Chapter 7: The Calm Before the Storm
Weeks went by after Halloween. Phoenix and Peck continued working on their various projects, Phoenix the Fire Pill, and Peck Project WAR (A/N: If you don't remember that, it stands for "Wizarding Assault Rifle"). Peck was having problems with Project WAR. When he applied the techniques he and Phoenix did with the Stun Pistols and tried out the Assault Rifle, it would blow up. Several times he had to be whisked off to the hospital wing due to a burn injury or shrapnel from the explosion. He'd have to start from scratch.
Phoenix, on the other hand, was making good progress with his Fire Pill. Of course, it was far more complicated than the Wizarding Assault Rifle, so he had a long way to go, but at least he knew what direction to go in.
Soon, November turned to December. On one particular day, Phoenix and Peck could be found in the library, Peck doing a Transfiguration assignment due that day, and Phoenix looking up various spells in random books. Apparently, he came across one he particularly liked.
"Peck! Peck! C'mere! You gotta see this!"
The boy in question sighed, then got up, walking over to his friend.
"What is it? I have to finish this assignment, which is due in an hour."
"Take a look."
Peck then read what Phoenix was pointing to.
"The Colorus Charm allows the caster to mark a target, causing it to turn into various hues of the color the caster chooses to use. This effect can last for up to an hour unless the target is able to perform the appropriate counter-curse. So what's so cool about this Phoenix?"
The boy looked at Peck like he was mad.
"Are you CRAZY Peck? This spell opens up so many doors for us! We can even use it to play- dare I say it?- LASER TAG!"
"Phoenix, we need vests and laser guns for Laser Tag."
"Peck, if we use this, we don't NEED vests and we can use our STUN GUNS loaded with this spell!"
Peck just stared at Phoenix.
"Did I ever tell you I was a genius?"
Phoenix grinned.
"No, but I already knew I was, so you didn't need to."
"Well, I have to finish this Transfiguration homework. You work on how to perform the spell, and we'll play Laser Tag later."
Phoenix nodded his head vigorously, took the book, and ran off to the Gryffindor Common Room. He grabbed Thor's Shield, propped it up against his bed, and looked in the book, figuring out how to perform the Colorus Charm.
"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!"
After Transfiguration, Team Matrix decided to take a walk in the snow. Phoenix perked up.
"Hey guys? Can I quickly get something from the GCR? I'll be RIGHT with you!"
His friends sighed a bit, then nodded. Phoenix grinned and bolted for the Gryffindor Tower. He entered to portrait ("Lion-hearted!"), bolted up to his dormitory, and grabbed the two Stun Pistols he loaded with Colorus Cells. Racing back out of the Common Room, he broke off into a run. However, instead of racing towards the front doors, he raced towards the Astronomy Tower. Praying to god that there wasn't a couple snogging in the tower, he burst in, took out his pistols, and ran over to the edge. He looked out onto the grounds for any signs if his friends. There! He saw a group of eight kids wearing red-lined robes. Smirking to himself, he aimed his pistols at the group.
"OPEN FIRE!"
He then started taking shots at the group, firing slower at first to caliber his shots, then firing in rapid succession. Blue and red streaks zipped at the gaggle of now confused kids. Before long, however, his 20 shot cells were spent, but by that time, six of the targets were colored.
"PHOENIX! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY! YOU SCARED THE LIVING CRAP OUTTA ME!" That voice was easily recognizable as Peck.
"WELL, IS IT MY FAULT THAT YOU HAVEN'T LEARNED MY ANTICS AFTER FIVE YEARS OF GOING TO SCHOOL WITH ME?"
"YES!"
"WELL THAT'S TOO BAD FOR YOU THEN!"
Phoenix holstered one pistol and gripped the other. He then raced for the front doors. Upon reaching them and running out, he found a red Ginny, blue Harry, red Ron, blue Seamus, red Neville, and a blue Peck.
Phoenix smirked.
"Interesting that I colored the two Weasleys red, isn't it?"
But Peck wasn't paying attention to his words. If looks could kill, Phoenix would be six feet under, have a gravestone and some nice pretty flowers on top of it.
"Uh, Peck? You okay?"
"How. The. Bloody. Hell. Do. You. Perform. The. Counter. Curse?"
