marvel the man for his fluent use of the Japanese language. Very rarely were foreigners able to produce it this experienced.
"I came here to give you instructions as to how to get into Diagon Alley," Kingsley explained. "I trust that you and many others here are wondering why you are required at this school and why you have to go all the way to England to study. But no matter for that would be resolved at Hogwarts."
"Even the fact that we somehow aged backwards!" Mairu piped out.
"Somehow aged backwards?" Kingsley paused a bit on that sentence as he looked from the three standing within the living room to the photographs plastered onto the walls. "It is indeed quite strange that such magic has been forced upon you. I have had others who have the same problem as well."
"Wait there are other people going to this school? Like from Japan?"
"Oh yes there are plenty from here I can assure you," Kingsley replied. "But I'm sure the headmaster of Hogwarts and many other staff members will be willing to help you out with that. Well I am required to give you this letter which sealed inside is instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley and your plane ticket. More details will be specified on your plane ticket, the instructions and the previous letter you have been received. We are afraid that contacting us would not be possible as our owls are now restricted from accessing Japan as many died of fatigue while giving your letters to you and we can't afford any more casualties."
He then gave a bow and retreated slowly from their apartment room. Izaya shut the door and propped three envelopes he had received from him onto the coffee table.
"Well this is gonna feel awkward," Kururi murmured.
Present Day
Izaya overturned in his slumber, the dream about Shizuo wrecking havoc amongst both the Yellow Scarves and the Blue squares briskly fading away. Tiredly, his eyes flickered open to reveal reality, the world in which his body had just regained consciousness. He peered at his surroundings, all of which don't seem familiar in any way to him. The location he appeared to be positioned in contained rows of beds, some with overdrawn curtains to obscure whoever was asleep behind it, others without them.
On one bed in front of him, he saw Chikage, the one who he suddenly started to remember, had tried to murder him that one unfortunate day. In his own devious minds, where thoughts of pranks, blackmail and trickery resided, he viewed it as a rather ironic, but fateful incident. It was ironic in the sense that he, Izaya Orihara, the man who has caused enough trouble in Ikebukuro to be sentenced to years in prison and has evaded both gang members, the authority and Shizuo without much more than a scratch, suddenly had his buttocks handled to him by a lowlife gang member. However he also thought of it as a fateful event, one he feared but knew would happen eventually. After all the commotion he had caused, he had it coming anyways.
"Looks like you've finally received your punishment, Izaya."
This sentence came from a familiar voice; a voice from a person he knew was going to be in this room at this very moment. It was a voice tinged with malice, anger, irritation. But now it also had a new ingredient added to it, satisfaction. This person was waiting for him to be hospitalized most likely so she could finally witness the humiliation he so rightfully deserved.
"Glad to see you're finally awake Rio," Izaya sneered turning around to face the now scornful looking azure haired girl sitting upright in her bed just beside his. "It's been awhile since that… accident happened."
Rio simpered at him. "And to my luck, its looks like I've survived it. Thanks to this school use of medication, I appear to have also survived with minimal consequences as well."
"Wow, congratulations," Izaya said, grinning sarcastically. "Maybe you'll now be known as the Girl Who Lived."
"Very funny Orihara," she said, her smile faltering to form an angry grimace. "And a pretty stupid thing to joke about also. Is that what you do every day, just try to wind people up with terrible jokes and attempts at sarcasm? And as for me surviving, this isn't the killing curse you know."
"How come you know all this?"
"Excuse me?" she half-shouted that answer out loud, but seemed to have decided against it at the last minute.
"Well," Izaya said, keeping his grin fully transfixed on his face. "You carry a sword around with you, you can use a wand exceptionally well and you now know about advanced magic. What's your story supposed to be?"
"None of your business…"
"All come off it, that's already getting old little girl," Izaya's voice now took a more patronizing tone as though he was imitating Dolores Umbridge in her attempts to converse with the student body. "You should know that people will not leave you alone after saying that. It's just the true nature of humans. Here to make things fairer I'll tell you my secret." He cleared his throat and said "I know how to cast spells without saying the out loud because of a certain book of mine. However it's much too advanced for you to read – oh no! This is for smart people like me who take pride in their studies unlike people who dress up like delinquents and dye our hair to make us look like hoodlums with no respect for the rules of the faculty. Why you changed your appearance is beyond my understanding to tell you the truth. I expect that toad had to rattle that information out from you am I right? I'm sure she gave you quite the croaking."
"There are no rules prohibiting me from dying my hair," she retorted. "Umbridge was considering making me change but judging by the standards at Hogwarts, she can't do it without the Headmaster's permission. And by the way that last sentence you just blurted out sounded beyond childish to me."
"Ah humans," Izaya sighed, stretching his arms in a comfortable position. "Always willing to propose a counter-argument. Adherence to this is now interesting me. "
"Everything interests you. Even the most vilest of things. How you're not in prison surprises me. Maybe when I grow up, I should present Madam Pomfrey with a gift, one that I would have encountered during my daily travels. She really is deserving of such a thing, unlike you."
