The next morning at breakfast, Dumbledore introduced Mystique as a Transfiguration "prodigy" followed by a small demonstration of her skills. After turning into a raven and back, the hall thundered with applause and Dumbledore ended with telling everyone that she had been sorted as a Slytherin. She sank back down into her chair next to Logan, who brushed several black feathers away from him. "No feathers in my food, if you don't mind, Raven." Mystique rolled her eyes, and picked up a box of cereal labeled "Cheery Owls." She pulled a face, "Is this like that toucan cereal?" Logan raised an eyebrow, swallowing his mouthful of eggs, "You eat cereal made from toucans?" Mystique narrowed her eyes, "You know what I mean Logan." He shook his head, "It's nothing like the toucan cereal." He grabbed the box and dumped some in her bowl, "Eat first, and criticize later." Mystique glared as she ate her cereal, and Storm, who was sitting next to Logan, sighed, "Must you two be at each other's throats?" Logan replied by spearing a sausage with his claws, making Storm glare and Hagrid, who'd reached for a sausage as well, snort into his pumpkin juice.
Mystique and Logan were civil, just as Snape and Logan were, but unlike Snape, Logan and Mystique constantly irritated each other. Finally, Dumbledore told them that although their rivalry was nonviolent, he'd heard from a source (Logan was pretty sure it was Charles) that there could end up being trouble. They were both seated in his office, Logan covered in ink (courtesy of Peeves again) and Mystique covered in cereal (courtesy of Logan) as he spoke to them. Dumbledore put his fingertips together, "The three of you will attend the Hogsmeade visit a week from Saturday so you can come to an understanding." They both nodded absentmindedly, until Mystique noticed something he'd said, "Wait, three of us?" Dumbledore nodded and looked to the door, "Severus you may come in." Snape entered, acting as if he hadn't been standing outside the door for the past five minutes, but he, Logan, AND Dumbledore knew he had. Mystique simply raised her eyebrows, unaware that he had been outside the door. "Little in the dark aren't we Mystique?" Logan said it softly and Mystique childishly stuck her tongue at him and he smirked when several cornflakes fell onto her exposed tongue. Snape didn't look at either of them as Dumbledore spoke, "Logan, Raven, the two of you have had a rivalry for quite some time and although I thank you in your efforts to keep it nonviolent as we are in a school, but I'm afraid that for the students and for the other staff members, I simply can't risk that you won't physically fight." He turned his attention to Snape, "Severus you and Logan worked together once, and seem to get along well but there is always room for improvement. The three of you will be attending the Hogsmeade trip coming up and you will all work to come to terms with WHY you can't get along and try to resolve it." Dumbledore's tone wasn't demanding, nor was it serious, but you simply didn't want to disagree with him, and his point was made and accepted. Logan, Mystique, and Snape left Dumbledore's office shortly after that, neither of them quite happy about the forced time they'd have to spend together.
