Chapter 16: Future
It had been three days since the first task, and ever since the boys had remained within the Room of Requirement whilst they waited for Celebi to heal. Victor had worried that the boys would have been bored out of their minds. They however had managed to keep themselves occupied, either by playing with whatever Pokémon Victor had left to watch over them, watching videos on his Rotom phone, or by studying.
The boys had even tried to figure out a way to open the trailer that was sitting at the side of the room. However, no matter what spells or charms they tried to use on it, the trailer remained sealed. Closed off from the residents of the room.
Victor had wanted to spend more time with them, but after the task he had been swamped with attention from the students, most notably the Weasley twins as they neared completion of their first product containing Snom scales.
And whilst the Durmstrang students and some of the more racist students from the other schools were weary of him, he had seemed to gain some respect from the rest of the rest of the students. Even some of the Beauxbatons students seemed interested in his Pokémon. It wasn't unusual for Victor to be stopped when he was walking down a corridor to answer some questions from interested students, although he did end up slapping the hand of a Beauxbatons boy when he tried to grab one of his Pokéballs for a closer look.
Because of this, Victor was forced to avoid the room, on the off chance somebody followed him and found out about Albus, Scorpius and Celebi.
The elves had been extremely helpful though. After explaining the situation and asking them not to tell anybody else, the elves had happily agreed to drop some food off for the boys at mealtimes. This meant that Victor didn't need to worry about Albus or Scorpius going without food whilst he wasn't there.
It wasn't until Saturday morning that Victor felt he had enough time to properly inspect the egg. So he had made his way to the Room of Requirement in order to uncover the clue, explaining to Hermione that he wanted to get a head start when she tried to bring him with her to breakfast.
Albus and Scorpius were currently playing with his Pokémon, charming the clay pigeons to fly through the air as Corviknight ducked and weaved around them. Umbreon was doing the opposite, sending waves of dark energy into the air to blast the objects out of the sky in an explosion of dust. All things considered, the boys seemed to be having a lot of fun.
Stripping down so he was in his pants, Victor grabbed a towel and dropped in near the edge of the pool. With the egg under one arm he jumped forwards, quickly submerging himself in the water. Looking down he saw Lapras at the bottom of the pool. She has been circling the pool but had paused when Victor broke the surface of the water.
After giving her a small wave, he grasped the clasp at the top of the egg, pulling it out.
After spending a month surrounded by magic, from illusionary ceilings and sentient paintings, strange creatures and humans able to manipulate the world around them, Victor thought he couldn't be any more amazed by the strange things that the witches and wizards were able to do.
But he found himself presently surprised when the egg finally opened. The egg was hollow, but the moment it opened it the interior glowed softly, a beautiful singing emanating from the interior.
"Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground. And while you're searching ponder this, we've taken what you'll sorely miss. An hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took. But past an hour, the prospect's black. Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
The song started to repeat after the last line and, confident that he had the message, he resurfaced. Seeing Albus sitting near the side of the pool, book in hand, Victor swam over to him. He leant against the side to catch his breath.
"Finished playing?" he asked. Albus looked over his shoulder at him.
"Sorta. Wanted a break."
Victor gave a small hum, pushing the egg onto the ground next to Albus before pulling himself out.
"You know," Victor said, picking up the towel, "you could always take a swim with Lapras. She'd enjoy the company."
"Are you kidding?" Albus replied incredulously. "That waters freezing. I don't know how you stand it."
It was true. For some reason, even though Victor would call the water cold, Albus and Scorpius insisted that the water was much colder than he thought it was. Scorpius thought it might be his body being more resilient then theirs, and he could see where he was coming from. The dragon he had fought had been taken down a lot quicker than he anticipated. Maybe beings from his world were naturally more resilient than ones from this one.
Sitting next to Albus, Victor wrapped the towel around himself. He watched as Scorpius flicked his wand, sending several pigeons into the air after Corviknight.
"You know how long until we can go back?" Albus asked as Victor settled next to him. Looking over towards the trailer he saw Celebi floating in the air near Snom, who was doing their best to chase after the grass type Pokémon.
