Luffy faced McGonagall's glare. She seemed almost depressed to see him.
"Portgas' brother, I presume… by Merlin, I'm sure that someone hates us…" she sighed.
In response, the young D. gave her a huge smile.
The woman began talking to them, but Luffy did not seem at all interested. Then she went away, leaving the youngters by themselves. Ace did not say how they were chosen and it was thus going to be intriguing, especially since his elder brother had told him with a smile that it would be fun.
Then McGonagall cameback for them, to lead them into a large banquet hall.
Luffy managed to see his brother waving at him before turning his attention in the direction of the staff table.
Marco was there, in a turquoise and mauve robe, embroidered with gold, with a belt of blue fabric only a little darker, decorated by a golden jewel set with sapphire. He was at the side of a very little man with whom he was in a great conversation. In the center, there was Dumbledore. Ace had described him perfectly:
« The man who we have to be cautious of. ».
There was a old hat before them on a stool. It started singing something, but Luffy did not pay attention to it. Finally, McGonagall stepped forward and invited the students to wear the hat when announcing their names.
"Monkey D. Luffy!"
Marco straightened and looked at Luffy leaving the crowd peacefully, with that big idiotic smile of his. An eye on the Gryffindor table, and he could see Ace crossing his finger under the table.
The boy sat down on the stool and put the hat on his head. It was strange seeing him without his damn straw hat… though seeing the bump under the wizard's robe, on his back, he must have it... He would never go far without Shanks' old straw hat.
"NOOOOOO! MERCYYYYY!" yelled the sorting hat, surprising everyone. "NOT A D.! NOT ANOTHER ONE! ANYTHING BUT THAT!"
Everyone seem perplexed by the sorting hat's reaction.
"It did the same thing with Portgas," a teacher sighed to the left of Marco.
Marco had to hold back a laugh. If they only knew…
"Gryffindor," the sorting hat sighed, depressed.
This obviousness made Marco laugh…
And depress McGonagall.
Luffy jumped from the stool and was welcomed at Gryffindor's table with laughs and whistles of encouragement. Ace was beaming. Good news to announce to Rayleigh and Shanks!
"Congrats, Lu!" Ace yelled from where he was sitting.
"Portgas, please, tell me that he is not your brother…" whimpered Percy.
"Percy, seeing what the sorting hat yelled, he can only be his brother!" a student interrupted before an answer was given.
"Ne, nii-chan," Luffy said while seating before Ace.
"We need to wait the end of the sorting, Lu."
"Your brother is as cute as you," a girl commented.
"Don't touch him, you harpy! He's my brother!"
"Potter, Harry!" called McGonagall.
"I hope he's in Gryffindor!" Ace said.
"Me too!" Luffy echoed.
And the two brothers crossed their fingers under the table.
Finally the news came:
"Gryffindor!"
Harry came to their table under the acclamations and cheers. Percy even came to shake his hand while he sat at Luffy's side.
Soon, it was Ron's turn, and the sorting hat exclaimed:
"Ah! Another Weasley… Hmmmm… Gryffindor!"
And Ron came at them quickly, to sit down in across from Harry. The three boys smiled.
"You know, Ace's little brother is less wild than his fearsome big brother," someone noted.
Ace had a growl worthy of a wild animal, and threw himself on the food like a famished man, which meant that everyone around him had to fight to eat some food, seeing the speed which he ate it all. Luffy wasn't far behind either.
"Tell me, Luffy, isn't it?" Percy said.
Luffy nodded.
"Are you as undisciplined as your brother?"
Luffy appear to think a little and then gave a smile that made Percy shiver.
"He's my brother, what did you expect?" asked Ace.
They made small talk, about their family, even if when Garp was mentioned Ace and Luffy almost fainted into their plates.
"Ouch!"
"Did you hurt yourself?" Luffy asked Harry.
"It's nothing… but who is the man at Quirrell's side?"
Ace grumbled a streak of swear words under his breath in rapid japanese.
"Seeing the way Ace swear, I would say that it's Snape, who he won't stop complaining about," Luffy responded. "He teaches potion, is what Mar- Professor Fushisho said."