"Honesty I feel flattered…"
"You feel flattered because you derive on insults," she scowled, her voice beginning to boil with rage. "You feed on the suffering of others and in return you want them to hate you, to dishonor you, to threaten you. You just hurt the feelings and lives of others because you gain pleasure and excitement from it! You arranged for my suicide that day and my kidnapping! Did you know how scared I was, did you even care. I thought I was going to be tortured that day or worse! But you… you betrayed me also. You told me you were going to assist me, but instead you tricked me into getting rescued at the last minute. I don't understand. Why do you enjoy all this? What the hell do you get out of this Orihara?!" He saw tears welling up in her eyes. "Yes you get satisfaction, but do you gain any benefits?! All you get is people planning to murder you like that Shizuo guy! And you don't even care! I cannot believe people like you even exist on this planet!"
Izaya rolled his eyes as he was listening to her ranting. She was right; his affection for human beings has grown to the point where he was beginning to enjoy their anger and raging. The way humans react to terror, trickery, betrayal and other fiendish acts interested him, he wanted to know exactly what made them tick and how far they would go to actually punishing the source of the fiasco. He viewed irritation as a complementary to his needs and desires. However she was incorrect in the sense that she thought of him as a man who feeds on human agony and sorrow. He believed himself to react to pain and suffering just like any rational human being would. Even if he caused a lot of trouble, he never went out of his way to actually have someone murdered or killed in the process. Sure he arranged for Rio's suicide because he wanted to see if she would actually take her own life in the process. He expected her to do so, but did not want her dead and as a result he had expected the Dullahan to rescue her. He arranged for her kidnap, he planned out her suicide, but he also ensured she failed to do what she felt was best. He valued the lives of human beings for their presence in this world kept him curious and content and sometimes even he believed that his heart was not entirely blackened.
"You know," he began. "You should be a little bit quieter than that. Yelling at me would make you feel worse and you wouldn't want me dead now would you? And besides you should be thankful for that rescue. You do know how awful it would have been for you poor mommy and daddy if you really took your life."
There was a moment's silence, then…
"You really are a troll you filth," Rio snarled. "You deserve no remorse, even when you're being hospitalized."
"What now I get insulted instead of thanked," Izaya replied. "Ah, naughty girl you are-"
"Don't patronize me you dick!" she said, furiously. "You… you did all that… just to experiment on me. You wanted to see me suffer and that's why you kept me alive! I feel like I want to just go to a corner and die now that I've known you tried to manipulate me in such a manner! It's as if I'm your personal toy! You… you… you disgust me!"
She forced herself under the blank covers of her blanket, breaking eye contact between the man she so rightfully despised now. Izaya heaved a sigh.
Girls can be so infuriating at times, he thought.
Masaomi Kida was getting impatient. He had been promised by Kadota that Izaya was going to teach them the use of nonverbal spells within this very month. However everyday he had been getting the same updates, that Izaya had not yet recuited Shizuo into their group yet. Sometimes he was going to admit that he did not trust the guy, he completely despised what he had done back in Ikebukuro, especially to what he had arranged for Saki that one unfortunate day. But he did not care an inch about having Shizuo join as well; he just wanted Izaya to just begin class sessions for him and several of his friends so that they can actually learn a spell. And with Umbridge restricting the practical teachings of Defense against the Dark Arts and instead basing the whole course entirely on theory from a book which he found to be not making any sense to him whatsoever, there was going to be no chance at this moment for him to actually learn how to defend himself. He needed to learn as many incantations as possible for this was to be beneficial to his mission to rescue Saki and Mikado from the devious clutches of the masked men that had attacked their train compartment. And he felt the need to learn how to cast them without uttering a sound because as Shinra had once said to him, you cannot just allow the enemy to know what spell you are casting. You need to enable them to guess so as to catch them off guard at times.
"You guys seriously trust Izaya to set this club up?" Masaomi demanded one morning at the Hufflepuff table with Togusa, Walker and Erika. "He doesn't appear to make any progress at all in getting Shizuo to join. And not to mention, he's landed himself in the hospital wing!"
"It's not his fault Kida-kun," Erika said. "Chikage, that bastard, just came into the classroom and shot him."
"You should be happy Izaya has even managed to survive," Kadota said as he sat down next to Masaomi and ignored the stares and glares he received from the Hufflepuff students. "I heard from Shizuo that Chikage aimed at Izaya's chest but thankfully due to his quick senses, Izaya manage to sway to the side, only for the bullet to go through his shoulder instead of his chest."
"Not only that." Erika eyes lit up with anticipation as she leapt from her seat causing Walker and Togusa to release a low, but exasperated groan. "But Shizuo rescued Izaya-kun!"
"He what?!" Masaomi could not believe this one bit. Shizuo and Izaya were at each other's throats for the majority of their time at Ikebukuro. On multiple occasions Izaya tried to cause Shizuo's death whilst there were many moments where the latter was responsible for the injuries of the former informant. The two helping each other was almost as believable as Umbridge suddenly teaching defensive spells in her classes.
"Yes it's true; it's so very very true!" Erika had piped up, clasping her hands together as though she were going on a dream date with a boyfriend. "I've always known this moment would come! The moment where Shizuo would rescue Izaya from danger and while in his arms, proclaim his love to him! It's just like a boys-love manga!"
On the last line she let out a joyful squeal and almost fainted if Walker had not dived in to grab her by the shoulders. Masaomi was still stunned at what he just heard.
"Kadota," he began to ask. "Are you sure this is true."
"It's true," Kadota said. "After Izaya was on the floor bleeding, Chikage started punching him in the face making him unconscious as a result. But then Shizuo surprisingly saved him from further injuries by punching Chikage. And you know how strong Shizuo is. Basically Chikage was sent flying into a nearby wall, leaving a huge hole in it. But that's not all you see. Shizuo then carried Izaya to the hospital wing."