Storm sat in her desk chair, rubbing her temples as she stared at the now clean office. When she'd first entered the extra Herbology office, she'd found that Pomona Sprout, the temporarily absent Herbology professor, had used it as an extra shed. It was filled with bags of dragon dung compost, several bags of dung, packets of seeds, and a Venomous Tentacula that had taken up residence. It had taken several hours and lots of rain-caused water to clean it and rid it of the dragon dung smell. The Venomous Tentacula had proven harder to get rid of, and Storm had resorted to lightening to get rid of it. As it was now dinner time, she made her way into the castle and to the Great Hall. She should have been suspicious when her nephew, Evan, passed her with surprising speed on his entrance. But she'd ignored it and continued to her seat next to Logan, whose hands were stained with ink, while Mystique next to Logan was absentmindedly combing cornflakes out of her hair. Storm shook her head but thought it better not to question, especially since Logan didn't look like talking. As dinner appeared on the plates, she scanned the Great Hall and saw Evan again; hastily hiding what looked like a red skateboard under his bench and grinning slightly guiltily up at her. She narrowed her eyes but decided it'd be better to ask what he did AFTER dinner. She didn't have to wait that long. A BANG! from the Slytherin table made her choke on her pumpkin juice, and when the smoke cleared, three people had elephant trunks. A girl next to Wanda stood up, pointing to the cups the victims had drunk from: "Don't drink the pumpkin juice." Storm blinked and looked to Evan, who was doubled over in peals of laughter along with half the hall as several more people fell victim to his prank. Storm slowly looked down at her drink and then back at Evan, immediately spitting out the pumpkin juice she hadn't swallowed, but at the same time already feeling a funny itching in her nose. She stood up, eyes whitening and hair blowing, "EVAN!" Hardly aware of the now present elephant trunk, she forced her winds to pick up every last drop of pumpkin juice, expelling it out the front doors, and turning angrily to Evan who held up his hands in surrender. "Okay Auntie O you win." The hall was no longer ringing with laughter, though there were a few sparse whispers. Storm literally stormed out of the Great Hall, the X-Men trailing behind her, and Logan laughing at her "nose job." She turned on him, "Don't you start James Howlett." Logan stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow, "Logan. I'm not James. Not anymore." Storm shook her head, trunk swinging back and forth, "I'm sorry Logan I'm just, tired." He shrugged, "I needed a laugh today. Mistake, the bat, and I are being forced to go to Hogsmeade next weekend." Kurt teleported in front of them making Logan growl "Elf" under his breath, "It's Mystique and who's the bat?" Logan shook his head, "I know what I said." Kitty walked through Logan, much like one of the ghosts would, "The bat is Professor Snape right? I've heard lots of people saying that he's kinda like a bat. And he is you know?" Before anyone could reply, footsteps sounded behind them and turning they saw McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey running towards them. Upon reaching them, Madam Pomfrey clicked her tongue and took Storm's hand, "Come dear, to the Hospital Wing. I'll get you sorted out." Half-dragging her down the hall, the others followed. Logan found himself beside McGonagall and decided that if anyone knew the conjuring food thing, she would. But he didn't know how to ask without sounding stupid. "Err, Professor-" "Minerva, please." He nodded, digging his hands into his pockets, and continued, "Well on Halloween I tried to make, er, real food but all I managed to create was a couple parrots." Minerva chuckled, "Well Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration does state that you can't create food from nothing." Logan nodded, "Oh. Well now I know that. Thanks." She nodded, "Your welcome. Now tell me Logan, are you, quite positive, that the man that gave you your claws was, well, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" He stopped: Logan had told only two people about his theory, plus the memories. And neither of those had been Minerva McGonagall. He looked at her and she gave a small smile, "There is very little Albus doesn't trust me with." Logan swallowed and noticed that they had lost the others in their quest for the Hospital Wing. He found himself suspicious of Minerva's intentions. He shook his head of all paranoid thoughts, because only one of four enemies was here at the moment and she wasn't Minerva. Nodding slowly, he replied, "I know what I saw. As sure as these claws, I now it was him." Minerva nodded and sighed, "He was a terrible man who did terrible things and you weren't the first or the last who suffered because of him." Logan nodded and decided to ask the question he'd meant for Dumbledore: "What'd he do to the Potters?" McGonagall started, gaping at him wide-eyed and sputtering, "H-How did you- How do you- How?" Logan sighed, "I heard Scott and Jean talking about it a while back. And the article in the Leaky Cauldron said he'd gone after the Potters." Minerva nodded, "I'm not the best to tell you, and it's a rather long story." Logan shrugged, "I don't have any reason to go to the Hospital Wing so I got time." McGonagall nodded and motioned Logan to follow her, stopping when they reached her office. She motioned to the chair in front of her desk and they both sat down. She conjured up a teapot and cups, "Aguamenti," she muttered, water spouting from her wand and into the teapot. When it had heated, she poured to cups of tea and handed Logan one before beginning. