Disclaimer: One Piece and Harry Potter does not belong to me, each belongs to their respective author. Only Mecha is mine.
Challenge by TheBlackSeaReaper.
Beta: TheBlackSeaReaper
-.-A Feast For The Vain
The next morning Ron was happy with the expression of Malfoy seeing them still in Hogwarts, Neville had managed to recover from the shock, the twins were fascinated with the exciting night that they had in a long time, and Ace devoured his breakfast like anynormal day before the arrival of Mecha for his morning snack.
All felt that the meeting with the three-headed dog had been an exciting adventure and were ready for the next, even with Ace's suggestions to go back to where the dog was, disturbing them enough.
Hermione had decided not to talk to them, which was more of a reward than a punishment. Although the real prize, in Ace's opinion, was Hermione's comment about the trapdoor. They spent breakfast speculating what couldbe there, the ideas ran from a warehouse with the exams of the next two years, to a secret chamber with the treasure of the founders of Hogwarts. Just as Ron was finishing his descriptionof his treasure chamber of the founders, full of priceless magic items, Ace said, as if it were nothing:
"It's what they wanted to rob from Gringotts"
"What?" said Ron
"Really?" Neville this time
"Really" answer the pirate.
"Why didn't you say so?" shout the twins.
Ace then told them what had happened in the bank with the package and that it had been try to steal the same day he left the bank.
Sadly no one could imagine what it could be, being not more than eight inches.
"Ace!" Wood came forward with a menacing decided step "Today in the afternoon"
"Today in the afternoon?" asked the pirate.
"Today in the afternoon"answer the boy.
"Canit be tomorrow?" said George
"No, we have the Quidditch field for the afternoon, all the team will be there, yes you two too" this was for the twins "and I have the entireprogram planned, even asked McGonagall to join us."
"Wow" said Fred "He must really want you in the team"
"Fred, George," continued Wood "make sure to be there, you will take care that Ace go"
And there go any strange idea that Ace has had to escape this.
In the hour of potions, while working with Neville now, Ace began to think on a way he might escape this brilliant event. Ace wanted to see again the three-headed dog, he had decided, no one and nothing would prevent him to tame the beast tonight.
Since his arrival at the castle, Ace had spent his night exploring it and he felt that he had found everything he could, from how to get to each point of the castle from anywhere without getting lost, to multiple passages to arrive on time (the biggest concern of Neville ) when he was late.
Now he wanted to go to the forest, but not without seeing the dog again.
"Portgas pay attention on what you are doing" Agr, only because he had cut more root than normal "You are cutting the wrong root" Oh ... damn...
-.-
It was hard to believe that just a week ago, Ace was coming off his first potions class to see Hagrid and now he was moving in the opposite direction, toward the Quidditch field, escorted by Fred, George, Ron and Neville, the first two marching each on one side of Ace, giving the impression to the young pirate to be in a situation very familiar. Ah! Right! ... How could he forget that moment of his life ... past life. Although the truth, this was a more pleasant and enjoyable than the last time.
The twins were marching, exaggerating the movements and giving funny orders to Ron and Neville.
When they reached the field, Wood was already there, instructing three girls dressed in what Ace supposed was the Quidittch uniform.
"Captain" cried the twins when they came in front of Wood, and giving a military salute "we bring the new recruit"
Ace would have preferred the word "prisoner", he would have felt more confident with the term, in front of that military joke.
"Stop joking around" exclaimed the captain of the Gryffindor team and turn to the young boy "Ace, the dynamics is as follows. First, you see a demonstration of a Quidditch game and then you will participate in a mini game"
"I have to?" he did not feel in the mood to all this.
"Of course" cried the twins "is for you to experience:"
"The emotion"
"The suspense"
"Yes, yes, I get it." Cut the pirate.
The twins could only laugh at the funny scene, while the girls approached the group.
"Well, let's begin." one little cough interrupted Wood, it was one of the girls, tall with black hair and for what Ace could see, the older of the three, possibly the same age as the twins. "Ah yes, of course, they are part of the team, Angelina Johnson"the tall girl wave at him "Alicia Spinnet" this time a girl with dark skin and brown hair and eyes " and Katie Bell" a sweet smiling girl "Well, now we will start with the rules of the game" and walk to a large crate that was a few feet away.
Great! That's worst way to draw the attention of a pirate.
He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.
"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers."
"Three Chasers," Ace repeated.
"That mean us," Angelina said placing both arms around her companions as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.
"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"
"Aye Aye"
"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper -I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."
"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Ace, "So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box."
"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers."
He showed Ace two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Ace noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.
"Stand back," Wood warned Ace. I bent down and freed one of the Bludgers. The twins immediately came forward and took position both holding a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.
At once, the black ball raised high in the air and then pelted straight at Ace's face. Ace was ready to turn into fire when Fred swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking Ace's nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air - it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.
"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team - the Weasley twins, as you can see, are ours - it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So - think you've got all that?"
"I think so"
"Er - have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Neville asked, hoping he sounded offhand.
"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you, Ace. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers unless they crack my head open."
Ace just laugh, but Neville shuddered.
"Don't worry, Neville," said George putting an arm around de boy "we are more than a match for the Bludgers"
"Yea" Said Angelina Jones "I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."
Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.
"This," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages - I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. "Well, that's it - any questions?"
"Yes, if a Bludger attacks me, can I shoot it a ball of fire, or something?"
"Ball of fire?" repeated Alicia Spinnet.