"But everyone know that he's wanted Quirrell's post for a long time," Percy added. "Portgas, reassure me, your agreement with McGonagall is still in effect?"
"Yep," Ace assured, helping himself to an enormous plate of seconds.
"It hasn't changed since then? Like, for you to stop breaking the rules?"
"The rules exist to be broken. It's my point of view and that of my brother… well, rather of our brotherhood."
"Shishishishi! If only Sabo wasn't at Salem!"
The plates were empty, and everyone sat, more or less attentive to what Dumbledore had to say. He reminded them of the internal rules. While looking at the twins and Ace, the apparent de facto infractions specialists.
When they could finally go to bed, Ace slipped over to Percy, asked him something and when the answer was received, he caught Luffy and took him with him.
"Here, I'll take you on a tour of the castle. You don't have a very good sense of direction, even if it is better than Zoro's," Ace whispered, leading him in the corridors.
Luffy followed his older brother, looking suspiciously at the moving paintings.
"Problem?" Ace inquired at his silence.
"The paintings…"
Ace stopped and looked at the suspicious look that his brother was giving the animated canvases scattered throughout the corridors.
"They're not the same as on Thriller Bark Lu, don't worry."
"You don't know, you weren't there !" Luffy objected.
"What I know is that these ones have been here for long before Moria's birth, so they aren't animated by him." Ace knocked on the stone beside a scene of people on a small boat on a lake, alerting the occupants of the painting. "How long have you guys been here?" Ace inquired.
"One or two centuries," one of the occupants of the painting answered.
"Can you leave the painting?"
"We can wander from frame to frame, but that's all. Is that it?"
"Thank you!"
Ace turned in his brother's direction and passed an arm around his shoulders.
"You see, it's alright", smiled the oldest.
Luffy had a smile and nodded.
"We can keep going now that you know that they won't leave their frame to attack you."
"I hate you…"
Ace snickered and lead his sibling down another corridor.
Ace gave a kick to his cauldron and picked up his bag.
"Where do you think you're going, Mr Portgas? The class isn't ended," Snape growled.
Ace left the dungeon, slamming the door violently behind him. He ran down the corridors and entered the office that he knew the best. Marco's. Who wasn't there. It seemed that he was helping Madam Hooch for the flying class, he would see Ace only when he came back.
The young man threw his bag in one of the room's corner and let himself fall on the ground, back against the desk.
He would not cry. He had to be strong to attain the rank of commander like he wanted.
But he had enough; that this man insulted his father because he chose to be free. It hurt him, it angered him, it made him want to burn everything. He wanted to break Snape's hooked nose, but he had promised Marco to not do that. At least, not until he was out of school.
Harry and Luffy exchanged a smile when they were successful on their first try to take their broom.
And they were happy to see Malfoy be scolded by Madam Hooch.
It was then that Professor Snape arrived, with an extremely satisfied face.
Marco sighed, guessing what it was about.
"Sorry, Ms. Hooch, I'm going to have to go see Portgas, yoi," Marco announced.
"No problem, we're all used to seeing Severus picking on Mr Portgas. He always goes to hide in your office," assured Hooch. "I'll take over."
Snape left, without needing to say anything, and Marco left Hooch to her class.
"Why is your brother hiding in Professor Fushisho's office?" Ron asked Luffy.
"Snape insults his father, and picks on him. It's a sensitive subject for Ace. Professor Fushisho is the only one who can keep him from picking a fight or messing up the school.
Finally, they got to try to ride their brooms. But when they all tried kicking off, Neville panicked. That make him lose control of his broom and he crashed into one of the castle's walls. He began to fall, but before he could hit the ground, Luffy caught him.
"Did you see him move?!" Harry asked Ron.
"Not at all!"
Luffy had Neville in his arms like he didn't weigh anything, and laid him on the ground. Neville had fainted.
"Five point to Gryffindor for your quick reaction that spared Longbottom serious injuries, Mr Monkey" Hooch announced. "I'll take Longbottom to the infirmary. Everyone, stay on the ground. If I see any student on a broom, they will be expelled before you can say 'Quidditch!'"
