Chapter 4 : The exfiltration of horror

At the beginning of October, which was rather warm for the season, the third year students had their mind busy with their first visit to Hogsmeade, the extra workload caused by their two electives and Halloween planned at the end of the month.

But Akira didn't have the opportunity to have the same concerns as her classmates as she had to find her two nosey ninja teammates who could be anywhere in the school after leaving the broom closet they were hiding in.

She carried out her research diligently, looking discreetly in every room that she found on her way, but it wasn't until Wednesday on the first week of October that she finally crossed paths with the twins in an unexpected way.

That day, she was taking advantage of the morning recess to search classrooms after having managed to get rid of Arcturus. She did so by assuring him that she would join him for Transfiguration once she recovered her book from her dormitory. He believed her lie right away which allowed Akira to look around the school in peace.

She was sneaking between the students that were wandering in the hallways for their break when two of them grabbed her by each arm to pull her away, much to her surprise.

"Let me go !" She exclaimed while trying to get free of their grip.

But she didn't have time to say anything else as the shock caused by the recognition of the two students left her speechless.

"These disguises are awesome ! Even our own teammate didn't recognise us." Matsuo said to his brother while the two were displaying a huge smile at Akira's astonishment.

"Where did you get those school uniforms ?" Akira asked them in a low voice, pointing at the wizarding robes they had put on.

"We couldn't find food in this huge school but we found the laundry." Tatsuno informed her while rocking back and forth with his hands in his pockets. "So we thought we could dress up as students to walk around freely and enjoy your canteen with its awesome ceiling."

"But… that's not how it works !" Akira exclaimed, beginning to panic at the negligence of the twins who were showing themselves in the open.

She had spoken louder than expected which earned them glances from the students who were walking nearby. They were even more intrigued by their conversation since they were speaking in Japanese which wasn't a common language at Hogwarts. To avoid getting into trouble, Akira dragged Tatsuno and Matsuo to an empty classroom to continue chatting away from prying ears.

"You may look like students but you only have the appearance ! What will happen if someone suddenly realizes that he has never seen you before ? It will be a real disaster, especially if investigations are carried out and they realize that you aren't even registered in this school. Worse, that you're muggles !" Akira told them with horror.

"What's that, "muggles" ? Everybody in this school is talking about it as if it was a serious illness." Matsuo inquired with interest.

"Since you're here, I might as well tell you." Akira sighed as the secrecy around magic was already thrown by the window when the twins put a foot in Hogwarts. "At least, you'll be able to blend in among the students if you know what it is. A muggle is someone who has no magical power and who should never learn about the existence of magic. Someone like you, in short."

"Magic ? You almost got us with that." Tatsuno told her, starting to laugh like his brother as they both thought she was joking. "I admit that we've seen strange things since our arrival in this school but I'm sure all these phenomena can be explained in a completely rational way."

"Yeah, it's like the cars and electronics we saw in London. We don't see such things in Konoha but their way of functioning is very rational. That must be the same in your school." Matsuo added as if to reassure himself.

"I assure you that magic exists !" Akira replied, trying to be as convincing as possible. "All the things that you saw here, the ghosts, the talking paintings, the magic wands that the students have in their possession,... all this can't be explained rationally because it's magical !"

"If it's a joke, it's in bad taste because we're not dumb. We know that all the things we witnessed are just holograms, optical illusions or fireworks. Don't forget that you're talking to two amateur magicians that do magic tricks in Konoha. It looks magical at first glance but I guarantee you that we use lot of tricks that real magicians don't reveal to ordinary mortals." Matsuo told her while trying to be mysterious.

"What a shame to come across two magicians who don't believe in real magic when they see it." Akira sighed, passing a hand over her face with exasperation.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to continue our exploration of the school." Tatsuno said while opening the door to go out in the hallway but Akira closed it again even if she was late for Transfiguration.

"You don't want to believe me about magic ? Fine. But I can't let you wander around as you please without explaining a couple of things to you." Akira informed them with a serious tone. "The only reason I'm not letting you locked up in a room is that it's too complicated for me to provide you food three times a day, especially since I could be spotted and got in trouble for that, but you have to follow my instructions."

