This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter universe, which are trademarked by J.K. Rowling. I do not claim ownership of these characters nor the locations such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, etc. that are Rowling's creations. This work also includes Pokemon, which belong to the Pokemon Company, and I again claim no ownership of these characters.

I thank both Rowling and the Pokemon Company for the universes they have created that allows me to do something like this for my own entertainment and, hopefully, the entertainment of the readers.


Over the next few weeks Harry and Malfoy's battle would be one of the main topics of conversation around the castle. Everywhere Harry went he found himself being congratulated by his fellow students, excited muttering breaking out in whatever room he happened to be in.

Malfoy hadn't exactly faired badly either. Despite having lost the crucial battle against Harry many people were impressed with his Servine for going toe to toe against a Pokémon that had an overwhelming advantage in type. The attention seemed to mollify Malfoy slightly but he still glared daggers at Harry whenever the two bumped into each other, his enmity towards him not abating one bit. It didn't help now that the whole school had become aware of the rivalry between Harry and Malfoy.

On the whole the Valentine's Day festivities were considered to be a success, with many students hoping that the battle tournament in particular could become a regular thing at Hogwarts.

Harry hadn't won the tournament, getting knocked out in his next battle to a fourth year Ravenclaw and his Luxio. Ron, too, hadn't got any further, falling to a third year Gryffindor boy by the name of McClaggen and his Rhydon.

The actual winner of the tournament had been a sixth year from Hufflepuff and he was all in favour of another tournament where he could have the chance to 'defend his title'.

In the end the tournament had provided exactly what it needed to in terms of morale. Before Hogwarts had been quiet. No one did anything out of the ordinary for fear that it would leave them vulnerable to attack. After, Hogwarts was more like Harry was used to. There was conversation in the halls again, a lot more joking around and friendly rivalry, and, most importantly, the Quidditch season had restarted.

Slytherin defeated Ravenclaw in the first match back after the Christmas break, the Slytherin Vigoroth just dominating their Ravenclaw counterparts such that, even if Malfoy hadn't caught the snitch, the score would still have swung strongly in Slytherin's favour.

Wood felt that this was good news for the Gryffindor team as they could win the cup provided they beat Hufflepuff and didn't lose when they faced Ravenclaw at the end of the year. The Hufflepuff team wasn't well regarded among the students and it seemed almost guaranteed that Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin would all win comfortably but Wood refused to let up, repeating the mantra that the only way they lose is if they don't take Hufflepuff seriously, and while this didn't quite convince the rest of the team that Hufflepuff would be anything other than a practice for the Ravenclaw game they still worked hard, determined that this year they would win the cup at last.

And the first step would be to defeat Hufflepuff, which is what Harry was planning on doing later this very afternoon as he got himself dressed on the Saturday morning of the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match.

"I'm not saying you're wrong, Ron," he said, pulling a shirt over his head. "I'm just saying I don't believe it."

Ron, who was lying on his bed, scowled. "It's as good an explanation as any," he countered bullishly. "He is a poison type Pokémon trainer. It makes perfect sense."

Since the battle tournament on Valentine's Day Ron had got it into his head that it must have been Snape who had carried out the attacks on Mrs Norris, Colin Creevey and Justin Finch-Fletchley. He based his arguments off the fact that Snape raised poison type Pokémon, that he hated everyone so had suitable motive, and that people trusted him enough for him to get away with it.

Harry didn't agree with much of this, remembering only too well how they'd been suspicious of Snape when they got wind that someone was trying to steal the Sacred Ash. They'd been proven wrong then and much the same arguments Harry had made back then were being repeated by Ron now.

There had been some news about the attacks but it didn't have anything to do with who was responsible.

Madam Pomfrey, after endless research into ways to counteract the venom that had been inflicted on the victims, had come to the conclusion that a special remedy needed to be made to counteract the poisoning, one that was determined based on exactly what type of Pokémon had inflicted the poison.

