Bells tolled as the crows cawed. A man in a black hood sharpening his axe, ready for a kill. The Scottish winter certainly did not help to change the mood of this day. It was almost as if… it too knew what today was.
Gajeel looked away from the scene of Buckbeak chained to a tree stump. He sat on the ground, back against the rock they were hiding behind, his room mates snickering at the scene. They were lightly pushing over each other, trying to get the best view. "Redfox get over here! Don't you want to see this?" Draco smiled, trying to call his 'friend' over. "I think I'm good, thanks." Gajeel refused, a bit hostile in his voice. "Suit yourself then." Draco shrugged, turning back to the scene.
Gajeel sighed, shifting a knee up. His ears twitched a bit, hearing three familiar voices come close. "I can't believe they're going to kill Buckbeak. It's just too horrible…." Gajeel softly smirked to himself, thinking this confrontation was going to be fun. Ron, Hermione, and Harry appeared from one of the door just meters away from where he sat, their eyes widened. "It just got worse…" Ron muttered.
"Guess what, father said I can keep the hippogriff head. Maybe I'll donate it to the Gryffindors' room. As a peace treaty." Draco joked as the others laughed. The three Gryffindors were outraged when they heard that last remark. Hermione stormed over, the Slytherins watching turning around as they heard her loud footsteps. "Look who's here! Come to see the show?" Draco scoffed as he extended his arms, taking a stage like bow, Gajeel not moving his position as he wanted to spectate this.
"You! You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!" Hermione growled, pulling out her wand and pressed the tip at his throat. Gajeel raised an eyebrow, wondering how Draco was going to get out of this. Draco stumbled back, his back pressing against the stone. His face quivered, even Draco's goons backing up. Gajeel scoffed, seeing about ten ways he could get out of this, but Draco was there shaking in his boots, and his goons useless.
"Hermione don't! It's not worth it!" Ron pleaded. Hermione kept looking at Draco with a cold, steely gaze. Gajeel's eyes dodged between the two, wondering what the next move was going to be. Hermione tensed, and took her wand away from his throat as she turned away. Draco began to laugh, his goons joining in. They began to fool on laugh, pointing at her for her cowardice. Hermione finally snapped, turning around so fast to rival a spinning top and used all her might and force to punch that snobbish kid right in the cheek.
The Slytherins gasped as they jumped back, caught between the thoughts of catching Draco, staying back, or maybe pushing Hermione back. Even Gajeel was surprised. He did not think that Hermione was going to go down that path. Draco held his cheek, looking at Hermione and for a split second, Draco saw Professor Erza's wrath emitting from her. He sprinted back to the castle as fast as his legs could carry him, his henchmen running after him telling him to wait for them. "N-Not a word of this understand?!" Draco hissed as they ran off.
Hermione watched them scramble away like a bunch of pansies, only Gajeel staying behind. She gave little pants as she looked at her two friends, wanting to smile but was in too much shock of what she did too.
"That felt good…" She admitted with a slight laugh. "Not good… Brilliant..." Ron laughed, Hermione chuckling. "Geehee! Couldn't agree more!" Gajeel snickered. The standing three snapped their heads to the snickering delinquent. "Not going with them?" Ron asked, Gajeel shaking his head. "Nah. I can only take so much of that whiny brat…" Gajeel sighed, turning his head to Hagrid's hut. "If you think that of Malfoy, why do you hang around him?" Harry asked, tilting his head.
Gajeel gave Harry a sharp look, sending him slight shivers down his spine. Did he stumble upon something he shouldn't have? "I have my reasons…" He said with a slight sneer. Ron gulped, standing back a bit. Gajeel sighed as he stood up, patting his jeans down to briskly clean it of sand, soil, and grass. "Anyway, got things to do, places to be. I'll see you guys later in class or maybe later on the weekend. Ciao." Gajeel waved goodbye as he walked away, not bothering to turn around. He shoved his hands in his pockets and breathed out steam, a failed and lazy attempt to convey that he was cold.
The three looked at each other, before Hermione shook her head. "Don't worry about it…. We've got other things that need our attention right now…" She sighed, looking down at the hut. "R-Right…" Harry muttered, leading the way. As the trio made their way down, Harry sighed, looking at his ginger friends behind him. "After this is all over, I think we should have a serious discussion about them…" He said, letting those words finally slip.
Everyone stopped on the stairs, looking at each other. "Yes, I agree… I've actually been meaning to talk about them and Professor Scarlett... " Hermione admitted, folding her arms. "We always say that we gotta talk about them." Ron chipped in. Harry nodded, sighing as he looked down and down to the hut. "Hey, you don't think they're spies or something do you? Or maybe they're the White Shadows?" Ron asked, half joking and half serious.
Everyone stopped again, looking at Ron. He stepped back, as if he did something wrong. "S-Sorry, it was a joke but I think it's true as well…." Ron muttered, trailing off. "No no, it's fine… I just think… it could be true…." Harry said, confirming that he didn't think him crazy. "Woah woah woah guys! That's a bit of an extreme statement! I'm not saying it's not possible, but still, I doubt they're affiliated with someone like… you know…" Hermione said in defence of them, whispering the last part. "No, but their families or someone they know might, or maybe they're being blackmailed or under a spell…" Harry suggested. "And the White Shadows, they can't be. They're adults, taller than them…" Hermione debunked.
