Author's note this is part one of a double posting today.

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Moxxie woke up way earlier than he was used to. He awoke to the tittering sound of birds chirping outside his window, not the honking of horns or sudden gunshots, no chaotic noises filling his ears and tainting his brain even when he managed to work himself into a fitful sleep.

However, what had really woken him was the clear, unpolluted light blue color that had begun sneaking through the heavy curtains of the room. Hell's light was always teeming with red undertones, and if not, it was just the color of blood.

It could be a screaming orange, sometimes a dirty, piss yellow. On bad days - or good days, if you got too tired of the red - it was grey or even shit brown, which everyone considered to be the absolute worst. But a mellow, powder blue? Softly glowing skies like fading flowers?

It was unheard of. Moxxie untangled himself from Millie's dead-asleep arms and silently trod over to the window, parting the curtains a bit more but making sure the light was still faint so as not to wake Millie.

Looking out, he found that the wizards had put them on a floor high above the grounds. Maybe it was so they wouldn't try to escape.

But if that was really the reason, then they were severely underestimating them. The view confirmed his suspicions: he was in a castle.

And a big one, at that. All around him were towers and tall spurting floors made of stone, pillars and decorative statues, and lots of other things he couldn't name because he had never understood architecture.

Below, the grass that covered the entire outside area was cheery, lovely green, stretching out beyond the grounds, which spread out vastly until it was cut off by a thick wall of trees that clearly bled into a deep forest. The view was breathtaking.

Sure, they dabbled in the human world, and Moxxie still had some memories of his early childhood as a human, but all of these memories and moments were tainted by either murder or trauma, and so everything seemed to have the same blood-hued filter over it.

But here? As Moxxie opened the window the slightest bit, he felt how crisp the air was, how beautiful. Everything seemed pure and delightful, untouched by all the horribleness that Moxxie was so accustomed to seeing, to being surrounded by.

He took in a deep breath and tried to center himself in the present, to remember that all of this was real life and not a dream.

He took another breath before shutting the window and returning to Millie's side, winding his arm around her, unwittingly the most peaceful he had been in months, or even years.

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He woke up for the second time, the sun now shining in all its splendor, by Blitzo's violent raps on the door. "You sloths up yet? I'm hungry and pissed. Get up.

I won't go in there, you sex maniacs, but I will bully you if-" Millie opened the door her, head in wild spikes around her, clearly on the verge of murder. "I'll give you to the count of three before I behead you," she uttered in a severe tone.

Blitzo didn't even wait for 'one' before speeding off. Millie slammed the door shut, clearly grumpy at having been woken up in such a crude manner. She yawned and stretched before tossing herself on the bed face-down. Moxxie knew her.

She was a deep and long-term sleeper: if he lost her being awake now, he might die before getting her up again. So he slipped his hands under her arms and hauled her to his chest, bothering her a little so she wouldn't fall back asleep.

He had a feeling it would be a rather busy day. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.

He always thought she was sexy and beautiful, but she was the cutest thing he had ever seen when she was just woken up. "We gotta get up, then?" She mumbled, asking it in the same tone as one would ask if they would burn in eternal hellfire. "I think so, Millie," he replied tenderly.

They both stood up after a bout of kissing and dressed before heading out the door.

Loona and Blitzo were already in the common area, Blitzo looking just as irritated and anxious as he had been last night.

Loona just looked like she had a killer headache, and she didn't look exactly at ease, either, like she was cranky that the whole of last night hadn't been some odd, whacky dream. "Morning, lovebirds," Blitzo said bitterly.

Moxxie knew Millie was probably refraining from punching him in the mouth. "What the fuck is going on?" Loona growled, angrier at the world than at them, probably. Probably. "Yeah, time for some sweet conversation, Moxx, or is it, Harry?

The lovechild of Kim Kardashian and James Dean?" "What?" Moxxie asked, clearly confused. "Whatever.

What did that sack of dried-up nuts say to you?" Moxxie sighed and sat down on one of the plush couches, Millie setting herself serenely beside him, expectant but doing her best to keep her cool. Then, steeling himself, Moxxie told his friends everything that Dumbledore had revealed to him, no detail omitted.

They all stood around, their dead breaths hitched in their throats for a moment. "So you are a celebrity," Blitzo concluded. Millie sighed.