"Okay." The twins said before glaring at each other with an uneasy look.

"First, if a student asks you what you're doing here, answer that you're foreign students visiting Hogwarts. If they began to be too nosey, you can say that you don't understand English very well. And also if someone wants to know why you don't have a magic wand, tell him that in your school, you're only supposed to use it during classes so you keep it in your suitcase until then. Second, if you see an adult, do anything to flee because they know more or less all the students in the school and your presence will seem suspicious to them. Third, blend in among the students the best you can. You'll need to stay as discreet as possible until I find a way to get you out of Hogwarts. And lately, we need to separate as it's harder to spot one person than three people glued together. Since you've the school uniforms, it could imply that you're integrated in Hogwarts program and therefore, one of its houses. I shall recommend you to choose one of the three available houses which are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. And don't take both the same one." Akira warned them as if she was reading in the twins mind.

"And which one are you in ?" Matsuo asked her before taking a decision.

"Gryffindor."

"You already put it out of the choices. And how are we supposed to choose among the three others ?" Tatsuno asked her while scratching his head.

"It depends on your abilities. To put it simply, Ravenclaws are the smart ones, Hufflepuffs the kind ones and Slytherins the cunning ones."

"And what about Gryffindors ?" Tatsuno inquired with interest.

"It's courage."

"Of course. That explains why you're there. I don't even know why I asked the question in the first place." Tatsuno joked.

"Well, if we have to choose, I take the cunning ones. As ninjas, we need this quality." Matsuo commented.

"Not fair ! I was the one who wanted this house !" Tatsuno complained spitefully.

"First come, first served. But you can't complain, you still have two houses to choose from." His brother pointed out with a mean smile. "So, what do you want ? The kind or the intelligent one ? In your case, I would recommend the first option because you don't have the knowledge to join the other."

"Well then, I'll take the smart one to prove you wrong !" Tatsuno exclaimed angrily as his brother was making fun of him.

"So, it will be Slytherin for Matsuo and Ravenclaw for Tatsuno." Akira summed up, preferring that the twins used these terms to call their house rather than their description.

"Now that we're clear about what we can and can't do in your school, can we go ?" Tatsuno asked impatiently while opening the door slightly.

"Yes, you can. I'll even accompany you to show you strategic places." Akira replied before leaving the room with them.

Indeed, she had nothing better to do since Transfiguration began a few minutes ago and coming late to McGonagall's lesson would only mean trouble for her, as well as being asked what she was doing to justify her delay.

Instead, she took Matsuo and Tatsuno around the deserted school to show them different places they might not know about, like the entrances to the Slytherin and Ravenclaw common rooms now that they were affiliated to these houses. However, she recommended them to not enter it since they had no attributed bed there. They needed to stay as far away from their new classmates as possible to avoid being asked questions. However, they had no other choice but to be with the others students during lunch breaks so Akira showed them the tables in the Great Hall corresponding to Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

She also wanted to take them to the Room of Requirements but they didn't understand how to make the door appear, finding it hard to believe that they could do so only with their mind. That was unfortunate since that place would have been perfect for them to hide if they were in trouble, especially since she wouldn't be around to help them. Indeed, she made it clear that she was the one who would contact them once she found a way for their escape. That meant the twins would be on their own in an environment they were completely unfamiliar with which was a source of concern for them but also for Akira.

She couldn't show them much more of the school as the bell rang, indicating the end of Transfiguration as well as the lunch break. A surge of students immediately invaded the hallway, forcing Akira to leave Matsuo and Tatsuno to fend for themselves while she had her own obligations which were numerous.

Starting that day, as soon as she got a minute and was on her own, she would work on the list of possibilities to leave Hogwarts during the school year. It was harder than she thought as nothing crossed her mind until the week-end arrived and with it, the third years very first Hogsmeade visit taking place on Saturday, forcing Ana to move Quidditch practice to Sunday afternoon because cancelling it wasn't an option.

Akira had been looking forward to this visit, especially after having to fight so much with her father to get her authorization signed. But as she and Arcturus were making their way to the village after successfully getting past Filch who was checking every signature carefully, Akira found herself thinking about the twins left behind in the castle. She wondered what they were up to at this moment as she couldn't help being afraid of getting expelled from Hogwarts by their fault while she was away.