Masaomi slumped back in his seat in revelation, obscuring his face with the palm of his own hand and started sniggering quietly. Perhaps Hogwarts had managed to do the impossible, to change Shizuo's view of Izaya. Because the one he knew would kill the latter when he had the chance.
"In that case, it looks like the little club we were going to set up is going to be postponed," Togusa said, sighing in what Masaomi could indicate was relief. "I knew it was never going to work out for us. Guys a troll, like most people say. There are just times when you could not trust him."
"Give him a chance Togusa," Walker protested. "He can't help it now when he's sleeping in the hospital wing."
"So what's going to happen now?" Masaomi demanded, his face reddening slightly with irritation. "We need to still learn Defense against the Dark Arts else we're not going to pass the exams and we're not going to be able to protect ourselves using magic. I mean after Umbitch has taken away all our weaponry we deserve to learn how to fight using magic. I propose doing it the nonverbal way since the opponent won't know what hit em. But now Izaya's out cold. Who the hell is gonna teach us?!"
"I know a place where you can learn."
Masaomi turned around to locate the source of that voice. A girl, a Ravenclaw at that judging by the blue outline on her robes and the house seal printed on it, gave Masaomi a tiny smile as she approached the Hufflepuff. Her face was what Masaomi would regard as pretty, with long blond hair that almost flowed along with the wind and eyes that sparkled vigorously. But underneath all that beauty there was also something a little off about her. He took into account the miniature beer mugs attached together in one chain were dangling off her earlobes, a rather odd pair of sunglasses were perched upon the topmost portion of her forehead and the fact that her eyes appeared to be staring at him in a dreamy fashion as though she were drifting off into her own personal world. Two other girls, one Chinese and one that looked European enough to be from this country, were standing beside her with awkward looks on their faces as though they felt like wanting to run away from this situation. He identified the two as Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe. Anri was visible behind the two of them, smiling shyly.
"Erm… can I help you?" he questioned the blond haired Ravenclaw.
"I can't help but overhear you talking about a place to learn Defense against the Dark Arts," she replied. "I can certainly help you with that."
"Kida-kun," Anri said. "This is Luna Lovegood. She is fourth year in Ravenclaw so she is a little younger than us. Cho introduced me to her just three days ago."
Suddenly the hefty doors of the great hall were pushed open and all the students turned to see Dolores Umbridge, the usual broad and toadlike smile on her pudgy face, move slowly up to the staff table. She sat there on her seat and began eyeing the students with suspicion, ignoring the stares she earned from some of her peers.
"Listen can you come and talk outside instead," Masaomi told Luna as he stood up from his seat. "Privately," he added sternly to the other two Ravenclaw girls who just seemed to shrug in unison.
"Of course," Luna said with obvious understanding of why he decided to talk in private.
He nodded and exited the hall with her, trailed briskly by Erika, Kadota, Walker, Togusa and Anri. The seven of them rounded the corner outside of the main building and headed for a colossal tree not too far from the entrance hall. Masaomi was the first to start the conversation, making himself at home by sitting cross-legged in the shadowy shade in which the tree so gleefully provided. The others followed his example, some sitting exactly in the same pose at them while others in their own desired positions.
"Ok first things first," he began. "I said that this was a private meeting guys. You can't let Umbridge get suspicious."
"Well we want to know what you're talking about!" Erika said, her cheeks puffing out with annoyance.
"Oh don't worry about Professor Umbridge," Luna mused out loud. "She already got a lot to worry about anyways, especially with all those Whackspurts floating around her."
"I'm sorry but what are those?"
This sentence seemed to have brought Luna back to reality as she stared at Masaomi astonishingly. "You too don't know what they are? I thought you would have some knowledge of them since they are commonly found around the eastern parts of the world."
"Well I guess I don't pay that much attention in class," Masaomi said, awkwardly. "But that's not what we came here for? Your Luna right?"
"Yes I am. I already know all your names because you went to the sorting ceremony."
"Yeah, you said there's somewhere I can learn magic."
"Yes," Luna replied. "It's called Dumbledore's Army."
"Dumbledore's Army?"
Luna nodded, her mind slipping back into its usual dreamy state.
"An army?!" Masaomi was stunned. "What the hell is that old geezer doing?! Is he trying to actually take action and use students to beat Umbitch's fat ass open?!"
"Yeah ironic isn't it," Togusa sneered, his voice dipping with sarcasm. "The guy promises to listen to the Ministry to keep his place and now he's trying to rebel against them. Except, he's not the one teaching! You think Dumbledore would pull a stunt like this? Of course not, his reputation is already in ruins now. I'm pretty sure he's not stupid enough to worsen it."
"Ok then, so the idea that I'm gonna be taught by Dumbledore is out of the question," Masaomi pouted. "So who's the teacher then?"
"Harry Potter."
Walker almost choked on his food, Erika snapped back into reality from the little nap she was having, Anri's eyes widened with increased interest and Kadota looked defeated as though whatever he was planning had not gone so well. Masaomi tapped on his ear a few times as though he could not believe what he had just heard.
"You're serious?" he said. "Wonder-boy is the teacher?! How the hell can a 5th year be a good teacher; I mean he doesn't even know the whole curriculum yet!"
"Surprisingly enough, this guy's pretty good," Togusa replied, smirking at the stunned expressions of his peers.
Masaomi eyed him with suspicion. "How come you know about this, Togusa?"
