Chapter 5 : The two walking disasters
Have you ever tried to keep a secret for several days or even weeks ? The more time passes, the more there's a risk for it to explode in your face with serious consequences. That was what Akira was going through after the twins couldn't leave Hogwarts on Halloween night due to an aggressive Chimaera – after their encounter, she had been searching what this strange creature was in her Care of Magical Creatures book – responding to the sweet name of Skippy.
This failed escape's attempt was more than problematic as Akira was short of viable idea to get the twins out of Hogwarts without anyone noticing. Matsuo and Tatsuno themselves weren't reassured to stay after realizing that magic could be fatal to muggles like them. For their safety, they tried to stay as far away as possible from it but with time, they realized that it was impossible in a school full of apprentice magicians.
And as if things weren't bad enough, the students in their respective house – Slytherin for Matsuo and Ravenclaw for Tatsuno - began to take an interest in these two students they had seen on occasions without really knowing who they were. They spoke with the twins as Akira could only watch the scene from afar while hoping that Matsuo and Tatsuno wouldn't say something stupid that would blow up their cover.
Surprisingly, the twins didn't do badly at this interrogation even though they were challenged everyday with new questions. It was probably thanks to their eloquence and their ability to make friends, things that Akira lacked desperately. She would see them discussing with students from all years when she only had Arcturus as a true friend after spending three years at Hogwarts. It was hopeless and she was even getting jealous of Matsuo and Tatsuno as she was constantly staring at them while they were surrounded by their new friends.
"Who's that ?" Arcturus ended up asking during a meal in the Great Hall while Akira hadn't taken her eyes off the twins who were sitting at their respective table.
"No idea." She replied absentmindedly without stopping to look at them even though she was the only one to do so.
"They seem sympatic but I don't remember ever seeing them at school." Arcturus pointed out while frowning. "That's strange. My memory never fails me till now."
This comment worried Akira who bent her spoon in half with her thumb without really realizing it.
"Wow. Aren't they supposed to be in metal ?" Arcturus asked with astonishment while pointing at the poor spoon.
"I don't see why you would take interest in these two students all of a sudden. They've nothing special." Akira abruptly said to him before throwing her spoon on the table.
"But, it's you who…" Arcturus replied before interrupting himself when Akira suddenly got up from her seat.
"Got to go." She told him without making an effort to find a credible excuse.
She then rushed out of the Great Hall to avoid other questions from Arcturus because unlike Matsuo and Tatsuno, she wasn't very good at lying continuously without being eventually spotted.
She intended to reach the Gryffindor Tower to get some free time far away from all her worries but she realized that she had to talk to the twins about their behaviour right away. Therefore, she waited for them in the shade of the marble staircase but it turned out to be more complicated than expected as she saw them coming out of the Great Hall surrounded by their group of friends. To catch their attention, she had no choice but to throw at them old Bertie Bott's Beans that she had in her pocket. After being hit on the side of the face with it, they would turn to see what it was and spot Akira who would discreetly motioned for them to come to her hiding place.
"What's up, dear colleagues ?" Matsuo whispered once he joined Akira and his brother away from prying ears.
"There's nothing to be proud of." Akira told them in a tone full of reproach which made them lose their confident smile. "I let you do as you want until now but you're going too far."
"Too far ?" Tatsuno repeated as he didn't understand what she was talking about.
"You were supposed to stay in the shadow to not be spotted but instead, you befriend all the students that cross your path. You know more people in your houses than I do in my own !"
"Someone's jealous about our popularity." Tatsuno teased her but he stopped when she hit him in the shoulder rather harshly.
"But we didn't do anything to get these new friends. In my case, they came at me on their own to ask me if I hated muggles. I simply answered yes since the latter didn't seem to be welcome in this school." Matsuo said while shrugging. "Since then, they take me everywhere they go to show me around Hogwarts as I told them I'm a foreign student."
"It's normal that they took you in their group after that answer. You're in Slytherin and these people hate muggles." Akira informed him as Matsuo began to look worried.
"That's unfortunate since I'm a muggle myself. What will they do to me if they found out ?" He asked Akira with concern.
"As long as you stay in your character, they won't know anything about it but you really have to stop being so exuberant. It's only a matter of time before someone eventually realizes that you have nothing to do in this school." Akira warned them.
"It's fine. It's not the first time we infiltrate the enemy camp and we've always managed to blend in." Tatsuno said in an attempt to reassure them all.
"You're playing with fire and it's dangerous." Akira added as she wasn't sharing his positivity.
"We're just ensuring our safety at Hogwarts. By having wizards on our side, they can help us if someone ever attacks us with a spell." Matsuo stated as this eventuality was what scared the twins the most since magic was beyond their understandings.
