I do not own Hetalia or Harry Potter.
Chapter 5: In Which There is a Three-Headed Dog
At about three o'clock on Friday afternoon, Harry, Ron, Feliciano, and Lovino left the castle and headed towards the forest, where Hagrid's cabin was located. It was a small wooden cabin with crossbows hanging over the door, along with a pair of boots. There was a small garden next to the cabin.
When Harry knocked on the door, a dog's bark startled them all. Feliciano was so frightened he practically leapt onto his brother, almost sending them both to the ground. A rough voice yelled, "Back, Fang! Back!"
The door opened a crack, and Hagrid's face peeked out. "Hold on jus' a secon'. Back, Fang! Back!" He opened the door a little wider, and beckoned the quartet in.
The cabin was small and cozy. It had only one room, with a large bed tucked in a corner. Game birds hung from the ceiling, and a kettle whistled happily on the fire. A large table was in the center of the room.
"Come an' sit dow'," Hagrid said, letting go of Fang, a huge black mastiff. Fang promptly leapt up on Ron, licking his ear happily before pouncing on Feliciano, who squeaked in surprise.
"These are Ron Weasley, Feliciano Vargas, and Lovino Vargas," Harry said, gesturing at each of his friends in turn. Hagrid poured the water from the kettle into a large teapot while stacking rock cakes [1] onto a plate. He plunked both down onto the table as the other three boys extracted themselves from the dog and sat down as well.
"You're another Weasley, aren't you?" Hagrid said, looking Ron over critically. "Must've spent half o' me life keeping those brothers o' yours out of the forest." He turned to the twins. "You two aren't goin' to be like 'em, are you? Twins mus' be the bane of my existence." Neither boy replied. Hagrid squinted at their House badges. "How'd this happen, eh? One Slytherin, one Gryffindor?"
"Don't know," Lovino stated plainly. "It just did." He and Feliciano were very obviously avoiding the rock cakes, which were tough enough to crack a tooth.
They chatted together about Hogwarts life, and after his initial scare, Feliciano warmed up to Fang. The dog had his head on Feliciano's knee, drooling all over his robes while the first-year stroked his head.
The four students were pleased to hear Hagrid call Argus Filch "that old hag". Filch was the bad-tempered caretaker of Hogwarts; it was rumored that he couldn't do magic, which was why he disliked the students so much. Filch had a cat named Mrs. Norris who would watch the students in the hallways. Should a student step out of line, no matter how big or small, she would whisk off for Filch, who would appear a few seconds later.
"As fer that cat, Mrs. Norris," Hagrid continued, "I'd like to introduce her to Fang sometime. Ye know, every time I go up to the school, she follows me around. Can't get rid o' her. Filch puts her up to it."
Harry brought up the subject of Snape and the events of Potions class. "I just don't get why he dislikes me so much!"
Feliciano patted his back. "Don't worry. He insults me all the time too."
"There's nothin' to worry about," Hagrid agreed. "I don' think there's a student in the school he really likes."
"But he really seems to hate me," Harry protested.
"Silly Harry!" Feliciano said cheerfully. "Why would he hate you?" Even as he said that, he felt a brief flash of guilt, for not telling his friend what he had learned from England.
"So 'ow's your brother Charlie, Ron?" Hagrid asked, steering the conversation away from the previous topic. "I liked him – he was good wi' animals."
"Really?" Lovino asked, though his tone betrayed his disinterest. "What does he work with?"
"Dragons," Ron replied. "In Romania. He's working on a dragon preserve now."
"That's so cool!" Feliciano piped up. "Our guardian has a friend in Romania…"
Harry's mind wasn't really on the conversation anymore, and he tuned out Feliciano's ramble about "Vlad" [2] or whomever he was babbling about. A paper under the teapot caught his eye.
"Hagrid?" he asked. "What's this?" He tugged it out from under the teapot.
"Jus' the newspaper," Hagrid grunted, taking another drink from his cup.
Lovino leaned forward, his eyes lighting up in mild interest. "'Gringotts Break-In Update'", [3] he read aloud. "'The Daily Prophet. The investigation of the break-in at Gringotts on July thirty-first continues. The infiltrator is suspected of being a powerful Dark witch or wizard.
"Gringotts goblins confirm that nothing was taken. The vault had in fact been emptied earlier that day.
"A goblin spokesperson says this afternoon, 'We will not reveal what was stored in the vault. Please refrain from further inquiry.' July thirty-first…" Lovino glanced at his brother, who had stopped talking and was listening intently, along with Ron. "Feliciano, weren't we in Diagon Alley that day?"
Feliciano nodded. "Harry was too. We met him in the wand shop, remember?"
Lovino hid a snort. Of course he remembered. Nations remembered everything that ever happened to them. "Did you go to Gringotts that day, Harry?"
"Yeah, I did!" Harry turned to Hagrid. "Hagrid, the break-in could have happened just after we went!" Everyone noticed that Hagrid was avoiding Harry's eyes.
As they walked back to the castle, Feliciano asked, "Harry, did you know anything about this?"