"Celebi is mostly recovered. You could go back today, but I want to be one hundred percent sure before I send you back. So tomorrow, maybe?"
Albus let out a small hum, before returning to his book.
"Mind if I ask you something?" Victor asked. Albus didn't look up from his studying, instead nodding slightly.
"In the future, what am I like?"
This caught the boy's attention. Albus fumbled with the book as he looked at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Albus said, doing his best to sound truthful. Victor smiled at his rection.
"You don't have to tell me everything. Or if I ever return home. I just wanted to know what you think of me in the future."
Albus looked slightly sheepish, gazing away from him.
"Why do you think I would know you?"
"Mate, you freaked at the question. You have a Celebi which means that our worlds are probably connected, and you seem to be very close with Umbreon. They usually live for around twenty years so it makes sense you would have been able to meet him when you were younger. Plus," Victor pulled his Rotom phone out of his pocket, waving it in front of Albus's face, "you managed to connect my phone to the internet. Something I doubt you would have known if I hadn't been a part of your life."
Victor was reaching. He wasn't smart enough to figure out how to work out how to connect Rotom to the net, and it was a long shot that he might learn how to in the future. But what he said had seemingly convinced Albus, who no longer looked like a Deerling in the headlights. Instead he was gazing down at his book, a look of contemplation on his face.
"You were the only person my dad was scared of. Apparently, you yelled at him when you heard what he'd named me."
"Really? Why?"
Albus looked away from him.
"You'll find out soon enough. But apart from that, you were nice. When I was five, I had a really bad nightmare. You asked Umbreon to keep me company, told me that he would be able to keep the nightmares away."
Victor noticed the sad look in Albus's eyes as he glanced over towards the Pokémon in question, who was currently laying on the ground, gnawing on one of the pigeons. Not wanting to bring up any more unpleasant memories, Victor grabbed his bag. The movement caused Albus to bring his attention back to him.
"What are you doing?" Albus asked as Victor shuffled around in his bag.
"Grabbing some dry pants. Dumbledore wants to meet with me, so I need to get changed."
Albus frowned at him.
"Hold on" he said, pulling his wand out of his pocket. With a small complicated wave, he pointed the wand at Victor.
"Calor Caeli."
Hot air fired out of the wand. Directing the stream of air at Victor, Albus quickly dried him in several seconds. As soon as the spell ended, Victor looked at him with his eyebrows raised. Albus looked away sheepishly.
"Hot-Air Charm" Albus explained, returning the wand into his pocket. Victor grinned, patting Albus on the head.
"Thanks."
After putting his clothes back on, Victor left the boys in the room as he quickly made his way through the castle. Reaching the headmasters' office, he knocked on the door. Swinging open, Victor saw the headmaster standing by his desk, looking over some documents. As soon as he entered the room, Dumbledore looked up, his eyes shining as he beamed at Victor.
"Mr Moore, thank you for coming so early. Sherbet lemon?" he said, offering Victor a bowl of confectionary. Taking one of the sweets, Victor thanked the professor before asking why he was there. The man's face, despite continuing to smile softly at him, became slightly more serious.
"You might not be aware of this, but the school has been receiving a large number of correspondences demanding your removal from the school. Of course, whilst Madame Bones and I have repeatedly informed the minister that sending you away increases the chance the Statute of Secrecy being broken, a number of parents have been claiming their children are fearful of your creatures."
Victor tilted his head slightly.
"So… You want me to do what exactly?"
Dumbledore picked up a piece of parchment that had been lying on the table.
"Mr and Mr Weasley have told me that you have been busy training the last few weeks. However, nobody has seen or heard any of these sessions. So, in order to show the students your Pokémon aren't a danger to them, I've managed to convince the Board of Governors to allow you use of the Quidditch pitch. However, they did ask for something in return."
Victor felt concerned.
"What did they want?"
"They would like you to tell the students about your world. It wouldn't be a class that you teach, but like a drop-in session that students can come to whenever they feel like. I have even managed to book out the room on the ground floor that you had your showcase in, to make things easier."