"Easy, like this."
Phoenix waved his wand at Peck, and the boy was back to his normal color.
"Anybody else?"
"YES!"
"Okay! Okay! No need to get testy!"
Before long, his friends were back to their normal color... but still extremely pissed.
"Phoenix? Ever wonder what hell is like?"
"Once or twice. Why do you ask Gin?"
"Hell's gonna look like a kitten by the time I'm done with you!"
She then charged at him, and tackled him into the snow. It was then that he recovered from the shock, and kicked into action. He flipped Ginny off of him and started pelting her with snowballs. Running out of ammo, he then dove at her and became relentless with his tickling.
"Ack! No! That TICKLES!"
"No duh."
"Stop! STOP!" Even though she was screaming for him to stop, she was laughing uncontrollably.
"Why should I- oomph!"
Peck had tackled Phoenix while he was focusing on Ginny. Soon, the two boys were rolling in the snow, trying to stuff the white powder in down each other's back. Eventually though, they broke away from each other, panting. Phoenix grabbed some snow, packed it into a ball, and let it fly at Peck. However, Peck was too fast for the ball and it ended up hitting Ron in the face. He growled.
"That does it. SNOWBALL FIGHT!"
Everyone, save Phoenix, dropped to the ground and started making snowballs. Phoenix laughed.
"You guys are idiots."
He flicked his wand and 8 snowballs started packing themselves. When they finished, he flicked his wand again and the snowballs levitated and rushed at his friends.
SMACK!
8 homing snowballs hit their targets. Once the said targets wiped the said snowballs off their faces, the said targets glared at Phoenix. Harry was the first to speak.
"Phoenix?"
"Yes Harry?"
"You are going to die."
"Oh, am I?"
"Yes."
"I'd like to see you try."
Harry charged at Phoenix, leaping at him and knocking him flat on his back. He then grabbed a huge mass of snow and turned to drop it on Phoenix, but the boy wasn't there anymore.
"Hey, where'd he go?"
"Looking for me?"
Harry looked up, only to find snow shower down upon him and freezing ice sting his face. Phoenix laughed.
"Silly head! Do you HONESTLY think I wasn't expecting something like that?"
Harry paused for a moment.
"Uh..."
"Thought so. So, who's up for a round of Laser Tag?"
Most of his friends gave him blank stares.
"You've NEVER heard of Laser Tag?"
"Er, no."
Phoenix brightened up.
"Well then, aren't we gonna have a ball!"
Before the group was able to start a game of Laser Tag, they had to make more Color Magazines (That's what Phoenix called them) and sort themselves into teams. Naturally, Ron, Ginny, and Phoenix were on the red team. Neville decided to join them while Peck, Harry, Hermione, Seamus, and Dean were left for the blue team. Ginny was slightly unnerved by this.
"Shouldn't one person sit out?'
Phoenix shook his head.
"Nah, we can still kick their butt even though we're down a person. But right now, we have to focus on loading those magazines!"
"Um, Phoenix?"
"Yeah Hermione?"
"We only have one Thor's Shield..."
Phoenix laughed.
"No we don't! Do you honestly think I'm dumb enough to depend solely on that shield for magazine production?"
"I guess not..."
"Of course I'm not! Now, I may have an IQ of 2, but I'm still smart enough to know THAT. I made one for each of you!"
Ginny and Hermione both gasped.
"Really?"
"No, I only made shields for the boys. OF COURSE I DID!"
Peck laughed.
"Well then, I suppose we should figure out how to perform the spell then?"
Phoenix nodded.
"Yes, yes of course."
So he spent about five minutes showing his friends how to perform the spell. Once every one was able to turn a cup red, then blue, he clapped his hands.
"Excellent job guys!"
"And girls."
"Right. Accio Shields!"
Nine shields came rushing out of the sixth year boys' dormitories and hovered in front of Phoenix.
"Catch."
He then started tossing the shields to his friends and instructed them to prop up the shields.
"Alright, I have plenty o' empty cells, so if you're maxed out, tell me."
"Or we could just summon one ourselves."
"A very good point Ginny. Do that. Now, LET'S GET LOADING!"
