Last time on Black and White:
"I thank you boys for coming to me with this; it shows how much you trust me not only as an instructor but also as a confidant. So I ask you boys trust that I will not tell her any information that might lead Alastor to suspicion. She is a good person and should we be able to have her come in and handle the old man, should something happen, it'll go a long way for you to have her on your side." Flitwick said.
The boys seemed to debate it for a second before Andrew nodded.
"Alright sir, we trust you." he told him.
"Now, shall we move on? I believe next we should practice should the Accio spell." he said in his usual jovial tone.
Book 4 – Chapter 8: Lion in a Bird's Cage
About a month passed and everything seemed to be going okay, no mysteries to solve, nobody going missing, nor was there some sort of conspiracy that needed investigating. It was a normal school year, besides the shady teacher and life threatening tournament that loomed over the horizon.
The two other schools were set to arrive within the next week or so; Durmstrang Academy and Beauxbatons Academy according to sources.
As he headed down for breakfast Andrew ran into Luna who seemed to be walking around looking for something.
"Luna? Hey, what's going on?"
"Good Morning, Drew. Nothing I'm simply looking for my shoes." she said with a small shrug.
Andrew looked down and saw the girl flex her toes slightly.
"Luna, why are you barefoot?"
"I told you, I'm looking for my shoes." she replied.
"Well, why would your shoes be out here and not in your room in the common room?"
"Because the Nargles took them."
"The Narg- Luna..."
"It's fine, don't worry about it. They'll turn up eventually." she answered with another shrug.
Andrew seemed to deflate at this and looked at he girl again. He paused a pointed at one of her ears.
"Is that a radish earring?"
"Hmm? Oh yes, my mother made me these before she died. I love them and never take them off. They ward off Wolligans, you know?" she told him with a confident nod.
"Really? Fascinating... I'm sorry, about your mum." he told her softly.
"Yes, so am I. But it's all right, I still have daddy." she told him with a happy smile.
Andrew couldn't help but smile back. "Well, thank God for that. Now come on, I'll help you find your shoes." he said with a smile before stopping and shaking his head.
"Accio Luna's sh-" he paused to think before starting over. "Accio Luna's school shoes." while pointing his wand in random direction.
Soon enough a pair of dark brown shoes soared around the corner and Andrew caught them in mid air.
"Oh wait, do you have socks?" he asked.
Luna reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a pair of lily white socks. Once waiting for her to put them on they turned and headed for the last half of breakfast before having to go off to class.
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"It's still going on." Andrew said in Transfiguration.
Su sighed tiredly. "I know, but until she comes to us, we can't really do anything. Honestly, I don't even know who's targeting her."
"This is bullshit." Andrew growled angrily.
"I know, but we have to wait for her to come to us. Just going after everyone isn't a smart idea." she told him.
Andrew sighed this time and nodded his head. Once the bell signalled the end of the period Andrew and Su left the class. As she walked away Andrew paused and turned to her, before jogging and catching up to her.
"Anything else?" she asked in a confused tone.
"Why are you always alone? I mean I don't really see you hang out with anyone." he told her.
Su seemed to stiffen slightly.
"Hey, you don't have to tell me, I mean it's just... I'm worried." he told her.
"Don't worry about it. Now come on, we've got Runes next." she told him as she headed in the direction of the classroom.
Andrew regarded Su with a look of concern for a moment before nodding and walking along side her.
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Harry walked out of Transfiguration with his mind still working on a response for Tonks. He hadn't sent anything yet and couldn't really send her anything until he learned more about Moody, but now he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He wanted more information about the man but he didn't want to tip her off to something being wrong. How the hell would he do that?
He looked over to Hermione and Ron who seemed to be in yet another argument about something or other and Andrew had disappeared on them, he was doing that a lot often lately. He wondered if it had to do with Lovegood. In any case he shook his head and turned a corner when he ran head first into someone. A girl.