"I've been to the meetings," he said with arrogance. "There have been 3 of them so far and he's planning on moving to a new spell for this next one."
"Why the hell did you not tell us then?!" Masaomi almost shouted the last word out, his voice deep and angry. "We could have saved precious time by learning some spells by this point. In fact I don't know a single spell apart from Lumos."
"I didn't know you guys were that interested."
"Well…" Togusa's reply had rendered Masaomi speechless. During the first few days at school he, the Yellow Scarves and several of the other transfer students viewed magic as just a nuisance, with many of them choosing not to do it since it challenged their own strength. Most were proud of the weapons they used in battle from baseball bats to guns and this was to a point where none of them were willing to substitute their brute strength with a melee weapon or their skills and knowledge with a gun for a stick that can (from what they've seen so far of it) produce little wonders. Masaomi was one of them that had grown out of this aspect after reading several fables in the library out of interest (not that he liked reading, but some of the books were so captivating) and listening to the Gryffindors rant on about the glorious victories the boy who lived had participated in. Gradually he had grown to respect the use of wands, regarding them as a benefit to the daily life of an ordinary student. Why bother cleaning your own room when you have a magical stick that pretty much does the work for you?
Now that Umbridge has prohibited the use of Muggle weaponry and has forced all the exchange students to hand those over to her so she can dispose of them, Masaomi and his gang had nothing to fight with when they would go and rescue one of his closest friends and the girl he is in love with. Wands were all they could rely on now.
Luna tried to calm the two down. "It isn't too late to join now though. We'll always be happy to see you lean with us at the meetings; it'll be a lot of fun. It's a lot more carefree than other classes as well and I'm sure that after the first ever meeting, you are going to find that Harry is actually a very talented and great teacher. You should not judge him by the fact that he's a 5th year anymore than you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."
"Kida we have no choice now," Kadota explained. "With Umbridge around we won't learn any magic from her at all and following a text based theory is not going to help us one bit. We need to practice these spells to perfect them, not remember large sections of text. This can not only help us defend ourselves but it can aid us in passing the OWL's which should give us time to find a way back home."
"Kadota you told me you weren't going?" Togusa said. "You said you weren't interested at all in it."
"At first I wasn't," he replied. "That's the truth and you're correct about that so I won't attempt to deny it. But right now we cannot defend ourselves because Umbridge has prohibited the use of anything we can use as a manner of protection. I doubt improvisation would be of any use as well if we were out in the middle of nowhere. I'm going to join this club because I need to prepare myself for what's out there."
Masaomi remained seated, speechless. Walker however jumped up and clapped his hands as though congratulating him for winning a race and earning a gold medal.
"Bravo Dotachin!" he squealed. "Well said! I never knew you were this smart before."
"Walker is right Kadota," Luna said. "What you said there is almost similar to what Harry and Hermione, another intelligent person, said during the first week of our meetings. I really don't understand why you're a Slytherin. You seem much nicer than the rest of them."
"Luna if he is coming, then can you tell Hermione Granger about it first."
She turned to look an Anri whose face was visible with worry.
"Well he is Slytherin," Anri explained. "And so will the others. I don't think many of the other houses would want to deal with this news since they hate the Slytherins. Especially the Gryffindor house. I think Hermione would understand if you told her. She seems to be more rational in a way than the others."
"I'll be sure to let her know," Luna replied, gazing dreamily at the landscape.
Togusa noticed that she appeared to be staring at something, something she seemed to be interested in. But there was nothing special out there apart from trees and hillsides. "What are you staring at anyways?" he asked her.
"Oh," Luna said which gave the others the impression that Togusa had just interrupted a nice little dream she had been having. "I just thought I saw a Blibbering Humdinger somewhere within the woods over there."
"A what?"
"A Blibbering Humdinger," she repeated.
The others all looked at her with confused expressions. Walker let out a laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"The name that is," Walker giggled, clasping her hands over his mouth in an attempt to suppress it. "What kind of person would classify something using such a silly name?"
"Dunno," Togusa said. "There are many wierdo's out there who would."
"My father is not weird!"
He turned to look at Luna who was starting to get a little red in the face. "Your father?"
"He was the person who came up with that name," she said. "He's a naturalist. But it's perfectly fine. Most people claim they don't exist because of how nonsensical their name sounds. It's to the point where they refuse to confirm its very existence. It's the same with the Crumple Horned Snorknack and the Heliopaths."
"Wait a second," Masaomi said, rising to his feet. "You are telling us all this, but you are not explaining to us about these so called creatures. What is a Blibbering Humdinger?"
Luna hesitated at that question, her eyes gazing at the sky as though she had just spotted a tangible object that had interested her. Anri eyed her with suspicion.
"Sorry if I'm sounding a bit rude," she said. "But you also don't know what they are."
"Me and my father haven't seen these creatures yet," Luna explained. "But we know they exist. We even have some evidence to prove it. Don't forget that some of these creatures are kept a secret because the Ministry is exploiting them for their own purposes. I know for sure that Cornelius Fudge keeps an army of Heliopaths within the Ministry."
"OH SHIT!"
The group stared at Erika who started frantically pointing at her watch. "Guys we're going to be late for the next meeting if we don't go now!" She cried out.
The students nodded in unison and prepared to make their way back to the castle. Meanwhile Masaomi turned to Luna with eagerness.
"Come on Luna," he said. "Let's go find Hermione and then get the gang! Trust me you'll get along with them just fine."