In her eyes was something like admiration, and, knowing her, if they hadn't been among other people, she probably would be jumped his bones again. There was something powerful and sexy in Moxxie's tale. Blitzo shook his head. "You know what this is? It's insane.

I never would've hired you if I knew you were Harry-freaking-Houdini!" "No need to be a dickhead, Blitzo," Millie warned. "Yes, need to be a dickhead.

Aren't you angry at little Mr. Potter and his freaking dildo-shaped scar?"

"I mean, I wish he had told me, but-" "But nothing! I-" "But," Millie interrupted him right back, seething, "it's done, now. You aren't gonna get back home by being pissed at him." "Well, it doesn't help," Blitzo retorted.

Millie rolled her eyes, and Moxxie set one of his hands on top of hers. "Listen, boss, I know that you're pissed, but I think you should make your peace with this. But, unfortunately, we're going to have to stay-" "We don't have to do shit!" Loona jumped up. "I haven't gotten any reception since we got here - there aren't any charges, either. Not even plugs!" Moxxie frowned.

What kind of place didn't have any plugs? Sure, they got all the light from magic, probably, but he hadn't seen anything even slightly technological since he had arrived. "I-" he began, but there came a knock at the door.

They all silenced, and Professor McGonagall stepped in, that same severe look plastered on her wrinkled face. "Mr. Potter, and… company. I trust you have begun taking your breakfast?" She questioned. "What breakfast?" Blitzo complained, before following McGonagall's line of vision, turning around and finding a massive assortment of food on one of the tables. It hadn't been there before.

"Right," said Professor McGonagall with a slight, satisfied smile. "After you're done, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office," her smile faded. "All of you," she clarified severely.

Without another word, she saw herself out. An uncomfortable silence settled over the imps and the hound. "Well," Millie finally interrupted the silence. "I guess you'll finally be able to stick it up to Dumbledore, huh, Blitzo?"

She asked sweetly, smiling sarcastically. Blitzo swallowed and put on a brave face as he walked over to the table and distrustfully observed the many pastries.

He sniffed at them. Millie rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you've swallowed worse things," she muttered almost to herself, walking over to the table, too, and serving herself some coffee out of a steaming, ornate silver pot. Loona and Moxxie also neared the breakfast table, their noses and mouths curious.

"I mean, they don't have Wifi, but they're definitely filthy rich," Loona commented, taking a whiff of a chocolate croissant before digging her teeth into it. "Loony!" Blitzo exclaimed, sticking his hand out in a 'stop' motion, "You don't know what's in these," he flung the roll he had been examining as though it were about to bite. Loona rolled her eyes. "They're magical, Blitzo.

If they wanted to poison us, we'd already been dead," she grumbled, pulling out a chair and slumping into it, clicking away at her useless phone as if she'd manage to revive it.

With that, Millie and Moxxie sat down as well and dug in.

The food was beyond delicious, varied, and exploding with flavor. They salivated between bites, trying everything that had been served to them - these people certainly didn't work with expired ingredients or curdled milk. It was a treat to be feasting like this. Blitzo had sat down, but he was still looking at everyone apprehensively.

"Just think of it as a vacation, boss," Moxxie said, crumbs and baker's cream spilling down his chin, "it won't do you any good to worry, and they're serving us."

Blitzo couldn't take the temptation much longer, and so, with a grumbling but unreluctant attitude, he hungrily served himself eggs and bacon, dumping gallons of maple syrup on it. "So," he said after the first few mouthfuls, food flying from his mouth as he spoke. "There's something you haven't told us yet," he pointed his fork at Moxxie, who burped loudly and undid the first button of his jeans.

He got a little nervous at Blitzo's words, but he was much too relaxed to be on edge about them. "What's that?" "How did you become an imp. Because you are an imp, right?"

"Yeah," Moxxie put his elbows on the table. "Well, when I arrived in Hell-" There came a knock at the door just as Moxxie's eyes glazed over as they do when one is telling a story.

He quickly closed the button as someone poked their head inside.

They had expected it to be McGonagall, but she had probably been far too fed up with the imps to continue on babysitting duty.

Instead, a huge man with a massive beard and fluffy, dark hair appeared in the doorway, almost touching it despite the door's impressive size. "Hello," he greeted in a gruff voice, but not unkindly. The imps didn't reply. Instead, they just looked at him. He looked back at them with the same, interested stare.

He appeared to be a little shy. He cleared his throat. "Name's Hagrid, I was told to escort ye lot to Dumbledore's," he said.