He blinked and saw a girl in Ravenclaw colours looking back at him. Her dark hair framed her pretty face and brought attention to her almond shaped eyes and dark iris', her mouth was parted slightly as she took a sudden breath at the realization of who it was she had run into.
"Oh God, are you okay?" she asked while helping him up.
Harry blinked out of his stupor. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine, are you all right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I am. Sorry about that; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." she told him.
"No please, it's- it's my fault. I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Potter."
She giggled and Harry swore he could listen to her do that all day. "I know, I'm Cho Chang." she answered while extending her hand.
"Oh!" he exclaimed before grabbing her hand and shaking it. "I'm Harry."
She giggled again. "You just said that." she informed him.
"Oh, did I? Sorry about that."
"No worries, oh, I'd better get to class. Bye Harry." she said before smiling sweetly and walking away.
Ron and Hermione had watched the entire thing in silence. Neither one knowing what to say exactly.
"Harry, mate. You all right?" Ron asked while poking the boy's shoulder.
"She had a Scottish accent." Harry informed them.
"We know, we heard her speak." Hermione replied, that snapped Harry out of it.
"You heard that?" he asked suddenly turning to them.
"Yeah we did. You think she caught your name there?" Ron asked with a grin.
Harry groaned and began walking away from them.
"Ron don't tease him." he heard Hermione scold. "He's Harry, Harry Potter. Did you know he's name is Harry?" she continued while laughing a bit.
Ron joined her while Harry turned and continued walking away.
"I hate both of you." he told them.
"No wait, Harry!" Hermione called out running after him.
"Mate, we're sorry!" Ron followed, while chuckling slightly.
Harry just prayed his brother wouldn't get word of this.
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The rest of the week passed with little to no excitement and suddenly it was announced that the other two schools would be joining the castle the next day; Friday. They would then open the Goblet of Fire to submissions and the names would be called the following Friday, which only gave potential participants a week to enter.
Ron and Harry seemed excited about the Tournament and so did Hermione and Andrew to a certain degree but they were still against the very idea of the whole event.
The day commenced with no incident that is until Andrew had been walking to his secret place to do more research on the Law's regarding his and Harry's name in different media when he was suddenly called out from behind. Turning he saw Su running up to him looking absolutely frazzled.
"Su? What's going on?!" he asked worriedly.
"It's Luna! You've got to come with me! Now!" she told him and grabbed his hand pulling him along with her.
The two ran through the school until they made it to the fifth floor and made it to a door. Pulling it open they found what seemed to be an old classroom, that was barely if ever used. Looking around Andrew saw Luna sitting on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head bowed low.
He rushed over and knelt down beside her.
"Luna, hey... Little Moon, what happened?" he asked her softly.
When he heard her give a small sniff he sat down completely and pulled her closer to him and felt her body shake as she began crying. Looking up at Su, the girl sat down in front of Luna and wrapped her arms around the emotional girl as well.
Once she had calmed down Andrew untangled himself from her and looked her in the eye.
"Moon, tell me what happened?" Andrew asked again.
After calming down a little more, Luna began telling him.
"It's my mother's earrings." she told him. It was then he noticed she hadn't been wearing them.
"What happened? Did the st... Nargles take those as well?" he asked knowing she wouldn't confess had he mentioned students.
"No, they weren't stolen. I found them. Broken." she told him softly with the occasional hiccup.
Andrew paused.
"Broken?"
She nodded and suddenly he felt his anger boil over. He breathed slowly through his nose and looked over at Su.
It was obvious she was just as angry as he was and when she saw his face she nodded her head.
"Okay Luna, Su and I are going to take you to Madam Pomfrey to get some calming draught okay?" he told her. When she nodded they helped her up and walked her to the Infirmary which thankfully wasn't too far away.
Once they had explained the situation to Madam Pomfrey she clicked her tongue while shaking her head and muttering something about heartless students and their reckless behaviour.
Andrew and Su watched as Madam Pomfrey admitted the calming draught and watched as Luna finally stopped hiccuping and started breathing normally again. As the two older students turned to leave, Luna spoke up.