The Next Day
"Why is there a sushi class in the first place?!"
"It's called Japanese Cuisine class by the way and yes I agree with you, it has nothing to do with magic at all!"
"Yeah! It's like potions except this time it has no purpose!"
"Well I'm pretty sure there is some sort of rational explanation for this," Hermione Granger said to the crowd of confused and bewildered students around her. "Perhaps it's a way to get us accustomed to Japanese Culture so that we can easily accept the exchange students?"
"And why do we need to make sushi for that?" A boy by the name of Zacharia Smith replied. "Besides this teachers a bloody fraud. I bet he can't even do magic! Don't even try to stick up for him Granger!"
"Maybe it's because she fancies him!"
"I do not!" Hermione said, trying desperately to cover the reddish blush that was appearing on her cheeks.
The conversation immediately halted as the Hufflepuffs entered the Room of Requirement. Their faces which firstly displayed their eagerness to learn, were now replaced by curiosity towards the discussion.
"So whats going on?" Ernie Macmillan asked. "What are you guys arguing about?"
Hermione was the first to answer. "We were basically discussing the reason for having the Sushi class take place. I mean it came as a complete surprise judging by the fact that it's almost identical to Potions."
"That's because they wanna get rid of Snape," Hannah Abbot said, excitedly.
"WHAT!"
Having heard this, everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at Hannah and the other Hufflepuffs in surprise. Ernie then broke the air of silence and bewilderment.
"Well it's basically because the teachers here are suspecting that he's a Death Eater. At least that's what we've heard from McGonagall and Dumbledore."
"Stop fibbing Ernie," Zacharia retorted rudely. "There's no bloody way they'll tell you that."
"That's because we were eavesdropping on them you bloody idiot!" Ernie said angrily. "It happened in the morning. Me, Hannah and Justin were heading towards Divination when we caught a glimpse of McGonagall talking with Dumbledore in the Transfiguration classroom. So we got curious, like most people, and we started to listen in on the conversation. Of course Fred and George were so kind to hand us those extendable ears…"
"Only 20 sickles everyone!" Fred Weasely yelled out.
"Guaranteed to manage your mischief! But don't worry, that toad is too busy sleeping on her lily pad to find out!" His twin brother blurted out. A few traces of giggling were soon heard within the room. It took Ernie to clear his throat audibly in order to suppress it.
"As I was saying," he continued. "We used the extendable ears to eavesdrop on them. We simply pressed it against the wall and it worked. We were able to make out what the two were talking about. So we heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Dumbledore in a harsh voice that she has heard several teachers telling her their suspicions about Snape. Then we heard the headmaster saying that he had expected this to occur and it was in a rather solemn voice mind you. He then talked about the fact that Umbridge has been giving one of her widest smiles the day before which means, it's confirmed! She's going to find a way to get rid of him."
"I would be surprised if she did!" Dean Thomas had piped up. "Considering she's like a death eater herself." A lot of the students laughed and nodded in agreement.
"Ok what Ernie's saying kind of makes sense," Hermione said. "I mean sushi class is kind of similar to potions and by sacking Professor Snape, Professor Brezhnev would be able to improve his classes with some of the potions equipment. But I'm rather shocked to hear that Professor Snapes a… Death Eater…"
"That's because Ernie's got it all wrong," Zacharia Smith said.
"No, he's right."
The whole froze and began focusing their gaze on Harry, his face suddenly showing a degree of anxiety.
"Well I saw his mark," he said. "I saw it after the Triwizard Tournament. It was when Moody took me back to the castle. Snape came and in and well there was another Death Eater there and Snape just rolled up his sleeves to him and I saw it."
He was hesitant to mention Barty Crouch jr. name for he did not want to be reminded of that moment and he felt that it would only lead to a huge rash of questions if he did mention him.
"You guys are talking about Death Eaters?" Kodata said as he stepped in through the threshold followed by Walker, Erika and Togusa. "I thought you weren't supposed to talk about them."
"Don't worry this is the room of requirement," Harry told them. "It basically cuts off all communication from outside."
"We could however put a Muffliato spell on you," the twins said jokingly.
"Mufflia… what?"
"You know what. Nevermind."
"Anyhow why wouldn't they just issue another potions master?" one student by the name of Anthony Goldstein asked. "While change it from potions to Japanese cuisine? Surely you guys must know," he added pointing to Kadota and his group.
"Because they are… delicious?" Erika replied, rather uneasily. She for one did not like herself and her friends being the center of attention. Several students around her nodded in agreement and began to drop the subject immediately before more arguments are raised.
"Are anymore exchange students coming?" Harry asked, inquisitively.
"I know Kida-kun, Anri-chan and Shinra-kun are coming," Erika replied. "I don't know who else is though. Thing is a lot of us aren't interested in magic. No offense but we're more used to guns and baseball bats and stuff for self-defense."
"Well all right then, everyone!" Harry started to call out. "While we're waiting lets… erm split into pairs and practice the disarming spell. Erika you can be with Kodata and Walker you'll be with Togusa then. Just wave your wands and say Expelliarmus. Me, Ron and Hermione will be around when you need help."
Togusa glared at Walker but proceeded to follow the protocol and pull out his wand. Erika looked at Kodata with concern.
Soon after everyone was shouting the spell and casting it at their partners, disarming them in the process. Harry turned to Kodata and his gang and said "You might want to tell the others that Umbridge has issued a decree banning the possession for muggle weapons. Just a heads up because she is willing to expel anyone who gets caught."