Ace didn't lift his head when he heard the door open and close, followed by a key turning in a lock.
Marco walked to Ace and crouched before the adolescent.
"You have the right to cry, Ace, everyone has told you that…" Marco whispered.
"It's showing weakness," Ace retorted.
"No. It shows that you're human and that you have feelings, yoi."
Ace lifted his eyes in Marco's direction when he felt feathers caress his cheek. The blond gave him a little smile, one of his arms transformed into a wing, continuing to caress his cheek to lift his spirits.
"I really would like to throw the promise I made to Uncle to the garbage," Ace mumbled.
"We don't need to have sex to know we love each other, Ace," Marco said to him. "And I don't need it to make you feel better."
He enveloped the young man's chin with his feathers and approached his face with his. Their lips met delicately, tenderly, without any haste, and then separated. Marco kissed his temple and brought him against him, in his arms.
"Three years, Ace, only three years. Three years and you'll be able to punch Snape in the face. Three years and you'll officially be a Shirohige pirate. And we'll be able to be together without angering your godfather and all of Akagami's group, yoi. You have to hold on, Ace. Until you're seventeen. I'm here to help you, Ace, but I ask two things of you… Can you repeat them?
"Don't tempt you, and cry when I need to," Ace recited like a good boy.
"What are you waiting for?"
Ace hooked his arms around Marco's neck and buried his face in his robe. Marco closed his arm and his wing on him, tightening him against his heart, eyes closed.
"I'll be the one who doesn't see or hear anything, like always, so, cry a little, Ace it's always refreshing, yoi," was what Marco whispered.
He sensed the young boy's shoulders trembling in a silent sob and, against his neck, tears flowed.
The Gryffindor table became silent when Ace sat down at dinner with a dark look in his eyes.
The first years didn't know how to react to that. It seems like the older students were afraid of Ace. He took a carafe of water to serve a glass, but the liquid began to boil immediately, making him set it down in the instant.
"Sorry guys," Luffy excused himself standing up.
He walked to Fred, sitting at Ace's right, and patted his shoulder.
"I'll leave him to you, so that Hiken doesn't set the table or those who are sitting at said table on fire," Fred snorted before standing and moving to sit beside his little brother, face to Harry.
"What is Luffy doing? This guy might kill his own brother by his look !" Ron asked.
"You've never stepped foot on the Red Force, so you can't know that this guy is magical, Ronny. Look," Fred, whispered.
Ace had set his elbows on the table and was breathing deeply, head in hands, to calm down and not do anything he would regret. Luffy poured some water in a glass and poured it to his brother's lips who didn't take offense and drank everything. The younger put the glass back on the table, before saying something softly in japanese. The following moment, Ace slapped him on the back of his head, making the youngest laugh, but the miracle was accomplished. In only a moment, he had succeeded in making the tension lessen and calmed his brother.
The conversations began again around the table, whereas the two brothers began to eat.
"Thank god Portgas D. Ace has a little brother!" Wood exclaimed.
The two brothers looked at each other and then exploded in a fit of laughter.
The rest of the meal passed without any problem, then, the great hall emptied itself.
Natural Magic classes were on Saturday.
Outside.
This surprised every first year. Furthermore, the upperclassmen had said 'no bag, no robe, no wand and clothing for running'. It was intriguing.
And the strangest thing for the new Gryffindors was that Luffy was excused from the class. The first class was obligatory, but they had to register for the next ones and with all the first years.
When they found Professor Fushisho on the Quidditch pitch, they saw that he had muggle clothes, keeping only his turquoise belt and the golden jewel set with stones.
The blond took roll, and told to everyone to sit on the ground before him.
"Good, I'll explain to you the principle in the simplest possible way, yoi. You all have done more or less accidental magic before your coming to Hogwarts. It's natural magic, or magic without a wand. My role is to teach you to control your magic without you needing to direct it with your wand. You could ask me why I didn't put any book on your supplies list for this class… It's simple, I'm an fan of the practical. But if you want some books, nothing is stopping you from coming to my office. I'll give you a list, yoi. Any questions for now, before I pass to the more in depth explanation on Natural Magic, and to what will happen in this class?"