Victor thought about the deal. He had seen the Quidditch pitch from a distance, and the size of it would be more useful for Corviknight's aerial training than the Room of Requirement. And it wasn't like he couldn't just go back to it for some secret training.
The request sounded good as well. The way that this community viewed non-magical people was appalling. Being able to show the students a glimpse of what science could do, what they could achieve without magic was tempting. But…
"If I accept this deal, I have a few conditions."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrow but gave a small smirk. He picked up a blank piece of parchment and a quill, before gesturing for him to continue.
"I'm not going to be running to a schedule. There are going to be times I'm not at the pitch or in the classroom. I will however leave the room open for people to use."
The professor nodded, writing down what Victor had said.
"Even though the room is primarily for teaching the students about my world, they can use it for general study as long as they don't damage the room. Which brings me to my next conditions.
"The students aren't allowed to discriminate, or damage or steal my property or the room. This includes my Pokémon. And while all of the students are invited to come, I reserve the right to bar them from the class and pitch."
The professor looked thoughtful for a moment, before quickly writing something on the parchment.
"That should be fine. Was there anything else?"
Victor nodded.
"Just one. If I or my Pokémon are attacked, we are allowed to defend ourselves. No consequences."
Dumbledores quill stilled. The professor looked up at him, a look of puzzlement apparent on his face.
"Do you expect to be attacked?"
Victor shifted, looking away from the old man and instead to his bird, who had been sleepily watching the conversation.
"Mr Karkaroff has made it abundantly clear that he thinks I'm subhuman. And ever since I called him out for cheating and overtaking his prized student…" he trailed off. Ever since the first task, the Durmstrang students had been slightly more antagonistic towards him for apparently embarrassing Krum. Krum on the other hand had been defending him. Hermione told him about how Krum had apparently scolded several Durmstrang students after he saw them wearing the Anti-Muggle badges.
"It is probably for the best, although any fight you are in will have to be investigated. I will inform Maxime and Karkaroff about this. I should have this ready for you on Monday morning. Until then, have a good weekend" Dumbledore said. Nodding, Victor grabbed a few more sherbet lemons before exiting the office.
The rest of the day was uneventful. Victor cooked Spicy Coconut Curry as a farewell meal for Albus and Scorpius, spending the night with the boys so he could send them off in the morning before anybody woke up.
At six o'clock in the morning, Victors alarm went off waking the boys. Victor, who was used to waking early in the Wild Area, roused Albus and Scorpius when they tried to fall back to sleep. Eventually they were up, Celebi floating around their heads as they stared groggily at Victor.
Victor had decided to have the boys return to their time on the outskirts of the forest. He wasn't sure of the exact limitations of Celebi's powers, but if it only shifted them through time it would be better if they appeared somewhere where people were less likely to see them.
So they moved through the corridors silently, Umbreon leading them down through the castle in the cool morning.
They had managed to reach the ground floor and were moving swiftly through the clock tower when something Victor had been trying to avoid happened. Albus ran headfirst into a student who had suddenly walked out of an adjoining corridor. The two of them cried out as they fell to the floor, causing the others to stop in their tracks. Albus was rubbing his forehead, apparently hitting it on the floor when he fell. The girl on the other hand…
"Luna?"
She looked up at Victor, her hair tussled from the fall. Giving him a small smile, she waved.
"Hello Victor. Did you see the Gotchi too?"
Victor let out a small laugh. Of all the people who they could have run into, he didn't expect it to be Luna.
"Sorry. Can't say I have" he replied, offering her his hand. Pulling herself up off the floor, Luna hummed to herself as she brushed the dirt off her robes. She then turned her gaze to Albus and Scorpius, who were looking at her unsure what to do. Celebi didn't have any qualms about being seen by her though, flying over to playfully hover in front of her face.
"Oh wow!" Luna gasped, a smile growing on her face. "What's her name?"
"Her name's Celebi, but right now we need to get to the edge of the forest" Victor said, putting a hand on Luna's shoulder as he heard noise from the other end of the corridor. Moving as fast as they could, the small group followed him across the covered bridge until they eventually reached the canopy of the forest, the morning air damp with mist.
