[Tis amazing how I'm actually still working on something that no-one's even
reading... oh well...]
Part 3 – A New Dawn, A New Discovery
Harry awoke to the sound of some loud crashing outside followed closely by wild cackling. 'What the—Oh, right.... Crookshanks is chasing gnomes again...' Putting on his glasses, he realized that Ron was still sound asleep, when the clock beside on his bedstand red... 9:48. Quickly getting up, he shook his friend awake. "Ron, wake up! You've slept enough!"
"Huh... what?" Rubbing his eyes groggily, the redhead got up, stifling a yawn. "What's the rush, Harry?"
"Not much... it's just that..." Harry's voice was muffled for a moment as he pulled on a light shirt. "It's late enough, and I don't want my first impression to the new girl as a late-sleeper..."
Ron blinked, and nodded, reaching for his trousers. "Fine, fine... I'm awake anyways, so might as well go down for breakfast..."
Ten minutes later, the two of them headed down to the kitchen, where they found Hermione munching on toast and reading the newspaper. "You're late..." she said rather pointedly, pushing two plates of bacon and eggs towards them.
Pouring himself a glass of milk, Harry seated himself. "Good morning to you too, Hermione..." Then, looking around, "Where's the new girl?"
Turning the page of the newspaper, Hermione answered. "Ayumi? She went to one of the spare rooms up stairs to train herself... or at least that's what she said. She said she'd be out in the back yard."
"Train? But wha's da ufe of training if you can ufe magic?" Ron mumbled with his mouth full. After receiving a severe glance from Hermione, he swallowed before speaking again. "I mean. If you have magic, what's the use of training yourself? You can just use magic."
Harry silently agreed to this as Hermione launched into a long, supposed-to-be-informative speech on the relationship between one's physical condition and the power of their spells.
"So, what... are you saying that the more buff a person is, the better spells they cast?" Ron sounded half-confused, half-weirded out as he spoke, scratching his head. "That really doesn't make sense, since Hagrid should be just about the best wizard in our school then!" Harry had to stifle a laugh at Hermione's indignant expression.
"Ron! That's not what I meant! When I meant was—"
They never got to find out what exactly Hermione meant because they were rather rudely interrupted by the sounds of something breaking... a very large something. After taking one look at each other, they broke into a sprint. Panting for breath, they stormed upstairs where they discovered the source of the noise.
Ayumi. When the three students came crashing into the room, she looked rather surprised for the first time. "What...?" She was dressed in a loose, white garment that Harry recognized from having seen it on Muggle television several times. It was a martial arts costume. Clenching and unclenching her bandages fists, she approached the panting three. "Do... you need anything of me?"
Hermione finally managed to catch her breath, looking around as she spoke. "We heard a really loud crashing noise coming from here, and we were just wondering what it was. I'm pretty sure if wasn't Crookshanks or anything..."
"Hey, what happened to that log over there?" Ron was pointing at a shattered log lying on the floor just behind the puzzled Ayumi. "Maybe whatever happened to that log was the noise we just heard..." Turning to Ayumi, he spoke excitedly. "Hey, did you see anything happen here by any chance? Anything strange or..."
The girl merely shook her head, glancing at the log "That piece of wood is merely what I practice with... and nothing strange happened around here as of lately..."
"Wait, wait, wait.... You... practice with that thing? ... You mean, with magic, right?" Ron looked rather befuddled as he spoke up, scratching his head.
Ayumi merely shook her head in response, poker-faced as usual. "To strengthen one's magic, he must strengthen his body first." Turning around and reaching down, she picked up the shattered piece of wood, standing it on the ground vertically. "That is what I was taught when I began my Auror training."
"But how do you train you—"Harry had just began to say something when Ayumi suddenly let fly a spinning kick, striking the battered log smack in the middle and sending it flying half-way across the room. Landing smoothly, the young Auror glanced at Harry.
"Excuse me? Were you saying something?"
"Uh...." Harry realized that his jaw was hanging open, and quickly shut it. "No... not really..."
Ron, on the other hand, was practically ecstatic. "How the hell did you do that? That was bloody awesome! Did it take you a lot of practice to learn that? That's just amazing!" he was about to go rambling on for several more minutes when a crumpled ball of paper came flying from behind and hit him on the head. "Ow!" Harry looked up and realized who the mischief-makers were. "Apparently, our ikkle Ronniekins has fallen in love with the martial artist" Fred Weasly's voice was dripping with mock affection as he called out to his little brother. Ignoring Ron's shout of indignant rage, he instead directed his attention to Ayumi, who was busy clenching and unclenching her fists. "Mum wants to see you. Said something about going out to get some decent clothes or whatnot"
"Hai. Please tell her that I will be there soon."
George's voice reached them only moments afterwards. "Oh, and Mum says that ikkle Ronniekins shouldn't be bothering the poor, dear, tired Auror." Ron narrowly missed hitting George with the paper-ball that Fred had thrown at him only moment earlier.
Meanwhile, Ayumi had quietly gathered up the log and the splinters and began heading downstairs. She paused at the door, turning to the Hogwarts threesome (out of which Ron was still fuming). "I..." She started speaking, then stopped, shaking her head, her mismatched eyes emotionless as usual. "Never mind." Turning around, she walked outside, the shattered wood tucked under her arm.
Ron was the first to speak up after the girl had left. "Is it just me or does she seem to be hiding something?"