Perhaps it would have been more reasonable to cancel the visit to keep an eye on them ? But at the same time, it would have seemed suspicious to her comrades that she wanted to stay in the castle when she had her father's signed authorization. Akira was torn between the two choices as she followed Arcturus through the shops that framed the street under a bright sun that warmed the air.

"Well, now that my tour at Zonko's shop is over, it's up to you to choose where we go." Arcturus announced happily once they left the store with empty hands as he wanted to save his pocket money for something more useful than jokes.

"How about Honeydukes ?" Akira replied mechanically as she was lost in her thoughts where Matsuo and Tatsuno were burning down the school.

"Good idea ! I dreamed of going to that shop since we visited Hogsmeade in the middle of the night during our first year. It's nice to finally have the permission to do so."

"Indeed." Akira answered without really listening to him.

They reached the candy store and as soon as they put a foot inside, the scent of sweets as well as their colourful appearance prompted Akira to come out of her torpor. The choice was almost infinite as Akira and Arcturus went from one side to the other of the shop, looking all around them and also up and down as there were high shelves and barrels on the ground. Choosing among all of this was impossible so Akira rapidly found herself with a paper bag filled to the brim with various types of candies. Since Arcturus had a budget to keep, he only bought a Cauldron Cake but he couldn't help looking at Akira's bag with an envious gaze that didn't go unnoticed by the latter. Therefore, she bought him the same bag full of candies that was a little gift for Halloween that was approaching.

After this visit to Honeydukes which had taken them a while since the choice of sweets was endless, Akira and Arcturus took a break at the Three Broomsticks where the latter insisted on taking butterbeer which was unknown to Akira.

"Is there alcohol in there ?" She asked while reading the label on her bottle. "And it's sold to students ?"

"The quantity is so small that you don't even taste it so yes, it's sold to students. Looks more like a caramel beverage than an alcoholic drink." Arcturus replied while drinking his butterbeer greedily.

Akira still thought it wasn't recommended but she let herself be tempted nonetheless. She took a sip and indeed, the description that Arcturus had given to her was quite accurate. It was a sweet drink and even though the taste of alcohol wasn't really present, it radiated a soft warmth inside of her.

After this well-deserved break, they strolled down the street looking in the windows of the shops that they hadn't visited. They even made a detour to the Shrieking Shack at the end of the day but they didn't dare to go inside this run-down house after their Halloween misadventure from last year.

As it was time to head back to the castle, Akira crossed her fingers behind her back in hope that the twins weren't in trouble, which at first glance seemed to be the case as Hogwarts was peaceful.

This moment of stress motivated her to take time to list the ways for leaving Hogwarts during the school year. But despite all her thinking, it still took her several days to find all the options known to her which weren't all feasible. So before talking to the twins, she had to sort them out.

"Floo powder ? I don't have any and besides, I don't even know exactly how it works." Akira thought before crossing out this option with a stroke of her quill as she was sitting alone in a corner of the library. "Leaving on brooms ? Tatsuno and Matsuo don't know how to fly and that can be relatively dangerous for novices. Taking the Hogwarts Express ? I think it only travels for the holidays. Using a Portkey ? I don't even know how to create one !"

In the end, there was only one choice left which was crossing the Forbidden Forest on foot. Admittedly, it was filled with ferocious creatures and forbidden to students for this reason but it was the only solution the twins had to leave Hogwarts without being seen. In addition, it didn't require the use of an advanced spell or the purchase of equipment to do so. They only needed a keen sense to spot the danger which was provided by their ninja skills.

Now that she had a plan, Akira decided to share her idea with the twins while the latter had surprisingly managed to remain discreet to the point that she only saw them from afar during meals in the Great Hall, each seated alone at the table of their house.

One day, she decided to wait for them in the shadow of the marble staircase as dinner had just come to an end. The students were leaving the Great Hall talking about preparations for Halloween which was in two days and Akira eventually spotted Tatsuno and then Matsuo whom she discreetly lured away from the others.