"By the way, it's easier to go unnoticed by mixing with the other students rather than staying alone in our corner. I've even been invited to go see the first Kiditsh game of the season with some students of my house. That's what I call real integration." Tatsuno added while looking pleased by this news.
"Firstly, it's pronounced "Quidditch" and secondly, you don't even know what it is !" Akira pointed out to him.
"Perhaps but games are usually fun." Tatsuno commented as he seemed eager to discover what it was exactly.
"It's the most popular sport in the wizarding world. It's played on broomsticks and with various balls." Akira revealed to them.
"Sounds boring." Matsuo said as her description was rather disappointing since she forgot to mention that the game was played in the air.
"I play in the Gryffindor team." Akira added while crossing her arms in anger.
"This sport looks great !" Matsuo corrected himself in a falsely playful voice.
"From what I heard, the first match is taking place this Saturday. Are you playing during it ?" Tatsuno inquired with interest as they were in the middle of the second week of November which was synonymous of the beginning of the game season.
"Indeed."
"And are you ready ?" Matsuo added happily at the idea of seeing their teammate taking part to it.
"Of course I am." Akira lied as the presence of the twins at Hogwarts had greatly compromised her training which didn't please Ana who yelled a lot at her for not being concentrated.
"You'll do great as always." Tatsuno told her with conviction. "By the way, you're playing against which team ?"
"Hufflepuff."
"That's perfect ! It's neither of our two houses. It means that we'll be able to encourage you without being scolded by our classmates." Matsuo joked.
"Don't do that please. If you show too much support for my team, people will begin to be suspicious about your affiliation to your house, especially in your case." Akira added while pointing at Matsuo. "Slytherins are natural enemies to Gryffindors. We've hated each other since the dawn of time so don't congratulate my team on each point we score even if you really want to do so."
"Fine. I'll boo you instead to show my support." Matsuo replied with a smile.
"Try to be serious for once. If you show the slightest support to Gryffindor, you'll get slaughtered by the people of your house." Akira warned him which was enough to worry the twins who lost their enthusiastic smile.
Now that everything was said, the three ninjas went into separate ways.
During the days that followed, the whole school was awaiting impatiently at this first Quidditch match after spending several months without that fascinating game. A certain excitement filled the school and reached its paroxysm on the Saturday morning before the match. As usual, Ana had woken up her players at dawn to be sure that they wouldn't oversleep and also to have time to put them in the spirit for the game with another one of her motivational speech as if the one they had the night before wasn't enough.
"We've no right to make a fool of ourselves for this first match. All eyes will be on us after we won the Quidditch Cup last year and it's a good opportunity to show all the other houses that we've been training like crazy even if the cup proves we're already the best." Ana explained to them with so much "modesty" that her teammates rolled their eyes with exasperation.
"Stop that. You're putting a lot of pressure on our shoulders by saying this." Liz reproached her while pointing with her fork at the team's new Beater and Chaser who had started shaking like a leaf when the only thing they wanted right now was to eat their breakfast in peace.
"Come on guys. Pull yourself together ! It's not with this attitude that we're going to beat our opponents." Ana told her two teammates energetically before patting her fellow Beater on the back which caused him to spill all his pumpkin juice on the table while he had tried to drink it.
Akira shared their apprehension as she gloomily fiddled with her scrambled eggs without eating any of them. The only thing that brought her out of her torpor was the pebble she received behind her head and which made her turn around to see what hit her.
She froze in place when she spotted the twins who were both standing on the other side of the table that was behind her. They were beaming and when they saw that she had laid eyes on them, they gave her an encouraging thumbs up. But this support didn't please Akira who turned red with shame before discreetly signalling to the twins to leave before her teammates saw them. The twins obeyed and went to their respective table in the Great Hall while Akira tried to regain her composure to listen to the rest of her Captain's speech.
The temperature outside of the castle was chilly but the sun beaming high in the sky gave off a feeling of gentle warmth that was ideal for playing a Quidditch match. Each team went to their locker room to prepare before coming on the pitch under the cheers of enthusiastic spectators.
However, the only thing that Akira had in mind right now was to spot the twins among the crowd. It was a bad idea because from the moment she would find them, she wouldn't be able to stop watching them instead of concentrating on the game but she couldn't help it. Knowing that they were in the middle of Ravenclaws and Slytherins that weren't really supporting Gryffindor made her worried that the twins would show too much enthusiasm for her team and blow up their cover.