"Don't hurt them." she said.
At their blank looks she continued.
"Don't hurt the Nargles, please?" she requested softly.
They shared a look and Andrew spoke.
"We aren't going to hurt them, Moon." he replied with a small shake of his head. "Just show them that there's only so far they can push their luck and what happens when you push too far."
Su nodded with what Andrew had said though trying to calm down the blonde girl.
Luna seemed to have accepted that answer as she nodded and slowly started to drift off to sleep.
When Andrew and Su left the room they shared a glance and checked the time, it was lunch now, the free period Andrew had had was now over.
"When does Ravenclaw usually have all the members in the common room?" he asked.
"Usually just before supper with the odd one or two in the Library." she answered immediately.
"Then we wait till tonight."
"What?! Why not now?!"
"The more people there the better, they'll get the message." Andrew growled before walking away.
"Fine! Meet me outside Charms class five minutes before supper!" she called out to him. She saw him raise his hand and knew she was acknowledging her.
With that Su turned and made her way to collect her bag and go to her next class.
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The last of classes were over and Hermione had gone to the common room to put her books away when she ran into two people who were suspiciously away for a while.
"Hermione!" Lavender greeted happily.
"How are you?" Pavarti chimed in.
"Where did you two pop out from?" she asked while frowning at pair.
"Oh you know, here and there. So, tell us about Andrew calling you beautiful after Pomfrey shrunk your teeth."
"What the- were you spying on us again?!" she asked in outraged shock.
"Never mind how we heard it, we just need you to confirm it." Pavarti said waving away her question.
"That- That is none of your business!" she responded hotly.
"Still in denial, huh?"
"I'm not the one in denial, you two are!" Hermione sighed before continuing. "Andrew and I are just friends!"
"But he called you beautiful!" Lavender said excitedly.
"He didn't say beautiful he said..." Hermione then paused as she thought about it.
"Well, if it's any consolation I think you look beautiful regardless of how your teeth look."
He had called her beautiful! Dammit, they had her there.
"It doesn't matter, he was just being nice." she informed them.
"God, you are thick." Pavarti said with a shake of her head.
"Excuse me?!"
"Hermione, we're going to ask you one last time. Do you like Andrew?"
"Oh for the love-"
"Listen, because we've been hearing rumours about him and Su Li, you know that Ravenclaw in our year?"
"Yeah I know, Su."
"Right. So we've heard that he's been seen hanging out with her more and more lately, and that Loony Lovegood girl."
Hermione paused for a second. Was that where Andrew had been continuously disappearing to?
"Then today people saw them running off together and going into an unused classroom. Nobody really knows what happened but they looked rather serious, apparently they even have plans to meet up later this evening." Lavender told the girl.
"Where did you even hear all of this?"
"Hermione focus! It seems; to us at the very least that those two are spending a lot of time together and if you do in fact like him, this may be the last time you can tell him. I mean, they're getting closer together everyday it's only a matter of time before they end up together." Lavender said again.
"And if you can honestly say that you haven't even thought of him in that way then we won't bring it up again. But Hermione, this may very well be your last chance before they end up dating and who knows how long it'll be before they break up if they ever do." Pavarti chimed in.
Hermione didn't answer immediately.
"I don't see why you guys are so sure they'll end up together. I mean-"
"Oh dear Merlin and Morgana! Granger; she is extremely smart, in the top 4 in our year just behind Andrew, you and above Malfoy – which was quite a shock by the way. Who would've thought that prat actually did well in class. But that's neither here nor there, she apparently has a sharp tongue, not really friends with anyone outside Lovegood and is regularly seen in the Library. She has a taste for adventure, but is usually very rule driven and has a wicked anger. Sound like anyone you know?"
Hermione raised a brow.
"Oh my- you know what? No, never mind, it doesn't matter! Just tell us, do you like him?" Lavender asked getting back on topic.