Taking a deep breath, Victor looked around at his companions. Umbreon was currently sitting on the floor, looking up at Albus and Scorpius who were in deep conversation. Luna was making her way over to him, hand raised in the air as Celebi flew gracefully around her arm and hand.
"I thought you were only allowed six Pokémon with you. Is this little one theirs? " she asked.
"I'm not really sure" Victor replied, shaking his head. Seeing the flicker of confusion on her face, he pulled out his Rotom phone, pointing it at the Pokémon.
"Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon. Revered as a guardian of the forest, this Pokémon has the ability to move through time. Wherever it appears, trees and grass flourish."
"Celebi has been recovering for the last few days. Now that she's better, they can go back to wherever time they came from" Victor explained, walking with her over to the boys. As soon as they heard them approach, they stopped talking.
"You guys ready to go back?"
The boys nodded at him.
"Sorry for bothering you" Scorpius said. Victor waved his hand dismissively.
"That's ok, I know you meant well. But as fun as this was, try not to do it again. Unless it's an emergency or you have no other choice."
The boys nodded at him. As Albus lent down to hug Umbreon, Scorpius came up to Victor handing him a letter.
"I know you said not to tell you, but if you change your mind, we wrote down what would happen in here."
Victor tentatively took the letter from Scorpius, before ruffling the boy's hair. Scorpius seemed to glow with happiness from the gesture, before turning to his friend.
"Could you take these two back to their time please?" Victor asked Celebi. The time traveling Pokémon gave a small nod, flying in-between the two boys. The small Pokémon started to glow, pulses of pale green light emanating from behind the three.
As Victor waved goodbye the light became brighter, swallowing the forms of the boys and the Pokémon before quickly receding, leaving nothing behind.
(X)
After Albus, Scorpius and Celebi were gone, Victor and Luna went to grab some breakfast from the great hall. Due to the few students in the hall at the time, they had seated themselves at the Ravenclaw table. It was whilst they were eating that Luna had started asking about the boys.
"So they were from the future?" Luna asked, poking her fork into some scrambled eggs. Victor mummed in confirmation, his mouth full of some toast.
"Yeah, said something bad was going to happen. But I can't figure out why they came to the first task though."
"What about the letter? It might be useful."
Victor groaned. The thought of opening the letter was tempting, but he felt hesitant about using future knowledge. He was angry at the way the other champions had cheated and learnt about the first task days in advance. If whatever was in the letter gave him an unfair advantage, he would hate himself. He told this to Luna, who looked at him thoughtfully as he explained himself.
"I think," she spoke softly, "that you should read it. It it's bad, we can tell the professors about it."
Victor nodded, looking sullenly at his food. Whilst he was thankful for Luna's opinion, he still wasn't sure.
Suddenly something soft draped over his head, effectively blinding him.
"So this is where you've been hiding."
"Breakin' our hearts, you are."
Pulling the fabric away from his face, Victor came face to face with the Weasley twins. They were grinning at him whilst Harry, Ron and Hermione sat at the table next to them.
"What can I say, I wanted to play hard to get" Victor said grinning. The twins smiled even harder.
"We were trying to find you."
"Finally got the right charms for the cloak."
"So now you," Fred slung his arm over Victors shoulder, patting the fabric they had dumped on him, "are the proud owner of the world's first Snom Cloak."
Victor gasped dramatically.
"A real Snoak?"
Fred and George stared at him for a moment, before bursting into laughter. Hermione was less impressed.
"You really shouldn't be helping them you know. What they're doing could be dangerous."
"Oh come off it 'mione" Ron said as he piled food onto his plate. "It's fun."
Whilst Ron and Hermione argued, Victor looked closer at the cloak he had been handed. The twins had apparently not listened to him when he told them not to go with Gryffindor colours, as the cloak was a dark red colour that shimmered in the light. The fabric was surprisingly soft, like Wooloo wool.