Lost in her mind, she heard nothing from the presentation speech of the players made by Lars Farrel who was still faithful to his post of commentator even after two years. She imitated her teammates by taking off when Madam Hooch had given them the permission to do so and she barely noticed that the Quaffle had just been put into play, meaning that the game was beginning.
Akira player's instinct only kicked in when she found herself with the ball in her hands after a missed pass between the Hufflepuff Chasers. From now on, she concentrated on scoring goals and would play to do so. However, when one or the other team would score, resulting in few seconds of waiting before the game resumed, she would fly over the crowd while trying to spot the two ninjas who were nowhere to be found.
The match turned out to be quite interesting as the Hufflepuffs seemed to have worked hard to compete with their illustrious opponents who had won the Quidditch Cup last year. But they began to be really tired as the game dragged on. The Gryffindors weren't in better shape while the score between the two teams was very tight.
"You only have one job ! Why is it taking you so long ?" Ana told her Seeker with anger as the Snitch was still not captured.
"If you think that's easy, then take my place !" Liz replied while continuing to look around for the golden ball. "I can't spot it anywhere !"
She wasn't the only one as the Hufflepuff Seeker was also scanning the surroundings while scratching his head as he couldn't find the Golden Snitch either.
"Come on ! The game started several hours ago. Normally we should already be celebrating our victory by that time." Ana complained before letting Liz fly around the pitch to search for it.
Indeed, this phenomenon had never happened since Akira had joined Hogwarts. In general, the Snitch was found after one or two hours but this time, the afternoon was slowly beginning without anyone getting their hands on it or even having a clue of where it could be.
Eventually, the game was put to an end when a Beater crashed into a goal post due to exhaustion. Madam Hooch whistled the end of it and once all the players landed on the ground, she informed them that the scores would be counted as such for the Quidditch Cup, namely two hundred and seventy points for Gryffindor and two hundred and forty points for Hufflepuff meaning that Akira's team had won this first match but with a really small difference of points.
The end of the game was so strange that no one realized that there was nothing left to see and that it was time to return to the castle for lunch. Slowly, the spectators got up and left the pitch like the players who didn't feel sad or happy as they didn't really assimilate what happened. In the middle of all this confusion, the twins took the opportunity to join Akira while no one was paying attention to them.
"This sport is so cool ! It was a bit difficult to follow since we didn't know the rules but the brooms you're using are fantastic. Do you think we could take two or three of them back to Konoha ?" Matsuo asked with hope as he and his brother had a smile that rose to their ears.
"Absolutely not. Muggles must never find out that there're brooms that can fly instead of taking dust." Akira warned them with seriousness.
"But it would be fun to possess one and also it would allow you to practice during the summer holidays." Tatsuno teased her as he was sure to have found a way to make her say yes.
"I said no." Akira replied as she was starting to lose patience. "And don't insist. I really need some rest after this game that never ended, thanks to the Snitch that got lost somewhere."
"What's a Snitch ?" Matsuo asked her with interest.
"A small golden ball, that flies everywhere and really quickly. Catching it is the only way to end the match." She explained briefly to them.
"Does it look like this ?" Tatsuno suddenly added before pulling out of his pocket a shiny Golden Snitch that began flapping its wings frantically to escape.
"How… ?" Akira asked him in disbelief.
"It was flying above the crowd while all the spectators were staring at the game. It was so cool and shiny that we decided to take it as a souvenir when we return to Konoha." Matsuo explained to her in a conversational tone.
"It's not only cool and shiny. It's also flying ! We don't see this every day." Tatsuno commented while taking a closer look at the little ball that was in his hand.
"Put it away !" Akira scolded him while lowering his hand as she looked around to make sure no one else had seen it. "You weren't supposed to catch it ! You took the job of our Seekers who could have put an end to the match sooner if only they could have put their hand on it."
"They should have been faster because first arrived first served. We were the best on this one. Maybe we could join the team of our houses in a few weeks, once we learn the rules." Matsuo replied before giving a high five to his brother who had put the Snitch back in his pocket.
"In a few weeks, you'll be back at Konoha if everything goes well." Akira told them sharply before leaving them as the crowd was dispersing slowly.
She was really mad at the twins for their theft of the Snitch. However, she soon realized that it was only a trifle compared to what they did at the approach of the end of November, which had become colder with the days as winter was coming.
Akira was made aware of their big mistake on the last day of the month which was a Thursday. That day had been strangely calm but everything took a dark turn on the evening, when she was wandering in the hallways with Arcturus as they were waiting for dinner.
"Do you think McGonagall will give me permission to turn the Entrance Hall into a giant indoor ice rink ?" Arcturus asked Akira seriously as he was considering the better way to put the cold infiltrating in the castle to good use.