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named went on a terrible rampage, killing anyone he thought unworthy to live or have magic. A prophecy was made, stating that a boy born in July would be marked as his equal and his undoing. But He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named heard only that the child would be his undoing and went after one of two boys who could be it: Harry Potter. Harry was not yet two and his parents, Lily and James, had gone into hiding with him in Godric's Hollow using a Fidelius Charm, which means that one person is told of the location and unless that person tells you, no one can find the location. Their Keeper, Sirius Black, betrayed them to his master and he went after them on Halloween, three years ago. He went in and," she paused and Logan assumed this was where everything went downhill. Minerva took a deep breath, seemingly composing herself, and continued, "And he killed James Potter. He made his way upstairs and Lily tried to shield Harry from him but he killed her too. But when he turned on Harry something went wrong and his own curse was rebounded upon him, vanquishing him." Logan had heard many terrible things in his life time, some he only just now remembered, but this was one of the most terrible. "What happened to the kid?" "He went to live with Lily's muggle sister and her husband: Petunia and Vernon Dursley and their son Dudley." Logan noticed her harsh change in tone and assumed that these people were not very friendly, or that Minerva thought there were several other people Harry could have gone to, and that whoever decided to put him with his aunt and uncle (probably Dumbledore) was a fool.
The clock struck ten and all of the X-Men where now gathered in the Hospital Wing around Storm's cot while Madam Pomfrey worked on getting rid of her unwanted nose. The other victims of Evans prank had been fixed but Storm had waited longer so it was proving more difficult. In between Madam Pomfrey's spells and potions, Storm managed to spit out threats and punishments to Evan who didn't know whether to be scared or amused. "And after you scrub the entire Institute you will-" "Drink this dear." "You will do all of the laundry and wax the X-Jet and every vehicle owned by the X-Men-" "Wouldn't have my mouth open for this charm dear." "Evan you are grounded until you die. And you will clean the Danger Room for a month." Madam Pomfrey finally managed to get the elephant nose off and sent Storm and the others away and off to bed. Storm was still ranting as they went down the hall, and even after Evan, Rogue, Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Kurt had gone to their common rooms. Even after Professor X had bid them goodnight and gone to have tea and chat with Dumbledore, Storm still ranted. Hank went to his room, heaving a grateful sigh as he did, leaving Logan to deal with the rest of Storm's rant to their rooms. Finally he cracked, "Storm if you give one more threat to me, who didn't pull the prank in the first place, I'm going to find Filch and make him listen to you." Storm calmed down, rubbing the bridge of her normal nose as she stopped- finally- in front of her door. "I'm sorry Logan I just can't think of anything that would be a proper punishment for Evan. He has to learn." Logan yawned and continued down the hall to his room, "Send him a Howler. Goodnight Storm," he added before she could reply.
Before anyone knew it, the Quidditch game was upon them and with it being Gryffindor against Slytherin, tensions were high. Logan walked into the Great Hall early to find only one of the teachers eating, which was slightly strange considering there were two total. McGonagall raised a slightly shaking spoon of oatmeal to her lips but then set it back down with a sigh as Snape ate peacefully, oblivious to McGonagall's hesitant-if any-eating. Logan sat down next to her, "What's up?" She sent a look to Snape, "Well today is the Quidditch match between Gryffindor-" "And Slytherin," Snape finished. He set down his fork and wiped his hands on his napkin, "I wish your team luck Minerva, though I have done so the past three years and it's done nothing to help the score. We always win the Quidditch cup, and this year will be no different." McGonagall frowned, "Well Severus, luck is always appreciated." He stood and started to leave the hall, "I'd say 'break a leg' but I don't want to jinx anything." Smirking at Logan, he swept out of the hall, robes billowing behind him. Logan narrowed his eyes and turned back to Minerva, "Gryffindor's going to win. Snape's just bitter cause he gets to spend the Hogsmeade weekend with me and Mystique." Minerva raised an eyebrow and finally took a bite of oatmeal, "Really? Well Dumbledore did mention you would be making the trip. I would recommend the Three Broomsticks, not Hog's Head, and don't tell any of the students but Honeyduke's is always worth the visit. And perhaps Zonko's isnt too terrible." Logan nodded, "I'll be sure to pass along the information." McGonagall took a sip of her tea, "I'm no stranger to sarcasm Mr. Howlett. I'm a teacher remember?" He smirked and grabbed a piece of toast, leaving the table and heading towards the Quidditch pitch, planning on wishing Laura, who'd made the team, good luck.