Hermione paused, she thought back to her friendship with Andrew from first year. Maybe she had gotten a small crush on the boy last year but... she didn't really know if she liked him. Like yeah, he'd helped save her from the troll, and gotten to know her before classes started meaning he hadn't thought about using her for homework reasons, well he was first in their year so that point was moot now. He always asked after her, cared for her and treated her like an equal in all they did. Except for the Basilisk thing last year which she needed to get back at him for. He respected her opinion and didn't make her feel bad for knowing something he didn't and yet she knew he'd protect her from everything and anything. He had Pinky Promised after all, she thought with a small smile.
But did she like him?
She looked up at Lavender and Pavarti and smiled before answering.
"No, I don't like him like that, he's my best friend and that's all. Even if he did end up with Su or Lovegood or God forbid Parkinson, he'd be my best friend." Hermione told him with a smile.
They regarded her for a moment without saying anything before shrugging.
"All right, we have your answer; we won't bring it up again." Pavarti said with a nod.
Hermione smiled, put her books away before turning and leaving the room.
The Gossip duo turned to one another.
"She's crazy about him." they said with a shake of their heads.
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Andrew met up with Su as he had said he would, the two made their way towards the staircase and headed up to the seventh floor.
"You ready for this?" Andrew asked her.
With a nod Su lead him to an engraving in the wall. It was an engraving of an old man holding a large walking stick; the Guardian started moving and turned to the two students.
"You do not belong here." he stated while looking at Andrew.
It had a deep and rich tone to it's voice, as if it were dipped in honey, truly soothing for the ears.
"He is a guest of mine." Su responded quickly.
"Very well. Answer my riddle and you shall enter."
"What 8 letter word can have a letter taken away and still make a word. Take another letter away and still makes a word. Keep going until you have one letter left. What is the word?"
"The word is starting. Starting, Staring, Sting, Sing, Sin, In and I." Su answered without batting an eyelid.
"Correct, you may enter." the wall behind the engraving moved and revealed a stairwell leading into the Ravenclaw common room.
Andrew entered first and looked around genuinely impressed with how it looked, the walls were lined with books from what he could tell were handwritten. From previous students perhaps? If that were the case that's a fantastic idea.
There was beautifully arranged furnisher in the room, the sofas were a soft blue colour and had subtle silver linings along the seems, it was much softer on the eyes than the harsh Gold and Red of Gryffindor.
But Andrew hadn't come here to admire the décor, he was pissed and he needed these birds to know why.
"Potter?! What are you doing here?!" Came a shout of surprise.
Looking Andrew saw Ernie McMillan staring at him in shock. The shout of shock drew the attention of the other patrons of Ravenclaw house and suddenly Andrew had every eye in the room on him. He had to admit, he felt his resolve crumble slightly at the confused and even some looks of anger on the student faces.
He closed his eyes and was treated to the sight of Luna sitting on the floor crying about the mementos her mother had left her being destroyed and suddenly his anger came back in full force.
"Luna Lovegood." he said looking around the room. "Who keeps bullying her? I want a name." he commanded.
"What? Listen I think maybe you're-"
"Who is bullying Luna?! I want their names!" Andrew said again, cutting off the random student who tried speaking.
"Potter, you're out of line!" the Ravenclaw prefect said standing from her place and sporting a scowl on her face. "Now get out of here before I contact Professor Flitwick." she demanded.
"'Out of line'? I'm out of line?! What about the pieces of shit in your house who have bullied one of their own for what I can assume has been months! Who have systematically stolen her belongings and very recently destroying something precious to her?!" Andrew yelled angrily, his magic responded to his anger and sent a flare towards the patrons in his vicinity.
They were shocked at what they had just felt before attempting to change their tactics.
"Li, did you do this?! You brought a Gryffindor to sort out a house issue?" someone in the back called out.