"I don't know. Do you think that she would say yes ?" Akira replied with sarcasm.
"No." Arcturus admitted after some reflexion.
"AKIRA !" A voice suddenly called out from behind them as she heard someone running in their direction.
She barely had time to turn around to see Tatsuno coming at her level and grabbing her by the shoulders as he looked completely panicked.
"You need to come right now ! Matsuo got himself in big trouble." He revealed to her while not even caring that Arcturus was there even though the latter couldn't understand any of their gibberish in Japanese.
"What ? But what have you done ?" She asked him in a reproachful tone as Tatsuno was already taking her with him.
"Hey ! Don't leave me behind !" Arcturus complained before running to catch up with them.
"We didn't do anything." Tatsuno answered to her question while continuing to ignore Arcturus.
"Don't play to that game with me. There's no smoke without fire." She told him while trying to keep her composure.
"It's true ! We didn't do anything. It's a big guy from your house and his friends that started everything. He attacked a girl from Slytherin that Matsuo really really likes…"
"Hold on. Matsuo got a girlfriend ?" Akira cut him off in disbelief.
"Not really. He never dared to approach her closer than five meters so she doesn't really know that he loves her. I called it a "long distance relationship"." Tatsuno joked while forgetting for a moment why he was so worried.
"Anyway. What happened exactly to him ?" Akira asked him to get to the point.
"It turns out that those Gryffindor bullies attacked a group of Slytherins and the toughest guy tried to cast a spell on this girl but Matsuo got in the way."
"Oh no." Akira muttered in shock. "Is he okay ?"
"Matsuo ? He's perfectly fine. You should instead worry about the bully. My brother went berserk and punched him right in the face. It knocked him out in addition to splitting his eyebrow which caused blood to spill everywhere in a gory way. Everyone that assisted to the scene was shocked and a supervisor caught him red-handed."
"Why did he had to punch him so hard ?"
"According to what I saw, that was just a regular punch that wouldn't even cause a bruise to a ninja but students in this school are… less tough than us." Tatsuno defended his brother while choosing his words carefully.
But he stopped talking when they arrived near the "crime" scene. Filch was holding Matsuo by the collar of his wizarding robe and was leading him away.
The other students present let them pass as they were visibly frightened by this devastatingly strong Slytherin student. As they did, Akira saw the poor Gryffindor who received the punch. He was still lying on the ground as a trickle of blood was smearing his face. A brave student approached him and pushed him slightly to try to wake him up but without success.
"Why is there a student on the ground ? And is it… blood ?" Arcturus asked with disgust upon discovering the scene since he hadn't understood what Tatsuno and Akira had said to each other until now.
"Follow me." Akira whispered to Tatsuno while dragging him away to follow the trail of Filch and their teammate.
"If you ever want to explain to me what's going on, I'll be in our common room." Arcturus told her as he was too tired to continue following them around.
Akira didn't answer anything as she was already rushing along the hallways with Tatsuno to not lose the track of Matsuo. The situation couldn't be worst as Filch was the one who arrested him. He was known to be particularly mean with students breaking the rules and this time was no exception as Matsuo seriously injured one of his fellows.
But instead of being angry by his behaviour, Filch seemed to be pleased by the events as he was walking faster than usual while threatening the poor Matsuo with every punishment that crossed his mind. However, all his suggestions were too cruel to be applied right away so he brought Matsuo in Dumbledore's office to ask the permission of the Headmaster first.
"He's not really going to tie my brother to a tree deep into the forest until he got eaten alive by one of the creatures, is he ?" Tatsuno wondered with concern as they both hid behind a nearby armour while Filch and Matsuo were taking the stairs leading to Dumbledore's office after saying the correct password.
"Of course not." Akira informed him as she knew that Dumbledore wouldn't let that ever happen. "I'm more concerned that he's taken into the Headmaster's office. That means that your cover is blown and I don't know what will happen to us now."
"It sucks." Tatsuno added as he was sharing her apprehension.
Hello dear readers,
Like Tatsuno said, it sucks. After all their efforts to go unnoticed in the school while also having to deal with a Chimaera during their attempt to flee, they have to face the authorities of the school now. I doubt that Dumbledore will be indulgeant towards Matsuo after the fight he had with one of his students that let him badly injured.
But Akira's fate is on the line too. What will happen to her if the connexion is made between her and the twins ? Or if it's revealed that she helped them to hide in the school for so long ? You'll discover it sooner than expected since I intend to publish the next chapter in the middle of the month. A lot needs to be said before the New Year so you'll have several chapters to read during this December month ! Happy reading !