They all got a good feeling about the ginormous man. He was intimidatingly large, granted, but he seemed to carry himself in the most humble, benign way possible. "We're all done, sugar," Millie offered him a smile as he shyly stepped forward.

They all stood up and went over to the man, who was still hovering by the doorway. Up close, he was even larger than they had expected.

What was up with this school? "Right," Hagrid said. "This way, then." The hallways were all deserted - it seemed only logical to them that the Hogwarts staff would be taking great pains to avoid a clash between the Hell-dwellers and their students.

Though the imps and Loona didn't know of Hogwarts' history, it was a scandal that they should even be on the grounds, let alone staying inside, in a room.

If it became widely known that they were there, enjoying all the luxuries a student or faculty member did, Dumbledore would've had an even bigger scandal on his hands. And he was already being bombarded by his staff, the Ministry, angry parents, and basically the entire wizarding community.

Answers were demanded from all sides, but he was still reluctant to disclose what he knew until he was sure of how much he could contain it.

And he would learn this by having a meeting with Harry's companions, who he couldn't and wouldn't be rid of.

He only told people that he had the situation under control and that he would deliver information the moment he had a concrete idea of what was occurring.

But Barty Crouch was already breathing down his neck, and he reckoned he had minimal time to sort himself and the situation. "Ye know, I'm in charge of the, uh, creatures here at Hogwarts," Hagrid commented cheerily as they made their way to Dumbledore's office. He looked around at the imps nervously but kept his gaze straight ahead.

Moxxie couldn't help but notice that he avoided him when looking around, and if his eyes did catch him, they quickly skittered away as if scared. Hagrid stopped at every corner and looked around to make sure no one would see him, as if they were contraband. The imps weren't particularly against it.

It wasn't like they were too keen on seeing some prepubescent wizard child, anyway. "That right? Did your mum fuck a giant, by any chance," Blitzo mumbled, side-eyeing him? "Oh, aye, I'm something of an expert - got some giant blood, too. Well spotted," he replied good-naturedly, not really noticing Blitzo's dismissiveness. "A creature expert?" Millie asked, seemingly genuinely interested. "That's right, Miss. Ma'am.

And if I must say, you lot are the strangest magical creatures I've ever seen." "That's because we aren't magical," Blitzo snorted. "Of course ye are.

Why, you arrived here through a portal, didn't ye?" That got Moxxie thinking.

Could this giant man be speaking some sort of truth? Could the magic that existed in this world be intrinsically connected to what happened in Heaven and Hell?

After all, when he trigged the knockoff of Stolas' book in the library, the book was dominated by the rules of Hell, and Harry activated it with his wizarding power, as he had nothing to do with Hell yet. "That's different," Blitzo argued, wagging his finger. "We…" but he couldn't find a solid argument.

"I like the idea that's we're magical," Millie said, fluttering her eyelashes at Hagrid, who immediately got flustered and had to gather himself. "You know what's magical? Wifi.

Do you have any?" Loona asked Hagrid. "Wifi?" Hagrid frowned. "Is that some sort of fruit?"

He asked innocently. Loona groaned. "Anyway, here we are!" Hagrid told them, fidgeting with something in his beard as they rounded the corner that led to Dumbledore's office. "peppermint doorknobs!" He pronounced to the statue, loud and clear.

When the statue began to move, the two imps and Loona stood rigid as they watched it.

Moxxie was thinking that Dumbledore certainly changed his password quite often when, looking at the rest of them, Moxxie realized he must've had the same look on his face the first time he saw the statue move. "Right, up you go," Hagrid told them.

Just as they began to climb the stairs, he gently grabbed Moxxie's shoulder with a massive hand.

Moxxie stopped and turned to face him, only to notice that the gentle giant's face was on the verge of crying - or, at least, it appeared that way. Moxxie wasn't the best at distinguishing that kind of thing. "You know, I carried you when you were just a small baby.

Just a tiny thing, barely fit into my hands," he chuckled, though his voice was breaking. Moxxie wasn't sure what to make of this sudden development. "I know that ye're… different, now. But you'll always be Lily and James' son to me, Harry.

If you ever need anything, all you need to do is come to my hut. I live just at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

I may not know you, and you may look a little older than I thought, but I can see that goodness inside ye, Harry," he wiped a tear and noticed that all the others had gone. "Right," he concluded, a little embarrassed. "Best be heading off, then."