"Hmm. Maybe," Harry replied. "I'm not entirely sure, but I'll tell you if I find anything out."
"Just don't do anything stupidly dangerous," Lovino grumbled.
Arthur,
Ciao! This is Feliciano. You asked about the Sorting Hat, right? It's a ragged old hat that talks and sings. When you put it on your head, it looks into your mind and decides what House you belong in. It seemed to have trouble with my mind or something; it was taking so long that I thought it broke! It looks like we're the first of our kind that it's ever encountered, because it asked me who I was. Lovino's going to write now.
This is Lovino. We just found out about a break-in at Gringotts. Someone tried to steal something out of a vault that had been emptied earlier in the day. It occurred on July 31, the same day we were there. Harry seems to know something about the break-in, but he's not sharing. Any ideas?
This is Feliciano again, in case you couldn't figure it out. I just wanted to let you know: I forgive you for what you did. You know what I'm talking about. That happened so long ago, though. We can be friends now, can't we?
~Feliciano and Lovino
Lovino and Feliciano hurried into the Great Hall after sending their letter in time to see Malfoy strut away from the Gryffindor table with a smirk on his face.
"Can you find out what he's smirking about?" Lovino murmured to Feliciano.
"Maybe," Feliciano whispered back. "I'll try."
Lovino watched him skip over to Malfoy and pounce on him from behind. He could hear Feliciano's babbling as he strode to the Gryffindor table. "Hey, hey, Malfoy, you look happy! What happened?"
"What is Feli thinking?" Ron wondered as Lovino sat down.
"Who knows?" Harry replied.
"I don't think he thinks," Lovino mumbled through a mouthful of food. Hm, one week at Hogwarts and no one is dead from food poisoning. England should learn from his own magic school. "What's got Malfoy looking like that?"
Harry sighed. "Malfoy challenged me to a wizard's duel. Tomorrow at midnight, in the trophy room."
"Wizard's duel?" Lovino directed the question to Ron.
"Right, I was just telling Harry," he said. "A wizard's duel is a wands-only duel between wizards."
"And you agreed?" Lovino growled at Harry, who nodded guiltily. "Are you crazy?"
Harry opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by Hermione, who came up behind them. "Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation-"
"I knew you were going to do this," Ron groaned.
"- being out of bed after curfew is against school rules. Just think about how many points Gryffindor will lose if you're caught!"
"This doesn't have anything to do with you," Harry said.
"Goodbye," Ron added, turning back to his food.
When his friends had turned their attention back to their food, Lovino reached out and grabbed Hermione's robes, halting her in her tracks. "Wait."
"What?"
"Meet me in the common room in a few minutes. I want to talk." He let go, and turned away as though nothing had happened. He could feel Hermione staring at his back for a few more seconds before she continued out of the Hall.
Lovino quickly ate a little more, then stood up. "I'm going to talk to Feli."
"Already?" Harry asked. "You barely ate."
"I'll be fine," Lovino insisted. It wasn't as though hunger was going to kill him. "See you two in the common room."
He quickly made his way to the Slytherin table, ignoring the taunts thrown at him. Reaching his brother, he tapped Feliciano's shoulder and whispered, in Italian, "Did you find out?"
"Yes. The duel, right?"
"Uh-huh. Harry's actually going to go through with it. Can you sneak out of wherever you Slytherins sleep tomorrow night, and wait at the trophy room for us?"
"Of course."
Lovino nodded and whispered a quick farewell before straightening up and quickly striding out of the hall. He ran up to Gryffindor Tower, arriving a few minutes later. Thanks to his military training, he wasn't even out of breath. The Fat Lady raised an eyebrow at him. "Where are you running to?"
"Pig snout," Lovino said, ignoring her question.
She started to swing forward, but stopped partway. "Hold on just a second."
"What?" Lovino snapped irritably.
"You're not a normal student, are you?"
The question took Lovino by surprise. He started to deny it, but the Fat Lady interrupted him. "Before you ask, gossip spreads fast among the paintings. One of the Italian paintings overheard some of your conversations."
Lovino sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Can I trust you?"
"Of course you can," the Fat Lady replied. "We paintings are very good at keeping secrets."
"Fine. Just don't tell anyone," Lovino said, giving in. He glanced around, checking for other students. "Do you mind closing the hole?"
The Fat Lady complied, swinging her portrait back to cover the entrance.
"I'm a nation," Lovino said quietly. "My brother, in Slytherin, is a nation as well. We are here because England, or Arthur Kirkland, asked us to protect another student." He stared the Fat Lady in the eyes. "Is that good enough for you?"
"Who are you protecting?" the Fat Lady asked. "We could help you, if your intentions are good."
"Why would you?" Lovino shifted his stance slightly, just in case.
"Oh, don't be so mistrustful, dear!" the Fat Lady chuckled. "It's just that we can get bored sometimes. It would be nice to have a purpose."
"Very well. We are protecting Harry Potter," Lovino said. He narrowed his eyes. "If I find out any of you talked, I will personally slice you to ribbons and set your frame on fire, school rules be d***ed. Understand?"