Soon, everyone was firing Colorus spells at their shields, summoning new cells when their current one was maxed out, and stashing away their loaded ones for future use.
Unfortunately, Lunch ended before they could start a game, so they had to wait for classes to end before they could play. Once they finished Double Potions (GROAN), the nine friends raced out of the dungeons and towards the Gryffindor Tower. Once they collected their Stun Guns and extra magazines, they ran back out of the tower and towards the grounds. Once they were all gathered, Phoenix spoke.
"Alright! Listen up people! When I say 'Go', both teams have exactly TWO MINUTES to get into their positions before firing may commence! Anyone who fires before two minutes will be penalized and will have to sit out for the rest of the game, I will give a shout when the two minutes have passed. Ready?"
"Yes!"
"Set?"
"YES!"
"GO! GO! GO!"
Phoenix started a mechanical stopwatch and ran with the rest of his team in the opposite direction of their opponents. They made their way to a patch of trees and looked at Phoenix.
"What? Am I the unspoken Captain?"
"Yes."
Phoenix grinned.
"Well then, we should make this patch of trees our base, should we not?"
Ron nodded.
"If you think it would be a good idea."
"Oh it is a good idea, trust me. Now, we'll have an attack force and a defense force. The A.F. will move out and be proactive while D.F. will wait here for any opponents who draw too close. Also, we should take advantage of the snow. Ron, Ginny. Start making walls. With your wands." He added when he noticed them dropping down to their knees.
"Alright, Neville and myself will be the A.F. while Ron and Ginny will by the D.F."
His comrades nodded. Once he was done with his speech, he and Neville started to help Ginny and Ron with the walls and defenses. Phoenix decided to have Ron and Ginny positioned in the trees, so he sent some snow up there and performed a charm that prevented it from falling out. Before they were done with preparations, however, Phoenix's stopwatch reached the two-minute mark. He turned to his friends.
"Alright, soldiers, if we don't win, we'll die trying. Sonorus." He pointed his wand at his throat, amplifying his voice.
"ALRIGHT! TWO MINUTES HAVE PASSED! IF YE SCURVY SCALLEWAGS AREN'T DONE WITH YOUR BATTLE PLANS, TOO BAD FOR YOU!"
He then muttered another charm, which changed his voice back to normal.
"Alright Neville, we're going in! Ron? Gin? Get in the trees and keep an eye out for those blue soldiers!"
The two saluted him with an "Aye aye Captain!" and made their way towards the trees. Once they were in position, Phoenix turned to Neville.
"You ready for this?"
Neville nodded.
"Alright boy, let's see what ya got! We'll stick to the trees, not going deep of course, and use them as cover in the event that we come across Peck and his group. I think they might have asked Hagrid for cover in his hut."
Neville nodded again, gripped his S.G., and followed Phoenix through the trees, making their way around the castle and towards the other side, where Hagrid's Hut was located. When they were about halfway there, they saw Seamus and Dean slinking around the corner of the castle.
"Probably scouts. Peck, Harry, and Hermione are probably holed up in the Hut just as we have Ginny and Ron in the trees. Shall we pick 'em off?"
"Sir yes sir!"
"Good. Get down and take pot shots at them. At first, fire slowly to caliber your aim, then let 'em have it!"
His comrade nodded and dropped to the ground, Phoenix opting to go down on one knee.
"Ready? Open fire!" He didn't say it loud enough for the two to hear, so they were oblivious to the attack. That is, until they noticed red bolts exploding around them.
"Crap! Run for it Dean!"
The two started running and made it to safety, but not before Seamus was hit by one of the red spells, causing him to turn red.
"Damn, I'm out. Keep going Dean, I have a funny feeling that if you go back, you'll be picked off."
Seamus then made his way over to a bench and put down his Stun Gun, waiting for the match to finish.
While this was going on, Phoenix high-fived Neville.
"Nice shooting dude!"
Neville grinned.
"Thanks. Shall we continue?"
"Of course Lieutenant."
The two grinned at each other and continued making their way towards Hagrid's Hut, staying under the cover of the trees. Before they made it to their destination, they heard a cry of frustration from behind them.
'Must be Dean.' Phoenix thought.
Once it was in sight, Neville turned to look at Phoenix.
