Chapter 3 : The intruders

Looking for what was following her around Hogwarts since back-to-school wasn't a good idea after all. Akira found out about it after being dragged inside a broom closet by two pairs of hands and being locked up in it. She found herself plunged into total darkness as fear began to invade her. She didn't know at that time who was after her but she wasn't going to let herself get killed without fighting back. Therefore, she took her wand out of her pocket and lit the end of it to see who kidnapped her but as soon as she did, she froze in place while staring at two people she knew well with a bewildered look.

"Surveillance had never really been our thing. However, we broke a record by following you during two weeks without you discovering us." Matsuo and Tatsuno stated while displaying a smile, visibly happy to see her.

"What… But how…" Akira muttered while having trouble finding her words in front of the twins who had nothing to do at Hogwarts.

"It's a long story." Tatsuno interrupted her, smiling even more brightly at her astonished look.

"It all started when you tried to get rid of us at King's Cross Station." His brother continued. "You sent us to check the platform of your train but you gave us no information about its departure time or its destination so we wouldn't have been able to find it on the display board. When we realized this, we turned around to ask you some questions but you were already rushing in the direction of a wall. We were a bit surprised since you told us that you would wait for our return but we were even more astonished when we saw you disappear all of a sudden. We then took a closer look at this wall to find out what happened to you but we suddenly found ourselves on a crowded platform that hadn't been there before. We saw you afar but since you obviously didn't want us to be around, we kept our distance."

"Since we didn't know how to leave this platform and also due to curiosity, we decided to take the same train as you to see where you were going every year. To avoid you noticing us, we travelled on the roof but that wasn't comfortable at all, especially for such a long trip." Tatsuno complained, grimacing as he recalled that awful trip on the Hogwarts Express.

"Wait a second. You were the shadow I saw through my compartment window !" Akira announced suddenly.

"Indeed, it was us. We looked through each window of the train to make sure that you were effectively in it. Since we had to travel so uncomfortably, we wanted to be sure that it's worth it." Matsuo explained to her.

"Once your train arrived at its remote destination, we followed you by slipping under one of the carriages that the students were taking. Without really understanding why, it brought us to ruins surrounded by several warnings of danger. If you hadn't gone inside, we would never have thought of doing the same once the way was clear." Tatsuno confessed to her while his brother nodded.

"It was like the wall at the train station. All of a sudden, we found ourselves inside a huge castle. As you would have been furious if you had found out we sneaked into your school without your consent, we hid ourselves in different rooms and as soon as we spotted you in the hallways, we would follow you on the sly to see what you were doing. But each time, we were reckless and you felt our presence." Matsuo added.

"We tried to be discreet but it was getting harder and harder as we started to starve. We've been here during two weeks and our food supply is nearly empty." Tatsuno told her while pointing at the two backpacks they took with them and that were lying flat on the ground.

"And this survival food we take for our missions doesn't taste great." Matsuo added with disgust. "It's easy to transport but it has nothing to do with real food."

"This exhausting travel on the train's roof and starvation are even giving us rather strange visions. We saw paintings and armours moving on their own and also transparent beings walking around among the students who were using the same wood stick as you." Tatsuno told her while looking at her magic wand that was lighting the room.

Akira froze in place when she heard Tatsuno revealing that they had witnessed magical things. She began to wonder what they had exactly discovered about the world of magic but understanding what they saw was secondary to the twins as eating was more important to them.

"We couldn't have last much longer without food so it's a good thing that you found us in this closet. That way, you can bring us something to snack on since I think there's a canteen in your school." Matsuo pointed out.

"Yes, it's on the ground floor. We saw students coming back from it the other day but we aren't so sure about it since our brains are a bit fuzzy due to the lack of food." His brother replied.

They then both gave a hopeful look to Akira who had grown quieter with their explanations, just stifling a gasp of pain after she pinched herself in the middle of their monologue to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

Indeed, the presence of the twins at Hogwarts was a real nightmare from which she hoped to wake up quickly but she found out with horror that it wasn't one. Everything that was happening was very real.

Her two teammates - ninjas from the Muggle's world – entered because of her negligence in a school full of young apprentice wizards who used magic all the times. It was only a matter of time before Tatsuno and Matsuo stopped blaming exhaustion or hunger for all the strange things they saw and realized that Akira had joined a school of magic. It would be a disaster since Akira had to keep this information secret to be able to do her schooling at Hogwarts. That was the only condition that Dumbledore had set up for her to enter the school.

What would happen to her if the Headmaster learned that her two teammates had discovered her secret and joined the school uninvited ? Akira didn't know but she doubted that she would be able to stay at Hogwarts or even in the wizarding world after this incident. But she didn't want to leave both of them, she liked being a witch so the only solution for her was to get the twins out of Hogwarts as quickly as possible and without anyone noticing it. However, this task promised to be hard as Akira didn't know exactly the options available to leave the school in the middle of the year.

