Chapter 11: Confrontation

The first place ma takes us is Madame Malkins Robes for All Occasions. We walk in and a small bell goes off, letting the owner know that we're here. She comes out and smiles brightly at us before saying, "Hello dears, Hogwarts, I suppose?"

We nod and she has her employee take the boys to fitting while she takes care of us. Pretty soon she has us being fitted for our robes and we start discussing plans for when we get to Hogwarts. "So, my test says that I should claim my big title on the thirty-first. That's the day before we head to Hogwarts. But what should we do about the other titles?" I ask ma, who is standing with the other two girls who have already served their time as human Barbies. We made sure that the shopkeeper wore gloves while working on Rogue's. "When do I claim them?"

"You'll claim those ones at various times in the upcoming year." Artemis tells me and I look over at her. "I dreamed it last night."

I nod in understanding, "Alright." I say as the lady gets done with our robes. I move to stand next to ma and ask, "Should we get our trunks next?"

"I think that would be a good idea." Ma says as the boys come into view.

"We're getting trunks next." I tell them and they nod before we head out to go to the luggage shop; on the way there I notice a girl being bullied by a boy, both are my age. The boy has red hair and freckles all over his face. I can't see the girls face but her hair is a mess of auburn curls. I stop and glance at ma' who nods to give me permission to help her. I walk up to the pair of them just in time to see the boy shove the girl to the ground.

"You shouldn't bother coming to Hogwarts, freak show." he sneers at her, I look and see her brown eyes fill with tears at his harsh words.

I step between them, glaring at the boy as I ask, "What exactly gives you the right to call her a freak show, Rat Face? I suggest you leave before this gets violent."

"Hey, that's that muggle mutant that saved Augusta Longbottom and Amelia Bones last year!" an onlooker calls out and I look over at him.

"What is a muggle?" I ask him.

"Non magic person." the girl that I'm defending tells me.

"Oh...I have magic. I'm doing my Hogwarts shopping right now." I turn back to the boy, "Leave."

"Your defending a mutant!" he yells, getting in my face. "They're all freaks!"

"Watch what you say, Rat Boy. It case you didn't hear that random onlooker I am a mutant. Now step back or I'm going to electrocute you." I snarl. "Look before you speak next time."

He looks at my wings and blinks a few times before angrily yelling, "You're a freak like her!" I tense up, growling a bit. I don't act on the urge to punch him, however, because he isn't finished. I see a crowd of red heads shove their way through the crowd as he yells, "All mutants are freaks who deserve to go and die in a hole somewhere!"

"Back away from me. Now." I growl at him as my hands begin crackling with electricity

"No!" he says. "You need to go!" he shoves me a bit, "If you don't I might just have to make you!"

I growl again before grabbing his wrist and sending a surge of electricity through him. He yelps and jumps away from me. I then turn to the group of red heads, shaking as I snarl, "Is this your brat?"

"That is my son your talking about young lady!" the apparent mother exclaims angrily, "Don't insult him like that! What would your mother say?"

I turn to my mother and ask, "Hey ma what do you think of me insulting this bully?"

"Long as it's for a good reason." Ma says and I smile before turning back to the red heads.

"When I arrived he was bullying this girl. I stepped in and he informed me that he thinks mutants like myself and my mother should all die. He also called me a freak. So I am sorry if I upset you by calling him out for bullying someone but he needs to be punished for what he did. Discipline your son or I won't be so nice next time." I tell her calmly.

"All he did was call you a few names." the mother snaps. "You shouldn't have upset him."

I pause at that before turning to the girl I'm defending and asking, "Did she just blame me for this confrontation?" the girl nods silently so I turn back to the mother. "I stepped in just in time to see your precious brat shove this girl he was bullying to the ground in front of everyone here. They can all confirm my end of the story. Now, I live in America, I don't know how things work around here. But I do know that a boy should never intentionally hit, shove, or bully a girl so if I see your brat bullying anyone again, I will make sure he regrets it." I then turn to the girl and help her up, taking a breath before asking, "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine." she says quietly. "Thank you for that. I lost my parents in the crowd, I should go find them now. They must be really worried."

"I'm sure we can help with that." I say with a smile before grabbing her wrist and taking her over to my group, smiling at ma as I say, "She lost her parents in the crowd. Can we help her find them?"

"What is your name, child?" she asks the girl who ducks her head and shuffles her feet nervously before shyly replying.

"I'm Hermione Granger, ma'am." she says and ma smiles gently at her before drawing her wand and telling us to cover our ears.

I place my hands over my ears as ma points her wand at her own throat and says, in a booming voice that is loud even with our ears covered, "Would the Granger family please come to the trunk shop. We have located your daughter and will meet you there. Thank you." I uncover my ears as soon as she lowers her wand and ma' says, "Let's get going."

We start walking and Hermione looks at me, "I recognize you!" she says with wide eyes that I now realize are vaguely cat like. She also has claws and pointy ears. "You're Shock'n'awe! You saved my parents from a shooter last year!"

I smile at her as the trunk shop comes into view and I see a frantic couple with a stern looking woman next to them waiting for us. "Oh, I recognize them!" I say cheerfully. "Your mom gave me a new toothbrush for saving them."

"Mom! Dad!" she calls to them before rushing forward and tackle hugging the two frantic people before dragging them over to us. "This is my mom and dad, Jean and Dan Granger, they're dentists."

"Hello." I say with a smile. "It's nice to see you again. I'm Shock'n'awe, to my right is Rogue, Aeolus, Hyde, Wolfsbane, and Jekyll, and to my left is our ma, Nightshade, Artemis, Apollo, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver."

"Nice to see you again." Dan Granger says, smiling down at me before looking at Hermione, "Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you? You didn't take any sweets, did you?"

"Dad, I'm fine." Hermione says. "I had a run in with a bully but Shock'n'awe saved me."

"A bully? What did they do to you?" he asks angrily.

"From what I could tell the worst he managed to do before I intervened was shove her to the ground and insult her a bit sir." I tell him, hoping to calm down the overprotective dad.

"Thank you for interfering, Shock'n'awe." her mother says while hugging Hermione to her side. "I suppose it was a mutant hater?"

"Yes ma'am. He was." I say while silently noting that Hermione's mom has a mutation that is similar to her daughters but with more wolf like eyes rather than cat like. "Does the mutation come from your side of the family?"

"No, actually, Dan is a mutant too, his mutation is just more hidden." she says. Dan holds his hand up, showing his palm, and a small ball of green fire forms in it.

"I can make flames too." Hermione tells me. "But my fire is blue and ice cold. His is green and warm but not hot."

"Cool, I have a similar ability as well, but mine is hot enough that a flame that size can cause someone five feet from me to start sweating." I say with a small smile as ma has a hushed conversation with the stern woman. "Hey, can we all shop together? We need to finish up before the stores close and that way we can still talk more."

"That sounds nice." Ma tells me with a smile before looking at the Granger's.

"Sure." Dan says with a smile so we head into the trunk shop.