Harry shrugged, but his thoughts lingered. 'What was she going to say?'
Part 3 – A New Dawn, A New Discovery
Harry awoke to the sound of some loud crashing outside followed closely by wild cackling. 'What the—Oh, right.... Crookshanks is chasing gnomes again...' Putting on his glasses, he realized that Ron was still sound asleep, when the clock beside on his bedstand red... 9:48. Quickly getting up, he shook his friend awake. "Ron, wake up! You've slept enough!"
"Huh... what?" Rubbing his eyes groggily, the redhead got up, stifling a yawn. "What's the rush, Harry?"
"Not much... it's just that..." Harry's voice was muffled for a moment as he pulled on a light shirt. "It's late enough, and I don't want my first impression to the new girl as a late-sleeper..."
Ron blinked, and nodded, reaching for his trousers. "Fine, fine... I'm awake anyways, so might as well go down for breakfast..."
Ten minutes later, the two of them headed down to the kitchen, where they found Hermione munching on toast and reading the newspaper. "You're late..." she said rather pointedly, pushing two plates of bacon and eggs towards them.
Pouring himself a glass of milk, Harry seated himself. "Good morning to you too, Hermione..." Then, looking around, "Where's the new girl?"
Turning the page of the newspaper, Hermione answered. "Ayumi? She went to one of the spare rooms up stairs to train herself... or at least that's what she said. She said she'd be out in the back yard."
"Train? But wha's da ufe of training if you can ufe magic?" Ron mumbled with his mouth full. After receiving a severe glance from Hermione, he swallowed before speaking again. "I mean. If you have magic, what's the use of training yourself? You can just use magic."
Harry silently agreed to this as Hermione launched into a long, supposed-to-be-informative speech on the relationship between one's physical condition and the power of their spells.
"So, what... are you saying that the more buff a person is, the better spells they cast?" Ron sounded half-confused, half-weirded out as he spoke, scratching his head. "That really doesn't make sense, since Hagrid should be just about the best wizard in our school then!" Harry had to stifle a laugh at Hermione's indignant expression.
"Ron! That's not what I meant! When I meant was—"
They never got to find out what exactly Hermione meant because they were rather rudely interrupted by the sounds of something breaking... a very large something. After taking one look at each other, they broke into a sprint. Panting for breath, they stormed upstairs where they discovered the source of the noise.
Ayumi. When the three students came crashing into the room, she looked rather surprised for the first time. "What...?" She was dressed in a loose, white garment that Harry recognized from having seen it on Muggle television several times. It was a martial arts costume. Clenching and unclenching her bandages fists, she approached the panting three. "Do... you need anything of me?"
Hermione finally managed to catch her breath, looking around as she spoke. "We heard a really loud crashing noise coming from here, and we were just wondering what it was. I'm pretty sure if wasn't Crookshanks or anything..."
"Hey, what happened to that log over there?" Ron was pointing at a shattered log lying on the floor just behind the puzzled Ayumi. "Maybe whatever happened to that log was the noise we just heard..." Turning to Ayumi, he spoke excitedly. "Hey, did you see anything happen here by any chance? Anything strange or..."
The girl merely shook her head, glancing at the log "That piece of wood is merely what I practice with... and nothing strange happened around here as of lately..."
"Wait, wait, wait.... You... practice with that thing? ... You mean, with magic, right?" Ron looked rather befuddled as he spoke up, scratching his head.
Ayumi merely shook her head in response, poker-faced as usual. "To strengthen one's magic, he must strengthen his body first." Turning around and reaching down, she picked up the shattered piece of wood, standing it on the ground vertically. "That is what I was taught when I began my Auror training."
"But how do you train you—"Harry had just began to say something when Ayumi suddenly let fly a spinning kick, striking the battered log smack in the middle and sending it flying half-way across the room. Landing smoothly, the young Auror glanced at Harry.
"Excuse me? Were you saying something?"
"Uh...." Harry realized that his jaw was hanging open, and quickly shut it. "No... not really..."
Ron, on the other hand, was practically ecstatic. "How the hell did you do that? That was bloody awesome! Did it take you a lot of practice to learn that? That's just amazing!" he was about to go rambling on for several more minutes when a crumpled ball of paper came flying from behind and hit him on the head. "Ow!" Harry looked up and realized who the mischief-makers were. "Apparently, our ikkle Ronniekins has fallen in love with the martial artist" Fred Weasly's voice was dripping with mock affection as he called out to his little brother. Ignoring Ron's shout of indignant rage, he instead directed his attention to Ayumi, who was busy clenching and unclenching her fists. "Mum wants to see you. Said something about going out to get some decent clothes or whatnot"
"Hai. Please tell her that I will be there soon."
George's voice reached them only moments afterwards. "Oh, and Mum says that ikkle Ronniekins shouldn't be bothering the poor, dear, tired Auror." Ron narrowly missed hitting George with the paper-ball that Fred had thrown at him only moment earlier.
Meanwhile, Ayumi had quietly gathered up the log and the splinters and began heading downstairs. She paused at the door, turning to the Hogwarts threesome (out of which Ron was still fuming). "I..." She started speaking, then stopped, shaking her head, her mismatched eyes emotionless as usual. "Never mind." Turning around, she walked outside, the shattered wood tucked under her arm.
Ron was the first to speak up after the girl had left. "Is it just me or does she seem to be hiding something?"
Harry shrugged, but his thoughts lingered. 'What was she going to say?'