The pitch was filled with all four houses, though only the Slytherin and Gryffindor colors were displayed, and there was a significant amount of red and gold. Logan veered to the left of the crowd, stopping at the changing rooms where Laura had said she'd meet him. She barreled out of the room, dressed in her Quidditch robes and holding her broom. "We're going to crush them!" He ruffled her hair, "You know I'm not supposed to show favoritism to any one house, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see Snape lose." Laura smirked, "I'll hit him with the Quaffle if I can." Logan smirked back and set his arm on her head, just as before, "Just not obviously okay?" She smirked and saluted him before hurrying back to her team. Logan smirked and made his way up to the professor's box, where Kitty was excitedly waiting to commentate. "Mr. Logan look! I'm like, the commentator!" Logan smiled and sat down, crossing his arms, "Way to go Half-Pint." The other professors arrived shortly thereafter and Madam Hooch strode onto the pitch. "Kitty you may begin commentating," McGonagall said from her place next to the excited X-girl. Kitty nodded and took the mic, "Hi I'm Kitty and I'll be your commentator! Gosh I'm so excited! Okay so it's the first match of the season: Gryffindor versus Slytherin! And there are the teams!" Kitty began rambling off the names of each team. She squinted at Laura, who was currently crushing the Slytherin Captain's hand, "Hey! That's, um, Laura. That's Laura the Gryffindor Captain. Yeah." She turned to Logan, "Mr. Logan isn't that your clone? The one that like, attacked the mansion and stuff? What's she doing here?" Logan shrugged, "Same as you kid. Learning." Kitty turned back to the mic, "Sorry about that. Anyway so Madam Hooch just released the Snitch, and there go the Bludgers,.. And she releases the Quaffle! Laura has it and is racing to the Slytherin goalposts. Wow she's fast! I mean I knew she was like, fast on her feet but I didn't know she was like a cheetah! Go Laura! Sorry Professor I'll stay on topic."
Kitty continued commentating and if she hadn't thrown in funny (and mostly accidental) comments it would have been quite boring. Laura almost always had the Quaffle, and she always scored. Her teammates didn't seem to mind but Slytherin wasn't taking losing so well. They tried to foul her anytime they could, and even resorted to plain cheating but nothing worked. One Slytherin even ended up on the ground with a sliced broom. Logan had to bite his fist not to laugh then. "And Laura has the Quaffle again- Hey who's that?" Eyes looked downward to a figure running across the pitch, straight for the professor's box. Kitty looked to Logan, "Mr. Logan is that Sabertooth?" Logan sprang up and looked over the edge. His arch-enemy bared his teeth and growled as he ran towards the support beams. He rounded on the other professors and scanned them, looking for a familiar blue-skinned woman. Mystique rolled her eyes, "You really think I'd mess up my own houses game?" Logan growled and looked back down at Sabertooth. He lunged at the beams and the whole structure swayed. Logan slid his claws out and jumped from the box, landing hard on Sabertooth's shoulder. "How'd you find me?" Sabertooth smirked, "Revenge doesn't wait while you play school Logan." He lunged but Logan dodged sending Sabertooth sprawling. Logan raised his claws to end it but froze. Dumbledore had said no violence and killing your enemy definitely counted. Sabertooth took advantage of his hesitancy and lunged again, this time knocking Logan to the ground.