"I think she suffered a shock. I told you we should have gone more gently to reveal our presence instead of jumping on her out of nowhere." Tatsuno said to his brother while the latter was passing a hand in front of Akira's eyes as she had remained still during long minutes.

Gradually coming back to reality, Akira came out of her torpor to grab Matsuo by the front of his sweater and shake him violently.

"What went through your heads to think it was a good idea to come to my school ? Has it ever crossed your mind that I could be in serious trouble if I brought someone here who isn't registered within this establishment ? Why do you think I tried to get rid of you two at any cost when I boarded on the train ?" Akira threw at them angrily while Tatsuno made her let go of his brother who seemed a little shaken by this sudden fit of rage.

"Relax. We never meant to bother you. You could have told us that your school was private and we could have understood that very well." Tatsuno replied, making it sound as if it was her fault if they were here.

"On the contrary. If I had told you that, you would have become even more curious to the point of going to my school without my consent and the situation would be the same !" Akira fumed while shaking with rage.

"Maybe but you can't blame us. You're our dear teammate and we're interested in what you do when you're not at Konoha for a whole year. As a team, I thought we had no secrets for each other." Matsuo defended himself in an attempt to calm her down.

"The fact that I go to a school in England wasn't a secret since you knew about it for two years." Akira replied, which was the truth. "And you've never been interested in my studies until now, to the point of never asking me any questions about it. So I don't understand why all of a sudden you think it would be a good idea to come and torment me."

Not knowing what to answer to this, Matsuo and Tatsuno ducked their heads down and their sad faces managed to calm Akira down. After all, they had meant no harm.

"Stay here. I'm going to get you something to eat and then, we'll figure out a way to get you out of this school before anyone notices your presence." Akira told them in a calm tone that seemed to reassure the twins.

Without waiting for an answer from them, she left the closet before leaning against its door while closing her eyes. She hadn't really expected to discover that it was Tatsuno and Matsuo who were following her around the school like her shadow but at least, they weren't dangerous criminals as Akira feared until she came across them. Nevertheless, their presence at Hogwarts remained problematic as Akira was wondering where she could possibly find food for them when dinner was already long over.

"The kitchens." Akira thought before opening her eyes. "Arcturus told me he knew where they were located. I could sneak in and grab some food for the twins."

With this idea in mind, Akira left the twins in their closet to try to find Arcturus who could be anywhere in the school on this Friday evening. In the end, he had simply settled into an armchair in the Gryffindor common room, playing with a yo-yo that he had recovered from Dust's Muggle objects.

"Lili explained to me that it's supposed to go up but I don't know how it's possible." He complained to Akira as his yo-yo was remaining stubbornly at ground level, failing to have the momentum necessary to go up.

"If I show you how to do it, you'll tell me where the kitchens are located in the school ?" Akira asked him out of the blue as she sat next to him.

She immediately blamed herself for having asked this question so directly as Arcturus might be interested to know why she wanted to go there all of a sudden.

"The kitchens ? They're located under the Great Hall. You just have to go through a door in the Entrance Hall and go down the stairs until you find yourself in front of a painting representing a bowl of fruit. If you tickle the pear, the painting will give you access to the kitchens." Arcturus replied mechanically, being more interested in the "magic" behind his yo-yo than the reason why Akira wanted to go there.

As promised, Akira gave him a short demonstration on how to play with a yo-yo. Arcturus was fascinated by its back-and-forth movement but he became really excited when he learnt that he could perform an infinite number of tricks with it. This distraction was exactly what Akira needed to be left alone as she had to think about a strategy to go in the kitchens to find food for her both intruders. To avoid being spotted by anyone, she decided to go there in the middle of the night, when more or less everyone in the castle was sleeping.

To put her plan into action, she went to bed early that night and waited wide awake until it was one o'clock in the morning. All the girls in her dormitory were fast asleep so it was the perfect time for Akira to leave on tiptoe. She went in the common room and was about to reach the portrait of the Fat Lady when she tripped over something and fell flat on the cold stone ground.

"Ouch. Watch where you put your feet !" A sleepy voice complained as she struggled to get up.

Horrified to have been spotted, Akira turned to the person who had been lying on the ground until she stumbled on him. He was none other than James. The latter had also stood up while holding a cloak whose fabric was fluid like water. He was dressed in his pyjamas as he seemed to have slept on the floor until Akira arrived, which must have been really uncomfortable.

"You've got nothing to do here." Akira told him angrily while wondering why she didn't see him on the ground as the room was slightly lit by embers in the fireplace.

"I have the right to be in the common room of my house to prevent a certain girl whose name begins with an A to leave it during the night, which is completely forbidden. But these nights of sleep on the hard floor seemed to have paid off since I just catch her. Being an honest student that cares about the reputation of his house, I can't let you go unpunished. I'll have to inform someone about your behaviour." James threatened her with a grin.

"Then, do it. It will be your word against mine as there are no witnesses around." Akira replied indifferently.