"Understood," Kadota said in response.
He walked away and went to answer Neville Longbottom's plea for assistance. Erika then craned her neck around to face Kadota.
"Hey Erika!" Walker called. "What's the name of the spell again?"
"I think it's Ex-pell-imus," she called back, uncertain of her answer. "I think you should ask Potter-san cause I'm not sure!"
"Damn it just ask him Walker," Togusa said, irritated by the fact that he and his partner were wasting their precious time by just standing there, dawdling. "Don't be so damn shy. If he does anything bad we'll beat his ass up anyways. Damn it, all this shouting in the room is pissing me off! I hope Izaya will get his sorry little ass out of hospital," He added the last sentence in a low murmur.
"Erika you ready?" Kodata asked, therefore earning an immediate nod from his partner. "Ok then. Expelliarmus!"
Instead of Erika's wand flying out of her hand, Kodata's sleeves were soon set aflame. He immediately pulled his flaming sweater and flew it onto the floor, stepping on the sleeves in hopes of being able to extinguish the flames licking up the dusky colored wool. His actions have earned him giggles from a pair of girls next to him.
"Damn it, I said it correctly didn't I?" he said.
"No, I think you mispronounced it," Erika replied. "I think it's because we're Japanese."
"No, it's because we're too used to the Japanese language," Kodata said. "We should wait for Potter to help us."
"Agreed," Walker said next to them. "Nothing's coming out of my wand!"
"That's because you're not saying it correctly dumbass," Togusa retorted.
In a few seconds Harry came over to teach them the basics of the spell and the wandwork and hand movements of it required to produce it. He also aided them with their pronounciation of the spell, ensuring Walker than it was Expelliarmus not Expellimus or Expelliarmass. Before Kida arrived with Anri, Shinra, Luna Lovegood and a group of fellow Yellow Scarve members, only Kadota was able to successfully disarm his partner.
"Wow, you guys are late," Harry said as he approached them.
"Sorry," Masaomi apologized. "Me and my gang couldn't find the place. Thank goodness Luna showed us though. Although we started talking and all you see."
"It's ok," Harry said. "We noticed you all were not at Hogmead, so to be honest we were not really expecting any of the exchange students to come. And we couldn't just spread the location out loud because of Umbridge. I'm guessing we won't have time for the disarming spell so you guys will learn the Impediment jinx instead. But we'll practice disarming each other at the start of next lesson anyways."
He equipped his whistle and blew on it as hard as he could, causing everyone in the room to stop what they are doing. After seeing the success of his first lesson, Harry was feeling much more confident in tutoring the D.A with the next spell; this time a more advanced one. With a spellbook open in his hand, he thought it would be best to the start the lesson by explaining to the group the basics of the spell and what it can be used for.
"The Impediment jinx is what we're going to learn next," he lectured. "This jinx can be used to basically immobilize your target and basically slow him down. So it's kind of good for escaping from your enemy, so if a Death Eater starts pursuing you, you can erm… cast this spell and just freeze him in his place. All you have to do to cast this spell is to yell out 'Impedimenta'… So I'm guessing you could all practice this in the same pairs, or you could just form a group and then practice it amongst each other if you would like. We'll spend 20 minutes practicing and then we'll use the remaining time we've got left before dinner to start a short duel, using only this spell of course."
The D.A soon got together and began successfully to practice the spell. Many of them impressed him especially Colin Creevey whose jinx manage to knock his brother backwards into a cluster of pillows by a nearby alcove. Dennis Creevey, instead of telling his brother off, began to actually applaud him for his work along with several other students who had witnessed his use of the jinx.
"Harry, I for one do not regret your decision to teach the D.A," Ron said as everyone exited the Room of Requirement. "Honestly I think you're better than Professor Lupin! I haven't seen anyone learn a spell that quick before!"
"No Ron, I'm not better than Lupin," Harry told him as he stepped over the threshold of the Room of Requirement with Hermione exiting it on his right hand side. "Don't you remember? Lupin's in the Order. I'm not."
"Don't let yourself down too much Harry," Hermione said. "You're an amazing teacher and what makes it even better is that you're a student too. Very, very few people your age have this amount of talent for teaching Defense against the Dark Arts."
"Yeah mate I mean you even got Neville to cast a spell," Ron said, encouragingly. "I mean he is a good wizard and all, no offense. But it usually takes time for him to cast one successfully. I mean bloody hell! When you taught him Impedimenta, he instantly froze you in your place!"
"Not to mention those exchange students too. Harry, they had absolutely no experience in magic before and little to no experience in our language and pronunciation. And by the end of the lesson most of them were able to perfect that spell. That is an astounding achievement in Wizarding history." Hermione's gushing helped improve Harry's mood as he headed up the staircase to the Gryffindor Common Room, pursued closely by his companions.