"Shut your damn mouths!" Su yelled at the angrily. "I've inquired for months about the treatment of Luna, I've appealed to the council for months and have yet to receive any feedback. I've done the right thing for longer than any of you have regarding this issue. I'm sick of it! You've been treating her as an outsider for as long as she's been here! I am the only one from this house who has befriended her!"
"Your appeal is under review!" The prefect said hotly.
"Fuck your appeal! Since the eagles aren't doing anything about this, I thought I'd bring in someone you would listen to!" she yelled while motioning to Andrew.
Andrew had said nothing but continued glaring at the collection of students while Su said her piece. He would ask her about the council thing later.
"Now then; names. Now." Andrew growled.
"You really think you can take us all on?" A boy who looked to be in his sixth or seventh year spoke while stepping forward.
Now he was really getting annoyed, all he wanted was a name. Nothing else, but for some reason they keep blocking him. He closed his eyes and took two steps towards the boy before opening his eyes.
Su saw the boy in front of Andrew take a step back in surprise while some of the students around him gasped in surprise.
"I'm going to ask you one last time-"
"Stupify!" came a shout from someone on Andrew's side.
There was a moment of silence as they stared at the boy who had cast the spell. He stood with his wand pointed directly at Andrew but shocked the audience was that Andrew had drawn his own wand and had completely dissolved the spell.
"You struck first. Don't hold the consequences on my shoulders." he growled.
He thrust his wand forward and sent the boy flying backwards with a silent depulso, the result being Terry Boot crashing into one of the bookshelves and collapsing the entire thing.
"How dare you?"
"Give me a fucking name Prefect, or the results will be much worse!"
"Don't threaten me!" she yelled pulling out her own wand.
"Incendio!" He cried out while pointing the wand around himself and the prefect.
The flames were wild growing larger than most of the first years but they didn't eat away at the carpet, it was completely controlled.
"You want to go against me, Eagle? I'll clip those wings of yours and devour you on the ground." he growled. She seemed to freeze at his words and lowered her wand.
"All you want are the names of the ones who were bullying Loony?" she asked tensely.
The flames flashed hot white and the everyone in the room had to shield their eyes for a second.
"Her name is Luna! Get. It. Right."
"I- I apologize. Right, so all you want are the names?" she asked again.
"Correct."
"All right."
The flames died down and Andrew stepped back beside Su. Turning to her, the small girl finally noticed why everyone had reacted the way they did to him. She held back a gasp as she looked into his bright grey eyes, she blinked, they were usually hazel, but in this moment they shined like an ocean of cement.
"We're almost done." he told her.
"Yeah." she nodded numbly.
"Potter, we've got a name." the Prefect said stepping forward.
Andrew said nothing but motioned for her to continue.
"Marietta Edgecombe."
"Bring her here." he commanded.
Next thing he heard were the muffled sounds of struggle and before him was a girl, relatively good looking, had short brown hair and sky blue eyes. She seemed to be in a body binding curse and was trying to break out of it.
He waved his wand over her and mumbled a finite.
"What are your reasons?" he asked deeply.
"It wasn't me!" she yelled out angrily.
"Really?" he asked again, boredly.
He knelt down to her and held her chin under his hand. "Legillemence." he whispered.
Andrew dove into the girl's memories and watched her and a small group of other students constantly tormenting Luna. The others included Terry Boot, who he had dealt with, the Prefect and even the loud mouth sixth year who backed off at the last minute. But he dug deeper and found what he was looking for; Marietta silently pulling off Luna's earrings and crushing them with her foot before going down to the common room and placing them on the table all the while giggling to herself.
Andrew pulled himself out.
"Marietta Edgecombe, Terry Boot, Felicity Cross and Marcus Knighly I have identified you four as being the harbingers of Luna's torment." he stated while standing.
Marietta held her head in her hands as a wicked headache suddenly struck her.
"Legillemence is against the school rules! I'll see you expelled for that!" Felicity said in an accusing tone.
"Truly?" he asked with a small laugh. "And how do you plan to do that? Snape has tried to get me expelled since first year, not to mention I've called him a piece of shit, and yet here I stand before you. So tell me Felicity... how will you accomplish that task?"
