Someday, I will own something of great value. This will not be Harry Potter, as J K Rowling already owns it.

Oops! Sorry, people, I've only just now seen what the computer has been updating my stories like. I'd like to say you are all very brave and loyal readers to have kept up with my story regardless of the messed formatting. Now, thanks to quickedit, I can actually make my chapters legible to the general public (which I am slowly in the process of doing). Thank you so much, and I apologize again for the reading difficulties.

Since so many of these chapters are depressing, I am dedicating all of these vacation ones to my reviewers. Sorry I never got around to it sooner, you people deserve recognition.

Ryua Masters Muggle Stuff

There wasn't much time to explore, as they'd only gotten there in the afternoon. Father insisted they all still have dinner together, and it turned out that the whole experience was much nicer in the Dominican with live background singers, and the buffet table offering an excuse to get up at any point during the meal. After far too many fruit squares, half of which Ryua suspected were alcoholic, chocolates, and various other confections following a very large meal, Father released them to their rooms.

"Oof. I don't think I've eaten that much before." Draco was quite contented, although having trouble climbing the stairs.

"Yes, you have. Yesterday, at Hogwarts' Christmas feast."

"Well, fine, maybe it's not the most I've ever eaten. D'you suppose we could get Toppy to make those weird little pineapple things? They were good."

Ryua giggled. "They must have been, the amount of them you ate. Honestly, I can't understand why you aren't Hagrid sized yet."

"Me either!"

In her room, Ryua found she wasn't the least bit tired yet. Full to the point of never wishing to move again, but not at all ready to sleep. Her eyes lighted on the strange black box sitting beside the TV, and she rolled off her bed to take a closer look. It was a rectangle half as wide as long, with the letters PS2 engraved in blue on the top. Two strange things attatched to the box with wires were covered in various buttons, none of which did anything. Oh, turning it on would help... Ryua switched on the TV, and searched for a similar switch on the box. Finding one on the back, she flicked it over, jumping as a little red light came on in the front. Looking at it curiously, she pressed the button beside the red light, pleased when it turned green. At the same time, the TV screen changed, prompting her to insert a disk. Pleased with her success at deciphering the confusing muggle technology, she grabbed the small stack of disks, jumping back on the bed to read them.

Medal of Honor, she read off of the top one. Lovely, muggles killing each other in some useless mockery of a duel, not even decent blood or gore, from the pictures on the back. Super Smash Brothers, nah, looked more like Crabbe or Goyle's sort of game. Yu-Gi-Oh Forbidden Memories. Hmm, could be interesting, but right now she wanted something more action packed than a card game. Aha! Crash Bandicoot Warped. Some strange little orange creature, neon-colored apples, boxes, numerous creatures trying to kill him... This looked promising. She reached forward and pushed the little open button, momentarily confused by the round spot for the square disk she was holding. Oh, wait, it opens. She slid the flat, shiny circle into its tray, and pushed the button to close it again.

"Hey, Draco, come here!" she called to her brother in the next room as the opening sequence started up.

"What?" he came around her door, plopping down on her bed. "Oh, cool! You got it to work? Excellent!"

Ryua was paying him no attention whatsoever, being immersed in the instruction manual. Lovely, how they have these little controller maps, to explain what the blazes all those little buttons are for. Although, what's a bazooka? She dropped the book in her lap when Draco poked her in the side. "What was that for?" she demanded.

"Look!" Draco was pointing at the screen, looking like a kid seeing his first juggling performance. Ryua looked, and was immediately riveted. Some bizarre looking object had just blown up a temple, releasing a glowing ball of light. She turned up the volume just in time for the next sequence, involving a feathery floating mask, two of the weird orange creatures, and what appeared to be a miniature polar bear. The two of them watched as the mask explained how the world was in grave danger and it was up to 'Crash' and 'Coco' to save it.

"Excellent!" Draco said.

"D'you suppose Father would let us get one of these at home?"

"Maybe, if we are really careful about how we ask. Better let me do it, he likes me more."

"You do have a point there. Although, mother might help if I ask her. She seems to like it when I get things, not that she often does anything about it herself. Hey, look, it's stopped now!" Ryua grabbed the controller, experimenting with the different buttons.

"Oh, do that again!"

"Do what?"

"That thing, where he falls flat on his face!"

"He did? That doesn't seem like something the savior of the world would do regularily."

"He did, I swear! He jumped first..."

"Oh! Like that!" Ryua looked up from the controls just in time to catch Crash launching into a spectacular, painful-looking belly flop. "Look, look, I can make him crawl around!"

"Hey, aren't there supposed to be monsters to kill, or something?"

"Yeah, you're right. Oh, didn't that freaky mask thing say something about portals?"

"He did, although, I think you've gotten us lost."

"How can I get us lost? All the gates are covered by some lightning charm or something... Wait! There's an open one!" she ran Crash up a corridor, ending in a room that looked surprisingly like some of the more ran-down parts of Hogwarts. She stepped on a button and a floating orb popped up, with the title Orient Express. "Hey, wait! No, I just figured out how to get Crash to move!" Crash had tripped on the button, and Coco jumped in instead.

Draco was howling with laughter, especially when Ryua's little tiger cub ran headlong into a brick wall and lay twitching on the ground. "That is... the most... hilarious thing I've ever seen!"

"Oh, shut up. You try it then!" Ryua dropped the controller into Draco's lap, who promptly squealed and steered the tiger into a gaping hole.

"Ack! This is harder than it looks! Isn't the game rated for little kids to be able to play it?"

"Yeah, that's what it says," Ryua said, looking at the disk cover again. "Well, in that case, we'll just have to stay here the whole night until we can play it, eh?"

"You said it," Draco replied, eyes intent on the screen as he charged into a floating dragon kite and sent Coco and the tiger sprawling.

Author's Note(again): So I love Crash Bandicoot. I'm allowed.