Hermione raised her hand.
"Granger?"
"What will the exams be? I'm talking about not only the end of year's exam but also the OWL's and NEWT's."
"You won't have any writing, only practical. Since I've been here, it's always been like that, yoi. Another question?"
Marco looked at the students, and began the explanation:
"Magic is present everywhere and in everything. You're just more or less able to manipuate it, yoi. The wand permits you, with a lesser level of difficulty, to draw in the environmental magic to perform a spell. Natural Magic we could say is like speaking to the magic itself, and asking it to do something for you, yoi. I want Mr Thomas' wand."
All saw with surprise Dean's wand come out of his pocket and fly in Marco's hand.
"With time, it will become as easy as this, for you too. But there is something to know. If your body don't have enough stamina, it won't be able to support the cost of the magic."
"The cost, professor?" Neville asked.
"Natural Magic's rule is simple… to practice it, you have to have in reserve as much energy as the act necessitates and draw from your own stamina," Marco answered, throwing the wand back to Dean. "For the beginner, it will demand a lot of force, yoi. Even for a simple levitation spell. But with time, a regular magical and physical training, the cost will lessen and will pass almost unseen. I will give you this two training myself. For the physical, we will do it the most classical way… aah, I see that some aren't stranger to traditional school practices, given your faces…"
That was right, the muggleborn and half bloods had understood that they would have to run laps.
"Be reassured, I won't ask of you much from you, you're only starting after all. Here, I want everyone standing, and you'll run around the Quidditch pitch. Only one lap but the cheaters will do three more."
"WHAT?!" Malfoy exclaimed. "We have to run like common muggles?!"
"Malfoy, protest, and I make you do four laps now and take points away from your house. I know some muggles that could put your father back without even break a sweat. Everyone stand up, and do one lap, to begin with, yoi."
"The first years are coming back from a class with Fushisho!" a seventh year yelled.
Everyone looked at the young Gryffindors, dead tired, coming back in the common room. Luffy, who had draped himself over his brother's lap, getting in the way of Ace's reading, sat up and looked at the coming group.
"Say, Luffy… why weren't you even asked to participate to the class?" asked Neville.
"I've known how to do magic without a wand since I was a child!" Luffy smiled.
The students looked at him strangely, and went to their dorms. Hermione seems depressed however.
"What happened, 'Mione?" Luffy asked
"I couldn't do it!" she wailed.
"Ace is really good, if you asked nicely, he could help you."
"Do what?" asked the mentioned one, lowering his book.
"Natural Magic."
"Oh, need some help, Granger?" Ace said.
Everyone looked at Ace like if they had never seen him before. Portgas D. Ace, offering to help?
Hermione hesitated, then said yes.
"Well, find me your schedule, I'll try to find one or two hours that I can help you. I was told that those coming from a muggle family always find it a little harder."
"Are you a pure blood?"
"No, I don't think so. I know that my mother was like you, but my father, no idea, only that he wasn't a muggle or a squib. And it's not really important for me. I have magic, that's all."
"If only the pure bloods could think like you, Ace!" Fred said with a huge smile.
"I have just to name to explain my point of view : Shirohige and Akagamo."
"Who?" Hermione asked, sitting on an armchair at the two brothers' side.
"It's the names of two captains that we've known since a long time," Luffy answered. "In their crew, wizards and muggles are at the same level."
"It prove that the living together is possible! Oh, Ace, I thought about you when I was in the library!"
George took a book from his bag and gave it to him. Ace closed his first book and took the one offered to him.
"Open it to page one hundred twenty seven," Fred advised him.
The boy raise an eyebrow, but did what was asked of him, under the curious gaze of Luffy and Hermione. He found himself in front of a double page showing two individuals that he knew well… Gol D. Roger and Silver Rayleigh, young, smiling at Ace. It was the start of a chapter "Freedom according to Pirates, and Cohabitation with Muggles".