He had expected the lessons to go horribly wrong, maybe even expect to take full responsibility for all the misfires that might have occurred. But the D.A so far was an instant success to the extent that members of the club often approached him in the corridors, showering him with whispered praises and silent thumbs up. Even the exchange students began to take note of his proficient use of the defense spells, with their previous prospect of him as an attention-seeking show-off being shoved violently out of the metaphorical window. The Japanese complimented him using their own cultural methods unlike the others. They stopped to bow politely to him in between lessons, busied him with requests for certain spells and becoming much more talkative in his presence with their questions ranging from whether Hogsmead was a good place to shop to questioning the true secret behind his teaching ability. Harry's reasons for these often involved him stating that he was unsure and was just as surprised at himself as they were. Some of the ruder folk even claimed that Lady Luck was on his side and that he was lucky to have gotten acquainted with her. Some of the politer ones pointed out his exquisite talent in the subject he taught and even went as far as to sneak some gifts beside his trunk in which Ron Weasley, who was beginning to develop a keen interest in Japanese Culture, always seemed to point out. This consisted of souvenirs, handmade paper cranes whom Hermione said were called origami, several delicacies that were requested to be made by the House elves (Hermione shook her head in disgust at this) and some entertainment such as video games, Japanese animation (which were apparently called anime for short) and piles of comic books wrapped in plastic with the word 'Manga' written on a scrap piece of parchment on top of it. Despite having little knowledge of the latter two items, Harry still thanked his givers civilly.
"Where and how on earth did they get all these?" Ron asked, as he tore open the plastic and grabbed a manga to sit down and read from. "I didn't know they sell these in English."
"Probably smuggled it," Harry replied. "Just like they did with all the Muggle weaponry."
"Hope they bring more." Ron had appeared to have taken after his father, a worker at the Ministry of Magic who has interests within the Muggle culture. Because now the fiery redhead was diving into comic book after comic book, ignoring protests from Hermione about the fact that he was reading it the wrong way around.
The following D.A meetings went just as well as the previous ones had. Despite some still unable to perfect the spell, most notably the exchange students, many of them have pleased Harry in their use of the particular spell that was taught. This was to the point where Harry began issuing duels before the end of the lesson much more often than before. He beamed at every Impediment jinx being cast, at every object being reduced by the Reducto spell and at every person being stunned for a short period of time in the one on one duels. Soon after, everyone in the group including the transfer students could at least disarm each other in combat.
In fact there were moments where he wished some didn't master their spells. After the second session practicing the stunning spell, several of the Japanese students began using it on each other outside of lessons mostly out of an old rivalry they had back in their homeland. As a result two gangs were formed up; the Blue Squares which whose members started to identify themselves via blue armbands and the Yellow Scarves who Harry had seen make an appearance at all the D.A meetings and just as their name suggests, they swore by the usage of yellowish scarves adorning their necks or just completely covering their mouths. The latter's experience in magical defense had put the former at a disadvantage due to Umbridge's latest educational decree banning the use of baseball bats, knives and guns. Not that it did not stop some of the more intelligent members who took full advantage to use the shrinking charm on their weapons, safety stowing them in their pockets. The amount of wand violence the Yellow Scarves demonstrated concerned Harry for he was worried that they would attract Umbridge's attention and raise her suspicions about the D.A (which was quite obvious judging by the educational decree forcing a ban on unapproved clubs). At the latest meeting, he told them and Masaomi (whom he identified as the leader) specifically to not jinx or duel other people in the school. Masaomi agreed for them to lay down their weapons when in the hallways, but several other members of the gang outright refused his offer and walked out of the Room of Requirement. On the next day, Terry Boot, Justin Finch Fletchley and Neville Longbottom became victims of stunning spells from what they were able to recount as robed students with yellow scarves obscuring their identity. Harry sincerely hoped that Umbridge was not going to adopt Ministry interrogation techniques during detentions if any of them were caught.
Another flood of complaints he had to deal with was the fact that some of the exchange students joining Dumbledore's Army were Slytherins with Kodata being amongst them. The majority of Gryffindors and to a lesser extent, the Hufflepuffs began laying down their house rivalry beliefs, trying with desperation to convert Dumbledore's Army into a Slytherin-free club. However some students explained that their issues were far more than merely just tradition.
"Yes we know that they are exchange students," Dean Thomas elaborated. "But since they're in Slytherin, don't you have this feeling that they're gonna tell Draco Malfoy and the others about our group?"
Harry had no choice but to agree with him. These Slytherin students would be staying in the same common room and possibly the same dormitory as Malfoy and his cronies. They would want to know where they have been and any ounce of suspicion would cause the D.A to shut down and its members to be expelled. Of course though, it would be easy to spot the traitor for they would have taken the full blunt of Hermione's hex.
Dolores Umbridge had at this moment seemed to have gotten to the point of sheer hypocrisy with her self-written educational decrees. She had promised the students in creating a "happy, fun filled environment for children to enjoy as a benefit to their education and further developments." But instead at least to everyone's opinion, she had gone against that pledge and had commenced to stripping the students of their own free will. In addition to banning weaponry and certain clubs, she had also forbidden kissing, flirting, exchanging certain degrees of information, the use of wand magic anywhere apart from classes (people suspected that this was due to the recent incidents involving the Yellow Scarves and the Blue Squares) and many more. All of them contained the same consequences: expulsion from Hogwarts. But as indicated by the bans she imposed today, it had dawned on Harry that she had gone too far.
"Can you believe it Harry?" Masaomi Kida said that night. "She has banned anything from Japan. That includes games, anime, manga… everything!"
"I know," Hermione said, reassuringly. "She's going too far now. She's principally abusing her position as high inquisitor." She grabbed a manga and grudgingly hurled it into the fireplace, watching as the flames consumed it like a dragon would to its prey. "It's not only the Japanese objects she's banning but she's also banned Japanese Cuisine!"
Ron almost choked on the chocolate bar he was eating. "You must be joking Hermione!"