"Again a ball of fire?" murmured Ron
"No" replied Wood
"You really know how to take the fun out of everything"
Lie, Quidditch proved to be exciting and entertaining enough as to have Ace at the edge of his seat while watching Angelina, Alicia and Katie pass the Quaffle back and forth and to throw it into the ring post, Wood just thrown himself, jumped and hit the Quaffle away from the end zone, as the twins went from side to side removing Bludgers from the team.
Ron and Neville were excited, Ron waslike a little child that make the exact expressions at the right times, but he did not know what to do, at one point yelling at Angelina to launch the Quaffle just to change his mind and yell at Wood to stop it. At some point Professor McGonagall had arrived and sat behind Ace, the young pirate could sense that she was struggling to keep his composure, but wanted to scream with Ron.
When the strange game ended, and the time came for Ace to ride one of the brooms.
"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."
He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, the team was back in the air, playing and from time to time, Oliver or the twins throw the golf balls as hard as they could in every direction for Ace to catch.
Ace didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted, and professor McGonagall more. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.
"That Quidditch cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."
And the team return to the castle, and Ace didn't need to say "yes". Quidditch was fun even when Wood look a little to crazy about the game.
-.-
That night, Ace was sitting at the table having dinner in the Great Hall, and could not help feeling that this was the time that hehated the most. And before anyone says that this is impossible that one of the D-Brothers could never hate dinner time, let me explain it (before you kill me), it was the end of the dinner, and soon everyone would go up to bed, Ace along with them, but unlike all of them he didn't know if he could fall asleep or stay up all night, but that was not the problem, Hogwarts had enough things to entertain a young pirate, the problem was the food, because at one o'clock in the morning there was no access to food, and that is never a good thing.
The Twins, sitting on one side of Ace turned to him, letting Wood continued narrating one of the best games of last year to an excited Ron and Neville.
"What is it Ace?"
He sighed: "I do not understand with they limit us so much"
"Life is hard" answered Fred
"But it true they limited us, in what they limit you?"
"Or who limits you?"
"The school, withthe food"sighed the boy.
The twins looked at each other with a knowing smile that had disturbed even Professor McGonagall. Ace saw that smile, and that look, It remind him the looks both Luffy and he threw each othe when they plot something.
"That can be solved"
"Really?" Ace asked before remembering he was talking with the Weasley Twins "How?"
"Follow us"
And the two Weasleys quickly stood from the table, using the distraction of all. Ace did not think twice, for food, it was worth.
From the staff table, Professor McGonagall could only shudder at the sight of the Weasley twins and Ace out together with those knowing smiles. She could see a good friendship there, one that would give her many headaches in the future.
Ace followed the twins by a staircase near the Great Hall, which descended to what, incredibly was not a cold dungeon as the ones where Snape have his potions class, it was warm, some colors filtering through windows and paintings of food made this so welcoming. They stopped in front of a painting of fruit, and while George watched if anyone approaching, Fred stood in front of the paint watching a confused Ace.
"We like the way you think, Ace" Fred said solemnly.
"Thanks, I also like how you and George think."
"That's why we decided to share with you one of our favorite places"
Fred quickly approached cautiously whispering Ace pointed to the picture. "You see that picture, that's the door to enter the kitchen of Hogwarts, the key is to make tickle at the pear."
"But be carefull" said George, "We don't want to be catch by professor McGonagall"
"Or Percy"
At that moment some Hufflepuff passed by and Ace followed curiously at them.
"Their common room is down here, right"
"According to rumors," said the twins "that'sright"
"Lucky Bastards"
-.-
Apparently Ace would have a very unfortunate week, and it was not until Tuesday that he could visit the kitchen and the food was more important than the three-headed dog.
Class were boring and just as he was thinking that nothing interesting could happened and he could go and search for it, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later after the night of the dog.
As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Ace was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.
Ace ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:
DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one.
Professor McGonagall
Ace had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Ron to read.
"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."
Ace directed his gaze at the staff table, while Neville saw the note, Professor McGonagall watched the scene, stroking the owl who had taken the letter.
"Just because she had call me Portgas all week… even if it is by mistake"
They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Ace and felt it.
"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Ace with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them."
Ron couldn't resist it, typical.
"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Ace, who didn't look so happy at all. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."
"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."
Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.
"Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.
"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.
"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Ace."Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances,
Potter, or as you likes to be call, Portgas, right? And what model is it?"
"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Ace.
They climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, Ron smothering his laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.
"The worst part is that it's really thanks to Malfoy that you got it," said Ron "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall you wouldn't be on the team..."
"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Ace's hand.
"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Ron "don't stop now, it's doing us so much good."
Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.
Ace sight, the problem with remember his past life (or whatever it was) was that sometimes all this discussions were so... infantile.
And for Ace said it was something, there was no one more childish than Ace here.
-.-
Autor's Note
Another chapter that doesn'tfollows the flow of the life of Harry Potter, that's good. Well, at least I'm entertained.
People don´t get used to this, I still don´t know what possessed me to update so soon.
Guest Review's
Michael: That's right; Ace was reborn with His devil fruit power. Maybe we have not seen much but we will encounter several situations in which fire appear out of nowhere.
Guest: I knownarcolepsy will be a real problem with Quidditch, He would fall of his broom and all, and I agree: life before death... but this is Ace we are talking about, a "D", they put freedom before life, their dream before life... For God sake, Ace travel in a little boat all alone with narcolepsy and he didn't stop to think that. Ace is impulsive, he don`t think before act, he just jump.