"With what some of the Slytherins are saying, we thought you could use the extra protection" George said as he watched Victor examine the fabric. Victor looked up at him, eyebrow raised.
"Really? And this has nothing to do with the potential free marketing?"
The twins pretended to be shocked at the accusation, grinning as they acted innocent. With a smile of his own, Victor draped the cloak over his shoulders.
"What do you guys think?" he asked. Harry and Ron looked confusedly at him, unsure what to say. Hermione frowned at him.
"It looks ok, just a bit weird on you" Luna said truthfully. Victor nodded, picking up his fork to continue his breakfast. For the next few minutes they ate in science. As more students came into the room to have breakfast, Victor found himself listening to their conversations.
For a while he was content to listen to the voices around him but was soon drawn into the conversation Ron was having with his friends.
"Just tell her we saw ourselves in great peril, she'll love that" Ron said, causing Hermione to scoff.
"I don't understand why you still take that lesson. It's completely ridiculous.
"What's ridiculous?" Victor asked. The three looked up at him.
"Trelawney. She says she can see the future but it's a load of rubbish."
Victor turned fully on the bench.
"Hold up, there was someone here who could see the future and nobody told me?"
The Gryffindors looked at him confused, unsure what to say.
"She's not a very good teacher," Hermione said after a few seconds, "she keeps spouting a load of rubbish, pretending like she can see the future."
Victor thought for a moment. If there was a person in the castle who could give him an idea about what might happen, he wouldn't have to take the chance of opening the letter.
"Could someone take me to her?" he asked, standing up. Harry and Ron looked at each other concerned, whilst Hermione shook her head.
"Divination is complete tripe, you know that right?"
Victor lent over, so his face was closer to hers.
"I know that there are people who face being able to make predictions. But where I'm from, being able to see the future is a very real thing Pokémon and some people can do. Xatu are famous for it. And if there's even a slight chance this Trelawney person is able to help me, I'm going to take it."
The trio seemed unconvinced but decided to take him to the professor anyway. Fred and George seemed to be interested in what he had said about Xatu and had decided to join them, whilst Luna apologised, stating she needed to write to her father.
On their journey to the Divination Tower, Victor applauded Harry's flying skills. This came as a surprise to the boy, who was unaware that Victor had seen his performance during the task. Victor explained that he had recorded the other champions and could show them the video if they wanted.
They eventually reached the tower, climbing a long spiralling staircase for a few minutes until they reached a small landing. Feeling confused, Victor was about to ask the three where the classroom was when he heard a thunk behind him. There was what appeared to be a trap door in the ceiling, with a ladder leading up into it. Raising an eyebrow at Harry and Ron's hesitance, Victor climbed the ladder into the room above.
The room was unlike the other rooms in the castle. This one was incredibly warm, the windows covered as a fire burned in the mantelpiece. There were a dozen tables scattered around the room surrounded by comfy chairs. The lanterns on the table were covered in red shawls, making the room look like a mixture of a teashop and a fortune tellers' tent.
"Professor Trelawney?" Victor called out as he pressed record on his phone. As the others were pulling themselves into the room, there was a small noise of a table being bumped into, before a thin woman covered in shawls and beads, eyes magnified behind large glasses, appeared from around the corner.
"My dear, how wonderful to finally see you in the flesh" the woman dreamily said as she held out her hand. Shaking it, he couldn't help but notice how weak her grip was.
"Nice to meet you too professor. Sorry for dropping in unexpectedly" Victor said, aware of how the twins had dumped themselves into some empty chairs, looking over a piece of parchment. The other three seemed uninterested in Trelawney as well, taking some seats nearby without interacting with her. Trelawney didn't seem to mind though, her attention focused on Victor.
"Your visit was expected young man, for the inner eye showed me your arrival" Trelawny spoke softly as she guided him into a seat. From behind him, he heard someone scoff. Trelawney's face seemed to harden slightly, but Victor quickly brought her attention back to him.
"That's kind of why I'm here. I wanted to know if I could get a prediction."
Trelawney's face lit up slightly.
"The inner eye can see many things. If there was something you wanted to know, I shall reveal it to you."