"Does it look as if I am joking now?" Hermione retorted, irritated. "However since Dumbledore is still headmaster she doesn't have the power to ban sushi class. Or should I say, Potions."
A piece of soggy chocolate fell out of Ron's gaping mouth and landing with a plop on to the reddish carpeted floor. "Does that mean, they really got rid of Professor Snape?!"
"No Ronald, that's not what I meant at all," Hermione said, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "The teachers did actually appeal to Dumbledore to have him fired, but the headmaster wanted him to stay because he is a person he could trust. Instead what they are doing this year is that they are going to have Professor Breznev's classes together with Professor Snape's classes for O.W.L and higher students. That means we're going to be making potions and mixing them with the Japanese cuisine that we're told to make in Professor Breznev's classes. Each class will take 30 minutes maximum so they are going to take up the whole of the one hour potion classes." She frowned at the disappointed expressions of Harry and Ron. "Oh come one you two. On the brighter side of things, we just have to spend half an hour with Snape. And besides I agree with this because drinking from most of the potions by itself tastes dreadful."
"Wow Hermione. How do you know all this?"
"A girl has her methods," Hermione beamed proudly. "I suggest we should give our thanks to Fred and George for those extendable ears."
"Yeah but anyway that doesn't excuse us from having a death eater teaching us," Ron scowled. "What's he going to teach now? How to add poison to the sushi? I swear if we make something like that, Snape better let Umbridge taste it."
Hermione did not give a direct response nor an argument to the morality of his words. Ever since Dolores Umbridge was assigned the position of High Inquisitor of Hogwarts by the Ministry of Magic, she had been popping into certain lessons watching intently with her notepad trapped within her grubby hands. Interruptions were almost frequent when she was around as she began pesturing students and teacher with floods of trivial and sometimes obvious questions. But what had properly angered Ron was also the source of Hermione's anger and cursing of this toad-like being after Care of Magical Creatures class one day. Apparently Umbridge found it funny to pepper Hagrid with uncomfortable questions with hints making it certain she was also insulting him due to her hatred of half-breeds. In fact this sparked a rumor amongst the Japanese that she was racist, with some even going as far as to proclaiming that she was plotting to get rid of them as a result. When students, Slytherins especially, questioned their outcries had evidences such as her insulting Werewolves in class and claiming that centaurs posed a dangerous threat to society being shoved in their stunned faces. That did not stop many from not believing them.
It was Masaomi that broke the silence.
"Potter-san, I have a request that should just increase your interest. Can you teach me and the rest of this club how to cast spells nonverbally?" he asked in an attempt to take on a more innocent demeanor as opposed to his rather mischievous self.
"Nonverbal spells?" Harry said. "What do you mean?"
"I mean being able to cast spells without saying the name of the spell out loud," Masaomi said. "Can you imagine the trouble we could cause with it? All the wonderful sounds of laughter as we hang teachers on coathangers by their panties and the pranks we could pull on those pesky Slytherins- oh how annoying they are!"
Harry looked at a loss for words. Ron gave Masaomi the same expression he had given Luna Lovegood on the first day he had met her.
"You can't do that mate," Ron said. "You have to say the name of the spell out loud. There's no other special or secret way to cast it as far as I'm concerned. Anyway as for pranks, I'm sure Fred and George will be able to help you out."
"Actually Ronald, it's possible to cast spells without saying it out loud."
Ron turned to stare at Hermione as though he could not believe what he was seeing. "You must crazy Hermione. Don't just say that because you're on his side."
"No it's actually possible to cast spells without having to shout it out," she explained. "However it is really difficult to learn. They're way too advanced for our stage." She turned to Masaomi. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we've never even attempted to use spells nonverbally. Right Harry."
"Erm… yes right," Harry said as he scribbled something down (most likely his homework) onto a parchment. "As much as I would like to teach the D.A this, we just have no choice since we don't know how to do it."
"Oh man," Masaomi complained. "Well that kind of sucks. I really was expecting to create wonders without people finding out what I just did. Kind of like magicians you know; they always have a trick up their sleeve and they will never give out their secrets."
Ronald snorted loudly at this comment, earning a direct glare from Hermione.
"Well he does have a point Ronald," she said. "Nonverbal use of spells gives wizards and witches an advantage over their opponent since their opponent won't know what he or she is casting."
"It's easy to tell which spell is being cast anyways," Ron argued. "Everyone knows that a stunning spell is red and a killing curse is green."
"Yes but there are many spells out there which don't use bolt and can't be identified until the person has cast it. Some spells also have the same color."
There was a silence as Ron tried to recollect his thoughts and fumble for a suitable counter-argument. Then…
"Hermione what is a Blibbering Humdinger?" Masaomi asked.
Harry and Ron let out fits of laughter at this question with the latter cackling almost uncontrollably. Hermione just stared at Masaomi and replied: "Luna told you about it, didn't she?"
"Ah ha."
Well, it just doesn't exist!"
"It's alright mate," Ron said. "We all know how Loony Luna is."
The Trio made their ways back into their dormitories leaving Masaomi to his own thoughts. Sometimes he wished there was a Hogwart's equivalent of an internet.
Well I managed to not end it on a cliffhanger there. Since I'm going to be flooded with huge piles of workload in university I'm not sure when I'll be able to update but I'll work on the next chapter and get it done as soon as possible. On the other hand please feel free to review this chapter because I need to know if it's any good.