The girl took a step away from him, fear clear in her eyes.
"Step forth, Marietta, Felicity, Terry and Marcus!" he demanded. The four found themselves frozen for a moment.
"I will not ask you again!" he yelled angrily causing all to flinch at his tone.
The four stepped forward and many could see the irony as all four students obeyed a boy shorter than themselves.
"Kneel." he told them.
"What?!" Marcus yelled in shock.
Casting a strong stinging spell at the boys shin causing him to drop to the ground he repeated himself.
"Kneel."
The other three reacted immediately and knelt in front of the fourth year Gryffindor.
Su watched all of this in shock and surprise. She had no doubt that combined the four students could take Andrew on, but the magic that rolled off of him. It suffocated the room, demanding to be obeyed; she felt Andrew's magic ever since he let off the flare. She was not exaggerating when she said that she was absolutely terrified of him in this moment and she had no doubt that everyone else in Ravenclaw felt the same way.
"You will apologize to Luna when you see her next. You will admit to being the ones who have caused her months of pain and you Marietta will beg her for forgiveness for destroying her last connection to her mother. Do I make myself clear?" he asked not leaving any room for arguments.
They hesitated once more and Andrew snarled, subconsciously releasing another wave of magic suffocating the room further.
"I hate repeating myself." he growled.
They nodded their heads and agreed to his terms. Andrew smirked and turned to leave before pausing and tuning back to the house.
"Should what happened tonight go outside the walls of the Ravenclaw common room, there will be hell to pay." he threatened darkly, he waited until he saw them all nod their heads.
Andrew turned to Su and the girl was once more surprised to see that his eyes had returned to their normal hazel hue. She saw his smile and couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Diffindo!" came a cry from behind him.
In a moment Su had her wand out and shielded Andrew's back from the cutting curse that travelled towards the boy's neck.
She seemed shocked for a moment before snarling at Marietta who looked at the girl with something akin to fear.
"You bitch!" she snarled. She thrust her wand forward and cast a body binding spell on the girl before throwing an overpowered tickling charm at her and keeping her under it until she saw a dark patch slowly form on the girls denim pants before finally releasing her.
Andrew watched as the girl stopped laughing and immediately ran from the room, her face burning bright red. There seemed to already be some students giggling at her predicament.
"Seriously?!" He called out whirling on the students again.
"I just tore into you for ostracising one of your own and now you're turning around and starting to do it to another?! Can none of you grow the fuck up and learn empathy? No one is to bully Marietta about what has transpired here today and no one outside of Ravenclaw shall know either! Or else." he growled.
Turning to Su he sighed tiredly and offered the girl his elbow.
"M'lady?" he said calmly.
Su seemed to debate it for a second before smiling and accepting the arm. "M'lord." she responded with a smile.
Okay I know the biggest problem people will have with this will be how different Andrew and Su were in the Ravenclaw common room. Well here could be a few reasons for you:
Andrew was absolutely pissed, more so than ever since not only had Ravenclaw tower been confronted with everything they had done, they belittled and threatened him. So yeah he lost it.
This was the first time I got to write an angry Su, so yeah I didn't even what was going to happen until my fingers started typing.
Andrew's attitude... Be patient, an explanation will be given soon.
Su's acceptance of a completely OOC Andrew as nothing, she has no reference for his anger. Last time she had seen him angry he had promised that he'd slay an ancient Basilisk. Next thing she knew she was awoken from her petrification and the attacks stopped. He must've done something right? So why would she question Andrew and his anger during his bouts of high emotional states?
What's stopping the Ravenclaw from telling the rest of school or the teachers what Andrew had done? Absolutely nothing, but fear is a powerful weapon, it'll still be common knowledge what Andrew had done, but the technically there isn't anything stopping them nor is there anything holding them to the deal and Andrew doesn't really care about that, he just wants them to stop bullying each other.