He said and rushed away. Moxxie wanted to say something, comfort the gigantic, kind-hearted man, but he stood there, frozen, unsure of what to say or do. He made a mental note to pay a visit to Hagrid, but he also realized he didn't even know where the Forbidden Forest was, let alone how to find Hagrid's cabin.

A little perplexed, he turned away and headed up the stairs after his friends

00-00-00

He hadn't taken very long, but everyone was still expectant, waiting for him to arrive. When he finally appeared, he saw Moxxie, Millie, and Loona sitting, visibly uptight and uncomfortable, on the couch by the fire, which was now only ash.

Dumbledore stood, holding his hands behind his back, close to the couch, and the greasy-haired man Moxxie had seen the previous evening, the one with the dark expression, hovered awkwardly in a corner, watching through a parting in that curtain-like hair of his. "Ah, Harry," Dumbledore said pleasantly.

"I was just becoming acquainted with your friends and… wife." He looked at Moxxie expectantly.

He remembered what Dumbledore had said about him having been gone for only six years, and he supposed that it was shock enough that he seemed so old and even more shocking that he had a wife. Dumbledore didn't wait for a response and instead proceeded.

"I'm afraid there is a great scandal among the wizarding community as a result of your arrival. I was just about to ask your acquaintances whether they might shift into human form, as you have. In order not to create more upheaval, you understand." "We can't do that," burst out Blitzo.

"May I ask why not?" Dumbledore questioned kindly. "Some imps just don't have that ability," Blitzo crossed his arms over his chest defensively. Loona rolled her eyes. "Ah, I see. Well-" he continued, but Blitzo interrupted him rather suddenly. "I'm sorry, but who is that emo dude standing there? Did you invite Gerard Way to the party, for some reason?"

Dumbledore suddenly turned to face the man as if just remembering he was there. "Ah, Professor Snape? Yes, well, I was about to get to him. Professor Snape is my potions master.

He is capable of a great many things, and he might be capable of… adapting you to our surroundings." "With all due respect, sir," Snape uttered bitterly, as seemed to be his way of speaking. "I do not think I am capable of changing these… imps," he spat the word, "into anything remotely human in such a short time.

They are something quite other." "I understand, Severus, but it certainly can't hurt to make an attempt," his eyes twinkled behind his spectacles.

"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore, but I'm not drinking anything a member of Slipknot gives me. Or anyone else for that matter," Millie interjected. "I'm afraid I must agree with the imp," Snape cut in, "trying to camouflage them amongst ourselves would be mostly ineffective. However, I would not attempt to suffocate this flame - the fire is much too high, already."

Dumbledore considered their words for a moment. "I see. Well, thank you for your input," he turned to Millie. "Both of your inputs. However, there is another reason I have summoned Professor Snape here today.

He is to test Mr. Potter's capabilities and, in the case of finding him lacking, instruct him to the best of his ability so that Mr. Potter may be prepared for the upcoming tournament." Moxxie swallowed at his words. Blitzo jumped up. "Mr. Dumbledore," he said, nearing him, "I can't have… Harry, participate in your tournament.

He's my weapons master." "Oh, he is?" Snape remarked sardonically, his lip quirking up in the most upsetting smile imaginable.

"I need him for work," Blitzo concluded. "Moxxie, as you call him, certainly isn't being held hostage here. He may continue with his work whenever he pleases - that is when I find transportation.

You wouldn't happen to know away, would you, Mr. Blitzo?" Dumbledore asked calmly. Blitzo, shut up. "And if he does stay here, it would be in his best interest to participate in the tournament," he concluded in a way that felt shut off to further objection.

"Now, if you don't mind," he began once more, now addressing Moxxie, "I'd like to have a word with your companions. I believe there is much to be learned mutually.

You may go along with Professor Snape to be evaluated, Mr. Potter," he said dismissively. Moxxie gulped hard.

Professor Snape wasn't someone he wanted to be evaluated by or be left alone with, but he also felt that Dumbledore's word was definitive, somehow. He was also afraid of what the tournament might imply and what would occur to him if he actually participated in it.

With an unnecessarily dramatic swish of his cloak, Snape turned without so much as looking at Moxxie and headed to the exit. Moxxie shared a pleading, scared look with Millie and followed hesitantly. Later he would question his actions and reprimand himself for having folded so easily.