"What is it?" Lee asked, getting closer.
Ace closed the book, sensing Hermione looking over his shoulder.
"Ace," Luffy asked. "What is it?"
"A picture of you-know-who and Rayleigh," Ace answered with a trembling smile.
"Voldey?"
"No, 'tosan"
"Ooooh… so ka…"
Ace caught Fred by the sleeve.
"Yes, Ace?" The twins inquired while they were going to their dorms.
Ace stood up, surprising everyone but his brother and the twin, he bowed, tears in his eyes.
"Hontoni arigatou gozaimasu"
"You're welcome!" The twins grinned.
Hermione frowned and promised herself to discover what all of that was about.
Harry and Ron had a start seeing Ace and Luffy, sitting in the common room reading a letter when it was this late, like close to midnight.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" Luffy asked.
"We could ask you the same question," Ron pointed out.
"Spade just delivered a letter. Since our correspondents are always on the move, or in America, the travel is long, and it's not rare that Spade turn up in the middle of the night. And, we just came back from a private lesson with Professor Fushisho," Ace answered. "So, are you going to go break some rules?"
The two boys looked between them, hesitating to answer.
"I'm the last person who will tell you not to do stupid things, so, you know…"
"We… we have appointment with Malfoy…" Ron mumbled. "Wizard's duel, tonight, in the trophy room."
"Oh, have fun then. Goodnight, Lu."
And Ace stood up, leaving the letter to his brother before going up the tower to sleep.
"Can I come?" asked the boy with the straw hat.
"Are you sure?" Harry inquired
For an answer, Luffy put his straw hat on his head with a big grin.
"You should be ashamed! You will cause trouble for Gryffindor!" Hermione yelled.
After being scolded by Hermione, who followed them outside the common room, they discovered the absence of the Fat Lady, and remarked that Neville was blocked out. It was the six Gryffindor wandering out in the corridors, heading for the trophies room. There, Luffy alerted them of the coming of the caretaker by a mysterious sixth sense and they ran away. Peeves hunted them in another corridor, and they ended up hiding themselves in a previously locked room.
"He must have thought the door was closed," Harry mumbled, hearing Filch away from their hiding place.
"I understand why!" Ron pointed, panicking.
In front of them was a very big dog with three heads, growling and drooling.
Luffy stepped up before the dog who looked at him, then stopped growling abruptly.
Slurp!
The boy giggled when one of the heads licked him affectionately.
"That the most unbelievable thing that I've ever seen," breathed Neville.
"How did you do that?" asked Hermione with a little voice. "It's a Cerberus, and yet...!"
"His name is Fluffy!"
"Fluffy?"
Luffy pointed with his finger a locket on the collar of the center head, all while scratching the dog between his ears.
"He's cooler than Moria's, when I was on Thriller Bark! Shishishishi! Oh a trapdoor, I wonder what it's hiding!"
It was then that a silver creature that looked like a very big panther stopped at Luffy's side.
"A corporal patronus," said Hermione with awe. "That's very advanced magic!"
"It's Professor Fushisho's. He said that if we get out from here fast, he won't give us detention for being out at this hour," said Luffy.
"Then, let's go," Neville said in a whisper.
"Night, Fluffy !"
Hermione looked up from her work when the Weasley twins came to sit down at her table.
"What is it?" she asked with distrust.
"The great Ace…"
"… is waiting for you…"
"… for one of the most…"
"… exciting classes you've ever had!"
"And why didn't he come to find me himself?" asked suspciously Hermione.
"You'll know when you get there!" The twins said in unison. "You have just enough time to take your things. Wear more comfortable clothes than your uniform."
"Honestly, who wear a uniform on Sunday!" Lee commented, appearing behind the twins.
"Quick! You don't want to make Ace wait!"
"Even more so when he's doing you a favor!"
Hermione put away her things quickly and ran to the girl's dormitory, passing Ron and Harry who were trying to do their homework without a second glance. Once up there, she changed into a casual outfit quickly and came down just as fast.
"Let's go, Hermione! Professor Ace is waiting for you!" The twins smiled.