"Phoenix? How are we gonna get 'em out of their foxhole?"
"I thought of that. Do you think they're gonna keep their heads inside all the time? Nah, one of them will poke his or her head out of a window once in a while. Look!"
As if on cue, Hermione's head peeked over the windowsill, scanning for any signs of opposition.
"Hide!"
The two ducked behind some trees and waited for a few seconds before looking out from their hiding spaces.
"She went back down again. Alright, keep your gun trained on the window. When Hermione or one of the boys pop out to look again, fire at will."
Neville nodded and did just what Phoenix said, lining up his sight with the center of the opening. Several minutes went by and Neville still had his firearm trained, but no one was taking a look. Phoenix sighed.
"I'll give 'em a scare. Be ready for some resistance Neville."
He raised his gun and fired at the window, sending the bolt sailing through the open window. Almost immediately, Harry's head popped out to see what was going on. Neville and Phoenix fired several rounds at him, several of which hitting their mark and turning Harry red.
"DAMMIT! I'M HIT!"
"No duh Harry!"
The two boys grinned at each other. Neville then furrowed his eyebrows.
"Do you suppose we should lure Peck and Hermione over to our base?"
Phoenix shrugged.
"Sure. Start running Neville, I'll do the luring. HEY DUMB BUTTS! YA WANNA GET REVENGE? WELL, YOU'LL HAVE TO CATCH US FIRST! HA HA!"
He then started running, using the trees as cover but "accidentally" running out of them at times so his pursuers wouldn't lose sight of him. Neville was far ahead, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Phoenix dared to peek behind him and saw the two opponents running towards him... and gaining.
"Crap! RUN NEVILLE!"
The two started weaving through the trees, attempting to lose their followers. Phoenix moved even faster when a blue bolt exploded into a tree next to him. The snow fort was in sight. Running faster than before, he ran up to the wall. Jumped over them, and turned around to fire at the attackers, using the wall as cover. Ginny and Ron were doing the same. Unfortunately, not everyone on the red team was safe. Neville walked out of the trees glowing blue.
"Ah well. Don't let me down guys!"
He then sat down under a tree to watch the battle. When Hermione and Peck saw red spells flying at them, they immediately ran behind the trees for cover. Phoenix used this time to give his teammates advice.
"Don't be careless guys: we have the advantage. The opposition is outgunned and we have better defenses. You two focus on Hermione. I'll get Peck."
The two didn't respond but Phoenix was sure they had heard them. Keeping his gun trained on the tree Peck was hiding behind, he waited. After about a minute without Peck coming out, he decided to taunt him.
"Peck ol' buddy! Why don't you come out? Scared you'll get slaughtered by me and my comrades? I don't blame you."
"It's my comrades and me you idiot!"
Peck jumped out and started running in a zigzag pattern towards the wall where Phoenix was, firing all the while. Hermione was doing the same thing. Apparently, the two had been making plans for a counterstrike.
"OPEN FIRE!"
Red bolts streaked past blue ones as both sides desperately attempted to hit the opposition. Phoenix was firing like a madman, although his aim was being thrown off because he had to avoid Peck's shots.
"Damn! I'm out of shots!"
He ducked down and scrambled to reload his S.G. with a fresh magazine. That cost him a good 30 seconds. When he peeked back up, Peck had hidden behind a much closer tree than before. Twirling his gun in his hand, he looked around for any sign of Hermione. Following her footprints, he concluded that she had successfully hidden behind a tree as well. Turning his attention back to Peck's tree, he took out another spare magazine in the event that his current one ran out before he hit his target.
"Alright guys, reload your S.G.s with fresh magazines. You never know when you'll run out with your current one."
He heard scuffling from above as his friends took out new cells and replaced their old ones with them.
"Good work. Now, all we have to do is wait..."
Several more minutes passed, and the opposition still hadn't shown their faces.
"Scared Peck?"
"You wish!"
"Well then, why don't you come out?"
"Do you think I'm an idiot? I don't have an IQ of 2 you know..."
"If you say so, why don't you use your brain cell to think up a plan?"
"I have multiple brain cells thank-you-very-much."
"Prove it... Single Cell."
"I already have."
A blue streak shot at Phoenix, who dodged it just in time.
"Whoa!"