Ron groaned in defeat, Harry rubbing the back of his head. A soft squawk from the Hippogriff brought everyone back to why they were here in the first place. Hermione grumbled something under her breath as she checked her watch.
7:05 am
"Come on, we better get down there." She said with a sigh, pushing herself to the front as the boys followed behind.
Weekends always meant the school was mostly empty. Most kids would take the Hogwarts Express to one of the closest villages or towns to shop, eat, drink, or socialise with friends or even strangers. Those who didn't would lock themselves away in the library or their rooms, others who weren't that antisocial would roam the courtyards, or eat and talk into the Grand Hall. Even the occasional student would roam the hallway.
Gajeel made his way to the Gryffindor Common Room, looking around to make sure no one was following him, or there was no one around. He sighed, reaching up to Fat Lady who was cleaning a champagne glass. "Hey Lady, is Salamander inside?" Gajeel asked with a slight movement of the head to gesture inside the Common Room. "Well, he hasn't come out today, so I believe so." She replied, huffing on the glass and giving it a squeaky scrub. Gajeel cringed a bit and looked away as the high squeak, subtly putting a finger in his ear and clearing his throat.
"Well I uh… need to get in so…" He said, still looking away. The Fat Lady stopped cleaning her champagne glass, looking at him. "I'll let you in, if you hear my latest aria." She said, going back to her glass. Gajeel instantly froze, not knowing what to say. He had to wake up Salamander, but not at the risk of his ears.
Suddenly he heard giggling and looked in that direction. Walking to his location was Mira, Wendy, and Levy, discussing their life since arriving, their lessons, students and their co-workers. Gajeel finally had an idea, looking back to the Fat Lady. "How about four judges instead of one?" He said with a smirk. The Fat Lady tilted her head up, interested by that proposition.
The three giggled, walking up to Gajeel. "Hey Gajeel, what's up?" Levy asked with a smile. "Well the Fat Lady has a new aria she wants us to hear." Gajeel said with a smirk. "Really? I'd love to hear it!" Mira smiled. "Me too! I would really love to hear it!" Wendy said with a sweet smile. "Same here!" Mira agreed. Gajeel smiled, stepping slightly behind the girls. "The floor's yours." He smiled, stepping fully behind the girls, then breaking into a full run fleeing down multiple stairs and covered his ears.
An ear piercing screech filled the halls, trying to resemble some kind of song. Everyone in the vicinity jumped at the screaming and ran away as far away as possible from the dying cattle sounds. Wendy, Mira, and Levy were almost pushed back from the sound, their hair flying back from the soundwaves.
A painful four minutes and twenty five seconds later, the war screech had stopped leaving everyone, especially the three who had volunteered to listen, to have ringing ears. Wendy even fainting with swirling in her eyes. "Oh my! It must have been to heavy for her…" The Fat Lady gasped. "W-Well that was certainly… something…." Levy stuttered with a forced smile. "I-Indeed…" Mira said in forced agreement. "Ehguhaha…" Wendy slurred.
Gajeel sneaked his way back up the stairs and peaked out behind Mira. "That was great Fat Lady. Can I go in now?" Gajeel asked. "O-Oh yes of course!" She stuttered and opened the door. "Great, thanks!" Gajeel smirked, entering the Common Room. "Hold on Gajeel, did you make us listen while you ran away?!" Levy yelled, Gajeel shrugging as the door closed. "Gajeel get back here right-" Levy got cut off from her rant, a hollow echoing sound filling the room accompanied by crackles of fighting.
He gruffed, heading up the stairs. He scanned the doors and sniffed the air for Natsu's scent. He finally found the room with Natsu's scent mixed with his roommates scents. But judging from how old the scent was, all of them except Natsu were out. He kicked the door open, finding a snoring Natsu and Happy fast asleep with snot bubbles emitting from their noses.
He walked up to the sleeping duo, getting ticked off with every second. He lifted his foot off the ground and kicked him as hard as he could out of the bed. "WAKE UP!" He roared, Natsu rolling off the bed and into the wall. "What the hell was that for?!" Natsu growled, holding his nose. "For not getting your lazy ass out of bed while Hermione, Harry, and Ron are down by Hagrid's house right now! You gotta go now if we want the plan to work!" Gajeel yelled back, clashing his head with Natsu's. "Wait what?!" Natsu gasped, grabbing his clothes Happy and scrambled out the door.
"Geez that guy…" Gajeel sighed, facepalming and exiting the bedroom to get out of the dorm. "Just as long as the plan goes well then it's fine…" He thought to himself. When he exited the room, two passive aggressive smiles greeted him with a still unconscious Wendy.
He paled, stepping back into the Common Room and slowly closed the door. "Oh no you don't…" Levy hissed, stepping her foot in the door. "Why don't we have a little chat….?"