And they lead Hermione out of Gryffindor tower.
A corridor.
A simple corridor.
"Is it a joke?" Hermione asked.
For an answer, George walked to the wall and knocked.
A short while later, a door appeared.
"Ace's father and godfather discovered this room when they were at Hogwarts," explained Fred. "It's the Room of Requirement. It'll give us all we need in an instant."
Hermione raised her eyebrows. She hadn't read anything like that in Hogwarts: A History. Walking in, she stared wide-eyed. They were in the middle of a city who seems to be the subject of a battle, seeing as how the buildings were in ruins or in fire.
She noticed Luffy in muggle clothing on the roof of one of the still intact building, observing something attentively.
"Straw Hat!" George called.
Luffy turned his head in their direction.
"Has Ace finished yet?"
Dziiiing!
Like if he had been summoned, Ace had just passed right through a building to finish his flight on the roof of a house, causing the roof to half collapse. Flames rose from his body in answer to the shock.
Flames that disappeared almost instantly when the young man saw Hermione, her face tomato red, gazing at him.
"Professor, Granger's here!" Ace called, jumping to the ground near them.
Luffy mimicked him and smiled to Hermione, who told herself not to give anything away. If she wanted Ace's help in Natural Magic, it wasn't the best idea to show that she was angry at Luffy.
The city disappeared, letting a simple classroom instead. Marco was at the other end, in civilian clothing too, and a yellow shirt in his hand.
"Portgas, Granger doesn't need to see you shirtless, you'll make her lose her sense, yoi. That's enough for today. Dai Enkai takes too much preparation time, you need to work on that," Marco grumbled throwing the shirt at his head.
Ace answered something in japanese that made Marco blush and look away.
"Shut up, Portgas. Monkey, your turn. We will separate our zone from yours. If you need me, call me. Granger, looking at the work I'm doing with Straw Hat is prohibited. Some things aren't made to be revealed like this, yoi."
"Why sir?" Hermione asked.
Marco contented himself to look at her with pained eyes, and took Luffy by the shoulder. A door made of rice canvas appeared at the back of the class and the two went through, closing it behind them.
"Thanks guys, I'll take over from here," said Ace to the twins.
"No problem, Ace! We will begin the preparation for the joke on the Slytherins!"
And they went away, leaving Ace, who was slipping his shirt back on, alone with Hermione.
An explosion attracted her attention to the door in rice canvas.
"Don't worry, my brother is only training," he assured her. "Let's begin. First do a lap, to tire your body, then, we will continue with meditation. Once in the perfect spirit, we'll begin the exercises with the magic itself."
"Will it work?" she inquired.
"My brother and me, we learned it like that, more or less, so you know… You won't do it on the first try, but with some lessons, using the incantation and helping yourself with gestures, you should be able to do it for simple spells."
The next week, they had a very strange day. Maybe because it was Halloween.
Firstly, an avalanche of jokes delayed the start of the class. Then, when the Gryffindor had transfiguration, they were interrupted abruptly by the Weasley twins, excited.
"I hope for your sake that you have a good reason to disrupt my class, sirs," Minerva said pointedly
"Ace accomplished it! He's stoping a fire in an empty classroom, and but a did it!"
Minerva raised an eyebrow and sighed.
"Tell him to come see me at the end of the hour, so he can do a demonstration of what he just accomplished and we can rework, like our accord stipulated, his timetable."
"Ace really did it?" an excited Luffy inquired.
"Mr Monkey, you will see that with your brother later," McGonagall called.
Luffy shrugged, and the twins went out.
"Your brother did what?" Harry asked in a low voice.
"Animagus," was the whispered answer.
"A-hem," coughed the teacher.
Luffy gave her a sheepish smile and they began work again. The young boy waited impatiently until the end of class bell.
"Calm yourself," asked Minerva when the bell rang. "I suppose that a demonstration before the class won't be too much. We're still on the subject of transfiguration after all. But, I generally see this subject in third year. Mr Portgas, you can enter!"