"I finally found a way to get you out of Hogwarts. Okay, it's relatively dangerous but it won't be worse than waiting until you get caught. We just have to... What's wrong with you two ?" She ended up asking while the twins remained eerily silent and looked paler than usual.

"As you were taking time to contact us again, we decided to discover the secrets behind the strange things we saw in your school to explain them rationally." Matsuo explained to her in an uncertain voice.

"But we didn't find anything !" Tatsuno added with horror. "There're no special effects behind it. Everything is real !"

"That's what I was telling you but you wouldn't believe me." Akira replied with exasperation while crossing her arms.

"Now that we saw real magic with our own eyes, we want to leave this place right away, even if your plan to do so is risky." Matsuo stated while his brother shared his opinion. "We even witnessed a student that cast a spell that lifted his victim upside down in the air. Fortunately, the latter knew the way to get rid of it otherwise, he would have remained upside down until he passed out."

"Or die." Tatsuno announced in a shaking voice. "What if we're hit by a spell like that ? We're not cut for this since we don't know anything about magic. That could be fatal to us !"

"Stop freaking out." Akira told them. "We'll work on our plan to get you out of here until Halloween, which is the day after tomorrow, and we'll put it into action during the Feast which is taking place in the evening. The whole school will attend it so no one will see us leaving the castle."

"Couldn't we leave after dinner ?" Matsuo offered timidly but his request was flatly refused.

Having told them more or less everything they needed to know, Akira sent them to bed as it was getting late and she headed towards her dormitory herself.

Halloween soon arrived and was synonymous of celebration for the whole school as everyone was impatiently awaiting for the Feast taking place in the Great Hall decorated with gigantic pumpkins dug for the occasion and flying bats which crisscrossed the ceiling.

However, this day was a real nightmare for Akira who feared to execute the plan she had prepared with the twins the day before. It involved all three of them to go into the Forbidden Forest even if they didn't know which direction to follow to find a safe place for Matsuo and Tatsuno. It could even take days to do so but they were ready to take this risk -as well as facing dangerous creatures - to quit the world of magic which was a threat for the twins.

But the hardest part of the plan was to get rid of Arcturus who insisted that Akira came with him to the Halloween Feast.

"I'm coming, I just need to... check something." Akira told him as she was too tired to invent a credible lie.

"Are you avoiding me ?" Arcturus asked her in a pained voice. "It's not the first time you send me somewhere and then never show up. I wonder what you're up to."

"I promise to stop doing that starting tomorrow." Akira told him before pushing him towards the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Okay." Arcturus replied before leaving her alone in the Gryffindor common room.

Akira waited until the whole school reached the Great Hall and then, she joined the twins who were already waiting outside the front door leading to the grounds.

"What took you so long ? We had time to catch a cold." Tatsuno complained as he was rubbing his arms for warmth as the cold of the night was wrapping them.

"The only thing that matter is that I'm here." Akira replied with grumpiness. "Let's go to the forest and find a way to get you out of there so that I can return to my peaceful life."

"On second thought, I wonder if your plan is a good idea." Matsuo commented as they were approaching the Forbidden Forest while mist was covering the ground, preventing them from seeing where they were putting their feet as the trees facing them were looking like ominous shadows in the dark sky.

"Of course it's not a good idea but that's not as if we had the choice." Akira replied while trying to keep calm.

Since the twins were aware of magic, she didn't hesitate to light her wand to see what was around them as they were reaching the edge of the forest. They stopped before setting a foot in there to listen for any disturbing sounds. But apart from the cracking of branches and the sound of leaves, nothing suspicious reached them.

"I can't remember. Did you say that there were animals in this forest ?" Tatsuno asked Akira in a whisper.

"Of course there is but I don't know exactly which." Akira replied before plunging into the forest, soon followed by Matsuo and Tatsuno who were frantically looking around in concern.

Since they didn't know which direction to follow, they simply walked straight ahead among the bushes and the trees, trying to keep their cool as the noises around them became more and more numerous.

They were only walking since five minutes when one noise caught their attention. It was a sonic roar that shattered the stillness of the night and scared the three ninjas.

"What was that ?" The twins asked in unison as they gathered around Akira who was lighting the surroundings with her wand.