Victor nodded, but he knew that this was now the hard part, especially as he could now feel the other students' attention on him.
"Where I come from, we have psychics who can tell the future. A while ago, a friend of mine told me that something… bad was going to occur, after I faced a dragon."
Trelawney let out a small gasp, her hand moving in front of her chest.
"I was wondering, could you do a prediction for me? Give me an idea about what's going to happen" he asked. Trelawney appeared to steel herself, her hands moving above a crystal ball Victor hadn't noticed. She looked closely at the orb, the misty substance inside appearing to swirl.
"Yes. I see… Peril… You dear boy, are in grave danger."
Victor heard the twins snort in amusement at the statement, whilst Hermione seemed to groan.
"Yes… You will meet death, at the place of your home, in the snow."
That was an interesting thing to say. It rarely snowed in Postwick, it was why the town was so good at farming. Ron and Harry seemed to share in Victors disbelief, as they had started snickering alongside Ron's brothers.
"Anything specific though?" he asked the professor. She lent in closer to the ball, before opening her mouth slightly. Before freezing.
Victor noticed right away, as the woman's entire body seemed to stiffen. Her gaze locked onto the ball.
"Professor? Professor Trelawney?"
There was no response. Concerned, he got out of his seat and leant next to her.
"Professor Trelawney, can you hear me?" Victor asked, waving his hand in front of the woman's face. Getting no response he stood up, looking at the others who looked slightly confused.
"Do you guys know wha-"
Trelawney's hand suddenly stot up grabbing Victor by the arm, her grip painfully tight. Gaze snapping down to her, Victor's heart jumped, panic flooding through his veins when he saw that her eyes were completely whited out. Startled by the sudden movement, the others jumped out of their seats, hands reaching for their wands when Trelawney spoke.
"The one who will change the world approaches…" Trelawney spoke in a raspy voice, "The Dark Lord's machinations will fail, as pillars of the heavens scorch the earth, brought forth by the aether… Excalibur and Pridwen shall once more defend the shores as a city lies under siege… A war shall begin, and those in the shadows will search for the boy holding one hundred and eight souls, as he dances through the void… The world will witness change, and two dead men shall walk on the newly formed earth…"
The woman let out a raspy breath before blinking several times, coming back to her senses. Her grip immediately loosened, as she realised the occupants of the room were staring at her.
"I'm sorry, did I say something?"
Victor immediately fled the room, ignoring the calls from the others behind him. Whatever had come over the woman had scared him. And that wasn't even considering what was clearly some kind of prophecy.
As he ran down the stairs, he could hear the others behind him. He ignored them, rushing into the corridors until he arrived at the portrait of Barnabas. Quickly doing the required pacing, he managed to get into the room just as the twins rushed past.
Sinking to the floor, Victor took several deep breaths in order to calm himself. For a few minutes he sat there, thinking about what he had been told. A war was coming, and from what Albus and Scorpius had said, it was going to be soon.
Hesitantly, Victor pulled the envelope out of his pocket. Slowly opening it, he pulled a small piece of parchment out, his heart sinking at the few words written on it.
Cedric Diggory is going to die.
Dun Dun Dun! The boys have gone home, there's been a prophecy, and Victor is starting to feel out of his depth. What is he going to do now?
Stitches: I understand why you aren't that big of a fan of the golden trio. I myself am a massive fan of Luna. I also need to introduce Neville at some point, I think he would love Victor's Roserade. I can't say anything about Pokémon in the future, as it would spoil the end of this series.
Dungeons27: The Cursed Child is ok if you want nostalgia, but it ignores a lot of cannon and previously built characterisation.
DStridesBeats: Thank you so much!
Dawning of the day: I hope to have a conversation between Victor and Hermione about House-Elves in a future chapter.
ALanos: I do have a plan for a spin off in a different universe. I will probably make a poll as I have ideas for about 3 universes it could take place in and I can't decide.
Be safe out there. Remember to wash your hands and wear a mask.
I do not own the Harry Potter series or Pokémon.
-Geo-