"But who do you think they'll believe ? Me who's still in pyjamas and barefoot or you who's dressed to go outside ? You also have the reputation of losing many house points while breaking the rules so I won't have any trouble to convince someone that you were about to do it again." James pointed out as Akira's blood froze. "And I know exactly who will believe me right away."

At this announcement, James went towards the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories before starting to scream at the top of his lungs.

"ANA ! CHITSUTE IS ABOUT TO GET GRYFFINDOR INTO TROUBLE !"

"Shut your mouth !" Akira told him in a low voice after throwing herself on him to put a hand on his mouth.

A fierce fight ensued between James, who was trying to free himself to warn Ana, and Akira, who was trying to keep him quiet. However, James was no match for her since she had already dealt with tougher enemies than him during her ninja missions. It took a different turn when he pulled out his wand to cast a spell on her to make her let go as she made him fall on the ground.

Akira had no other choice than to knock him out and she knew exactly which technique to use to do so. She wrapped her hand in green chakra and was about to put it on James' head while pinning him to the floor to make him stay still when footsteps coming from the girls' dormitories were heard in the stairs. Being unable to flee in such a short time, Akira cancelled her attack since it wouldn't help to find James unconscious. She immediately made her chakra disappear before putting James back on his feet by force just as a group of girls arrived in the common room.

Among them was Ana who began to fulminate when she saw her two Chasers in poor condition. She got even angrier when James finished explaining to her why they had fought as he was portraying Akira as the bad guy in this story.

Ana was completely furious to learn about Akira's intent to leave the Tower in the middle of the night, especially with the risk of getting detention that could interfere with Quidditch practice. But contrary to what she said during the selection, Ana didn't exclude Akira from the next Quidditch match due to a lack of talented substitutes to take her position.

Instead, Ana gave her some extra work like taking care of the team's brooms or putting the Quidditch balls back in their crate at the end of the trainings. And she also threatened Akira to kick her out of the team for good if anything similar ever happened again. She then sent Akira back to bed under the gaze of the girls present and of James who was more than happy to have put her again into trouble.

Shame prevented Akira from leaving again her dormitory during the following nights, even if it was the perfect time to sneak into the kitchens without being seen. It was only at the end of September that she found out a way to go there without anybody noticing it. It was about time as she felt more and more guilty for having let the twins starve in their closet for an additional two weeks.

Akira locked herself in the Room of Requirement on a Saturday evening and didn't come out until the middle of the night. Without anyone in the hallways or sleeping on the ground in an attempt to catch her breaking the rules, she was able to reach the kitchens quite easily.

She followed Arcturus instructions and soon found herself in front of a painting representing a bowl of fruit that she lit with her wand to be sure it was the good one. She then tickled the pear which giggled - not ideal in a completely silent hallway - before becoming a door handle that Akira turned to enter the kitchens.

The room was gigantic and had a high ceiling. In the middle of it were five large tables similar to those in the Great Hall as pots and pans were heaped against the walls or stored on shelves.

In search of the pantry where the food was stored, Akira advanced until she reached a huge fireplace surrounded by stoves or sinks in which dirty dishes were piling up. After looking around, she spotted a wooden door to the right of the room but when she tried to open it, she found out it had been lock with a padlock, presumably to prevent anyone from stealing food.

"That's useless since Alohomora is taught in first year." Akira thought while opening the padlock with a single mouvement of her magic wand.

She then found herself in a small room overrun with wooden crates and shelves that were bending under the stock of food stored there to prepare meals. Food of all kinds was kept in it but Akira only seized products that could be easily eaten and non-perishable in the short term, namely fruit, bread, cakes and cans or jars with unknown contents but which had to be edible since they were stocked in this room.

Arms loaded with food, Akira quietly left the pantry and closed everything behind her to leave no trace of her passage. She then immediately took the direction of the broom closet in which she had left the twins but when she entered it, she noticed with horror that the latter was empty. There was no trace of Matsuo and Tatsuno but she could only blame herself for making them wait so long without giving them any news. They must have gone on their own in search of food, the remaining question was where did they go exactly ?

Annoyed by this setback, Akira went back to the kitchens to put the food where she had taken it to not waste it. She then returned in the Room of Requirement for the rest of the night to not run again into James in the Gryffindor common room.

The twins reappeared in the middle of the following week but in a way that could only cause trouble to them and to Akira.

Hello dear readers,

That's my own version of Muggles at Hogwarts and it's only the beginning ! I can garantee you that Matsuo and Tatsuno will see with their own eyes what magic is all about instead of thinking it's a product of their imagination. They'll be shocked at first but they're rather tolerant guys so they might just adapt to it.

However, the same can't be said for the Hogwarts residents if they found out that two Muggles entered the school without anybody noticing it. It's supposed to be the safest place in England but their intrusion proves the contrary. Will Matsuo and Tatsuno be spotted immediately ? If that's the case, will Akira be expelled since she was their accomplice in a sense ? Will they have trouble with the Magical Law ? Will they manage to hide any longer ? You'll discover about their fate at the end of the month since I intend to write one chapter per month starting now.