Phoenix, judging the angle which the bolt came from, realized that Peck had scaled the tree while the two were chatting.
"Ginny! Ron! Peck is in a tree! I'm assuming that Hermione has done the same."
"Damn straight."
Another bolt was shot, this time from Hermione's tree, this one was directed at Ron, however, and it found its mark.
"Noooooo!"
"Yes."
"FIRE AT WILL GIN!"
Red bolts streaked at both Peck and Hermione's trees, exploding around the clever attackers. Soon enough, Hermione was hit.
"It's all up to you Peck. Scared now?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Get down Gin. If I need your assistance, I'll ask for it."
"Gotcha."
Phoenix fired off the remaining bolts in his current magazine, then put in a fresh one. Snapping it into place, he aimed it at Peck's tree, laying waste to the hideout, hoping at least one shot would hit Peck. He decided to move to a different vantage point, thinking that it would give him a better shot at hitting the remaining blue opponent. After about five more shots, Phoenix's current magazine was out. He loaded a fresh one into his gun and continued firing at Peck until...
"Yes!"
"Damn."
Peck was hit. Climbing out of the tree, he walked over to Phoenix, shook his hand, and spoke.
"Good game dude. Now, would you kindly remove the spell? You never showed us the counter curse."
"Oh, right."
Phoenix waved his wand and Peck was back to normal.
"Alright, anyone who was hit, please come over here so I can remove the charm."
Seamus, Dean, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville walked over to Phoenix and were soon back to their normal color. Seamus sighed.
"Ah, it's good to be back to normal."
Winter turned into spring and things were going good at Hogwarts. Phoenix and Peck were putting some finishing touches on their projects. Peck was finally able to get a non-volatile WAR completed and had finished testing it. He was now making more for his friends. Phoenix's Fire Pill was coming along nicely. Currently, the user can come into contact with fire and not get burned, but he still hadn't figured out how to allow the user to manipulate it.
The students were still ignoring Phoenix and Peck, Gryffindor was still acting cold towards Team Matrix, and Snape was being the bloody git he always was. All of this would change soon, during one pleasant afternoon in April...
Team Matrix was outside, playing with their WARs. All of Team Matrix except for Phoenix, that is. He was outside with his friends, but with a book on elemental magic and several Fire Pills. After about an hour, he jumped up and shouted.
"I'VE GOT IT!"
Taking his current pill, he duplicated it and ingested the duplicate. Once he swallowed it, he glowed red for a moment, then was back to his normal color. Holding out his hand and focusing, he grinned when some fire appeared in his palm.
"I've done it! YEEHA!"
His friends stared at him. Peck was the first to speak.
"Niiiiiice."
Phoenix eyed the WARs with interest.
"Toss me one o' those, will ya Peck?"
"No problem. I've redesigned the Stun Cells for these babies. They fit 50 shots in one magazine."
"Sweet."
"By the way, it's not fully automatic. You'll have to pull the trigger each time you want to fire a shot."
"Nuts."
Peck tossed his friend one of the guns and Phoenix took the WAR and pointed it at a tree. When he pulled the trigger, nothing happened.
"Uh, Phoenix? You might want a cell..."
Peck tossed him a cell. Phoenix took it, glared at Peck, and jammed it into the port. Again he aimed the gun at the tree. Pulling the trigger, his arms were rocked backwards by the force of the weapon. Phoenix looked at Peck with a quirked eyebrow.
"Oh, that. I've created a spell enhancer and added it to the barrel. Your average shielding charm won't be able to block this."
"Right."
Harry checked his watch (Peck had given him a new one for Christmas) and looked up.
"It's getting close to dinner, let's go in."
His friends nodded, holstering their Stun Pistols, slinging their WARs over their chests, and hanging their Thor's Shields over their back. They trudged inside towards the Great Hall. They noticed that Dumbledore was missing from the staff table ("I was told that the Minister of Magic wanted an audience with him"). Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, they looked at the food. Peck sighed.
"I admit it nice to have a sort of calm, or lull, but I wish something interesting would happen."
It was as if the devil had answered his request and not god, for at that moment, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and all hell broke loose.
A/N: sighs lame cliffie, ain't it? Yeah, well, read the next chapter if you want to...