The door half-opened… and a moving shadow passed through the space. In an almost complete silence, it advanced towards the desk.
The students close to the door yelled, frightened and stood up on their desks.
A growl was heard.
Harry opened his eyes.
It wasn't a shadow. It was a panther! A fucking big black panther! A panther with blackly silver eyes…
"Ace?" Harry asked unsure.
The beast stopped just before Harry, who swallowed. And contrary to all expectations, the feline seemed to smile.
"Congratulations, Mr Portgas, you are now an Animagus," smiled the strict teacher.
And the panther nimbly jumped on Luffy's desk… to transform into Ace, who grinned a huge smile.
"Here, class dismiss," the teacher said.
"A panther? Really, why not a bird?" asked Luffy, perplexed.
"A bird?" Ace repeated, perplexed too.
"Mhmm, a bird!"
Ace was going to ask why when he saw the grin on his brother's face and slapped the back of his head.
"Wear your hat on your head, before your last neuron flies off, and go to your next class," Ace grumbled, trying to hide his embarrassment.
Luffy had a laugh and went out running.
Then, the first real accident of the day: Charms class.
Ron's imitation of Hermione didn't pass with Luffy.
And he gave him a good punch to make him understand it. Well he tried, but Marco who was passing by, stopped him and told him to go to class and not get into trouble. But from the way the teacher looked at the redhead, it was with an intrigued air with a little disappointment. Had he heard about the imitation that he had done?
But he didn't say anything about this to them.
"It seems that Luffy didn't like the way you mocked Hermione," Harry pointed out. "And you had a narrow escape. If the teacher hadn't been there, it would have hurt, I'm sure."
"What's his problem?" Ron mumbled.
The rest of the day, Luffy didn't speak to Ron at all, preferring to hang out with Neville. You could hear the words 'Alabasta', 'desert' and 'princess' in whatever story the boy was telling. Whatever it was, it seemed very interesting.
But what really broke up the friendship between Luffy and the two boys, and even broke what would have been one with Hermione… was THE accident.
The troll. A damn troll in the castle. It shouldn't even have been there, but it was.
Harry and Ron had run to help Hermione, and they were in a bad situation, with Potter suspended by his ankles by the troll, when Luffy came.
And he did something abnormal, even for wizards: his arm stretched.
On several meters.
From the door to the girls' toilets, his arm traversed the two or three meters who separated him from the troll, beating it easily with a punch in the stomach, throwing it against, then through the wall, luckily leaving Harry behind.
"How did you do that?!" Ron choked.
Realizing that he had been seen, Luffy hid his eyes under his favorite hat and ran away, without an explanation.
Ace was waiting for them when they came back to the common room. With one gesture, he made a sign to follow him and lead them to the first year's dormitory. Luffy wasn't there and he hadn't been seen in the common room.
The young man closed the door brusquely and turn around to face the trio, his eyes screaming 'murder'.
"What did you say to the professors about what Luffy did?" Ace hissed.
"We… we didn't tell them anything," Ron announced. "I knocked out the troll by levitating his club."
Ace's posture relax slightly.
"You're lucky, for now. Talk about that to anyone, and you'll learn why I'm called Fire Fist Ace in some circles… But I'll make thing clear from now, since you saw something you should never have… You forget my existence and Luffy's, is that clear?"
"Why?" Harry asked.
Ace had turn in the door's direction and opened it. He ducked his head and told them with a soft, cold, almost pained voice:
"We're kaibutsu."
And he closed the door behind him, leaving the trio full of question. Ace climbed the stairs and found his dormitory. He opened the door gently and closed it behind him. Luffy was at the window, looking outside.
"Ne, Luffy… don't worry, it'll be alright. We're together, aren't we?" Ace said ruffling his hair.
"Do you think that they see me as a monster, now that they know that I can stretch my arms like that?" asked Luffy sadly.
"Uncle told you, don't listen to them… so, don't listen to them. We're not at Dawn anymore, where everyone treated us like monster. Uncle got us out of there, and we got a new life on Shanks' ship. Them, they don't see us as monsters, so, we have to enjoy it…"