All students with poison type Pokémon had been required to submit their Pokémon for checks. Neville was one of these trainers, with both his Croagunk, Trevor, and his Ivysaur being poison types. He had explained to his dorm mates just what Madam Pomfrey was attempting after being called to see her, leaving Dean to comment that it seemed a good idea as he wasn't entirely certain Trevor would be completely innocent. Trevor had responded to the criticism by giving one long croak.

At that very moment Neville appeared in the dormitory, his face flushed happily, causing all four of the boys already in the room to look at him.

"What's up, Nev?" Dean asked, pulling on his socks.

"I got a Pokémon," Neville said excitedly, much to the rooms surprise, holding out a Pokéball.

"Congratulations," Harry told him, the others repeating the sentiment as Neville beamed. "What did you catch?"

"I'll show you," Neville said excitedly. He tossed the Pokéball and the Pokémon appeared, a green, bug-like creature that stood about as tall as they were. It had a pair of wings on its back and instead of arms it had two wicked looking blades.

"It's a Scyther!" Neville said excitedly, looking at his new Pokémon in adoration. Harry reached over to his bedside table and grabbed his Pokédex.

"Scyther, the Mantis Pokémon. With ninja like agility and speed it can create the illusion that there is more than one."

"That sounds so cool," Dean said, getting up to have a look at Scyther, who backed up uncertainly.

"It's okay, Scyther," Neville told him. "This is Dean, he's my friend." Scyther approached Dean slowly, still uncertain, but allowed Dean to pet his head.

"Where'd you catch him?" Dean asked, Scyther seeming to enjoy the attention he got.

"In the forest," Neville told him. "I was in there looking for berries for Professor Sprout's class and I bumped into him. I know bug type Pokémon are strong against poison types so I thought he could be useful if there are any more attacks."

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"Eh," Ron said. "I hate to break it to you Neville, but poison types aren't weak to bug types."

"They're not?!" Neville gasped, looking horrified. Harry sadly shook his head.

"They're strong against psychic type Pokémon," Harry elaborated. "And they are strong against poison types so if you wanted to catch a psychic type…" he trailed off.

Dean chuckled. "I like this guy," he said as he petted Scyther's head. "I reckon he's a good Pokémon for you Neville."

"You think?" Neville asked nervously. His excitement was now replaced with crippling uncertainty.

"Definitely," Dean said. "Why don't we introduce him to everyone?" Dean's Hariyama and Seamus's Monferno were already out of their Pokéballs, as were Ron's Arcanine and Wartortle and Charmeleon and Fletchinder, leaving only Neville to release the rest of his Pokémon.

"It's nice to meet you, Scyther," Harry said, approaching with Charmeleon and Fletchinder, who voiced their agreement. Sounds of greeting echoed throughout the dorm as all the Pokémon friendly welcomed Scyther into their group.

"Scyther!" Scyther cried happily, waving his arms in the air and almost decapitating Harry with the razor sharp blades.

"Watch it!" Ron shouted. "It'll be pretty bad if we offed our Seeker right before the match."

"Thanks for the support," Harry said dryly but Ron had reminded Harry that he was in a bit of a rush and so he quickly finished getting changed and he and Ron went down to the Common Room where they met Hermione and began their journey down to the Great Hall.

"A Scyther, oh how wonderful," Hermione said excitedly as Harry told her the story of what had happened in the boys dorms. "Scyther are such fascinating Pokémon, don't you think? The way they can use the blades on their arms is quite incredible."

"Yeah, Neville's almost took Harry's head off," Ron told her, rolling his eyes at her excitement.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," a dreamy voice stated, surprising the trio. "I don't think he'd be very good at catching the snitch without his head."

Luna Lovegood was standing before them, having appeared unnoticed while they were talking. She looked just as Harry remembered from the train ride to Hogwarts, still wearing the enormous glasses and the cork necklace with her Eevee, Pandora, held in her arms.

"Hi Luna," Harry greeted, getting over his surprise first. "What are you doing round here?" They had not travelled far from the Gryffindor Common Room and it was incredibly rare for a Ravenclaw, whose common room was on the other side of the castle, to be seen around here.