"I don't know but it was very close. Do you have a weapon on you to defend yourself ?" Akira asked them.

"We're professional ninjas. We can't go anywhere without our weapons, we even sleep with them." Matsuo joked briefly before looking in his backpack in which he had stored a supply of kunais.

He was about to give one to each of his teammates when a gigantic beast sprang out of a bush that wasn't far from them, knocking down the three comrades and throwing their kunai far away from them as they crashed heavily to the ground. Being seasoned ninjas, they jumped back on their feet despite the pain to find themselves in front of an animal that had the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a dragon. The latter was growling fiercely while pacing back and forth in front of them before charging again without any warning.

Seeing its attack coming, Akira and the twins dodged a second time by throwing themselves on the ground as the animal was really quick.

"RUN !" Tatsuno shouted to his teammates even if they didn't need his instruction to do so.

They fled as fast as they could among the trees as the beast began to chase after them.

"What's… this abomination ?" Tatsuno asked as he was out of breath from running so fast.

"I don't know. I didn't… study it in class yet." Akira replied as she heard the beast getting dangerously close to them.

It was so fast and ferocious that they didn't even dare to tempt anything to stop it. They were only thinking about running along the way that Akira was lighting with her wand, hoping to not trip on a root. She led her teammates out of the Forbidden Forest but leaving the trees shelter didn't stop the beast which continued to chase after them in the open.

Since the animal would catch them before they managed to reach the castle, Akira had to find another way to get rid of it. That was when her eyes met the Whomping Willow which was standing in the night. The latter had been planted the previous year and was still frail but its branches were already hitting harshly anyone who dared to come close to it. That was what Akira and her teammates needed as a protection against the animal that was only a few meters away from them.

"Follow me." Akira told Matsuo and Tatsuno before heading towards the Whomping Willow.

As expected, this tree tried to hit them with its gnarled branches when they reached it but Akira and the twins managed to avoid them thanks to their ninja's reflexes. They were near the trunk of the Whomping Willow when the beast came close enough to learn to not mess with this tree that could hit hard. It took a blow on the side that stopped it in its chase and then one on the head which was violent enough to half-knock it out.

This was enough to make the creature abandon the pursuit and return instead in the Forbidden Forest to find shelter, leaving the three ninjas alone to their greatest relief. Once the way was clear, they got away from the Whomping Willow which had saved their lives even if it was now trying to kill them as it twisted its branches in all directions, trying to give them a hit without success since they were out of its reach.

As soon as the ferocious beast disappeared, the night became peaceful again so that they managed to hear a voice in the distance coming from the Forbidden Forest.

"I know you're here Skippy, I heard you growling. You've stretched your legs enough. It's time to go back in your cage before an incident happens !" The voice said as Akira recognized it as being the one of Professor Kettleburn who was teaching Care of Magical Creatures.

His voice then faded away as he went deeper into the forest to find the ferocious beast he affectionately called for.

"He named this creature Skippy ?" Matsuo asked with disbelief as it was a rather cute name for such a dangerous animal.

"Shouldn't we tell him that his beast is absolutely out of control ?" Tatsuno offered, visibly worried about Kettleburn.

"He'll be fine. He's teaching me how to handle such creatures so he must know how to deal with it." Akira replied to reassure them as she was understanding why Kettleburn was missing so many limbs if he released such monsters during the night to go and "stretch" their legs. "I'm more concerned that our plan was ruined and that I'll need to find another solution to get you out of Hogwarts."

"We were so close." Matsuo added with despair. "That will be a real challenge to survive more days in your magical school."

"Let's hope we don't get kill during the meantime." His brother pointed out with horror.

"Come on. Let's go back to the castle while the others are still eating." Akira proposed to her teammates before heading the way.

Happy Halloween everyone !

I hope you had a better day than our three ninjas who escaped death by an inch. However, they achieved a feat by facing a Chimaera and staying alive to tell the tale !

But this failed escape means that the twins will have to stay a bit longer at Hogwarts to their horror. Let's hope nothing bad will happen to them while Akira finds another solution to get them out of the school. We'll see how it turns out for them at the end of the month.