"Oh, I was just going to meet Ginny," Luna said airily. "We were going to walk down to breakfast together but it seems like she's already gone down." There didn't seem to be any disappointment in Luna's voice at Ginny having forgotten their plan.

"Eh, why don't you come down with us instead?" Harry suggested. Next to him, Ron looked at him as though he'd said something crazy. Luna smiled.

"I don't think that's a good idea," she told him. "I'm sure the Gryffindors won't be happy with a Ravenclaw joining them for breakfast on a day like this, especially with their star Seeker. You are very good you know."

"Uh, thank you," Harry said. Luna's unusual speech style was something Harry had to try and get used to.

"The Ravenclaws don't want you to win," Luna told him unexpectedly. "They think if you lose they have a better chance of winning the cup."

"Eh, I suppose that makes sense," Harry said awkwardly. Truthfully this surprised him as Ravenclaw had already lost to Slytherin, making it very unlikely they were still in the running for the cup. "But I don't think your housemates will be very happy that you're giving away their secrets."

Luna smiled. "But you're my friend," she said simply. The simplicity of the statement stunned Harry.

"You should be getting down to the pitch," Luna said, as though she hadn't said anything unusual. "It won't be long until the match starts." And, with little more than a wave, Luna walked away and disappeared from view. Ron let out a breath.

"That," he said. "Was a close one." He took a couple of deep breaths. "Blimey Harry, why did you have to go invite her to breakfast?"

"I thought that was very nice of you," Hermione said firmly before Harry could respond, giving Ron a sharp look. "It doesn't seem like Luna has been able to make many friends, I've only ever seen her around Ginny lately."

Ron just shrugged. Clearly, he didn't want to have this conversation.

"Luna wasn't wrong about the match though," Harry said. "We don't have that much time to get down there. I think we'll have to skip breakfast." Ron groaned.

The three of them continued forward but were brought to a stop for a second time in quick succession, this time for a much more daunting reason.

Absol stood before them, as silent and unmoving as he'd always been, and Harry, Ron and Hermione stopped dead. There was no doubt now as to what this meant, they knew that three times in a row wasn't a coincidence. For the first time in months Harry felt dread well up inside him.

Absol disappeared as quickly and as silently as he'd arrived, leaving the three second years alone with his warning. But what could they do? Ron gulped.

"It'll be okay," he said, though his face was white. "Everyone's down at the Quidditch pitch. If we get down there and tell Dumbledore he can sort it out."

But no matter how sound that argument may be, Harry felt like something would go wrong. Even as the three of them hurried down to the stadium and Ron and Hermione went off to the teacher's section of the stands Harry felt like it wouldn't be enough. And as Professor McGonagall walked onto the Quidditch pitch, her face pale, with a large megaphone in her hands, Harry knew that they were too late.

"Students, this match has been canceled!" McGonagall announced to the stadium at large. "Everyone should return to their dormitories at once!"

"But Professor!" Wood complained. He hadn't even let out his Snorlax yet. "The match! Quidditch!"

"There are some things in life more important than Quidditch, Mr Wood," McGonagall said stiffly. "Now if you and your team would please return to the Gryffindor Common Room?"

"Professor McGonagall," Harry said quickly. "Professor, who is it?" the others looked at him, confused. "Who's been attacked?" A sharp intake of breath was heard behind him but Harry kept his gaze firmly on Professor McGonagall. She looked taken aback, although not completely surprised.

"They were in Ravenclaw," she said, startling Harry with her use of the plural. "Ms Penelope Clearwater, a sixth year prefect, and Ms Luna Lovegood, a first year."

The name hit Harry like a tonne of bricks. He felt his legs wobble beneath him and for a moment thought he was going to lose his balance and fall. It just couldn't be true.

Yet Harry had suspected it from the moment Absol had appeared. They'd all grown complacent with the absence of incidents, assuming that the attacks had stopped, where really the attacker was just lying low, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. And Luna, poor sweet Luna, who hadn't thought twice about going down to breakfast on her own, was now consigned to a hospital bed next to the four other victims of this horrific spree of attacks.