The Fat Lady nodded, then swung forward to open the portrait hole, clearly indicating the conversation was over. Lovino stepped into the common room, spotting Hermione sitting in an armchair with a book in her arms. He flopped down on a chair next to her, gaining her attention. Hermione bookmarked her page and set it aside.
"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked. "I'm assuming this is about the duel."
"Yeah, about that," Lovino pushed himself into an upright position, noticing how his feet no longer touched the floor in his eleven-year old form. "Harry can be careless sometimes, and Ron isn't much help. Can you come with us to the trophy room tonight?"
"Why would I do that?!" she exclaimed, shocked.
"You're a smart witch. The smartest in the grade," Lovino said. "We could use your help."
"Did Harry put you up to this?"
"No."
They stared intently at each other for a few seconds. Then Lovino sighed and sat back in the chair. "Fine. Do whatever you want. I'll leave you alone." He let out a long breath, then pushed himself off the chair and heading towards the stairs. "See you."
His foot had just touched the first step when he heard Hermione call out, "I'll think about it!" which brought a small smirk to his face. He paused and nodded to let her know he heard, before continuing up. Then he changed his mind and headed out the portrait hole, turning to talk to the Fat Lady. "Signora, do you mind passing a message on for me?"
The Fat Lady regarded him curiously. "Already? What is it?"
"Can you ask a painting in or close to Slytherin's common room to tell my brother we can request help from the paintings?" he asked. "I can't go right now; I have to wait for Harry and Ron."
"Of course, dear," the Fat Lady said. "May I ask what 'Signora' means?"
"It means 'missus' or 'madam' in Italian," Lovino explained. "Now please let me back in. Pig snout."
"Lovino? Are you talking to the portrait?"
Lovino turned to see Harry and Ron making their way up the stairs. "So what if I was?"
Harry shrugged. "Nothing, I just haven't seen anyone talk to a painting for fun."
"What if I wasn't doing it for fun?" Lovino rolled his eyes. "Maybe I was just going into the common room." On cue, the Fat Lady swung out to admit the trio into the common room. As they passed through the hole, Lovino whispered to the portrait, "No offense." The portrait frame vibrated slightly as the Fat Lady hummed in acknowledgement.
The other countries may not see it a lot, but Lovino always respected anyone who helped him. The problem was personifications didn't help each other out a lot.
We're kind of a messed up species, Lovino mused as he resumed his original task of retrieving his schoolbooks. Besides Veneziano and Potato Bastard #1 [4], which one of us helps out the others out of the goodness of his heart?
The next night Harry lay in bed anxiously thinking about the duel. He could hear Seamus and Thomas's deep breathing. Neville's bed lay empty, as he still had yet to return from the hospital wing. Harry wasn't sure about Lovino; he always seemed to fall asleep after Harry, so Harry never heard anything.
Finally Ron whispered, "It's eleven thirty. We should go."
The two boys quietly dressed in their robes and tiptoed down the stairs. They were just making their way to the portrait hole when they were stopped by a voice. "You're just leaving without me?"
Harry and Ron whipped around to face Lovino, who had been sitting in an armchair so quietly they wouldn't have noticed him if they tried. Lovino propped his head casually on his arm. "Well?"
"Lovino, you weren't in bed?" Harry asked.
"No. I was here, because she was too." He jerked his thumb in the direction of another armchair. Hermione stood up, her hands on her hips. "I can't believe you're actually going to go through with this, Harry." Her eyes flicked almost imperceptibly over to Lovino, remembering his instructions.
"Act like you were waiting here the whole time. I'll say that I came down here early and found you. Just play along. Do you trust me?"
"What are you doing here?" Ron hissed. "Go back to bed!"
Lovino rolled his eyes. "She was waiting to stop you two, and you're telling her to go back to bed like nothing happened?"
"You know, I almost told your brother," Hermione said scathingly. "He would never allow this."
Harry tugged at Ron's arm. "Ignore her. Lovino, you coming?"
Lovino sighed and got up, stretching his arms. "Since you're not backing down, yes."
Harry led the way through the portrait hole. Hermione followed the trio through. "Don't you care about Gryffindor, Harry?" she said. "I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup this year." She moved to block their way. "I don't want you to lose all the points I earned."
"Just move, will you?" Harry said.
"Fine, but I promise you, when you're going home on the train tomorrow, you'll remember what I said! You two are such-"
Hermione turned on her heel to return to the common room, but froze when she saw she faced an empty portrait.
"Make sure you come out with us. The Fat Lady won't be in her portrait, so you won't be able to go back."
"What… what do I do now?"
"That's your problem," Ron said brusquely. "Come on, Harry, we're going to be late."
The trio hurried down a corridor, only to hear footsteps behind them. Hermione came jogging around the corner.
"I'm going with you," she said.
"You can't." Ron replied.
"Do you expect me to stand outside waiting for Filch?" she snapped. "If we're caught together, at least I can tell him the truth, and he'll believe it!"
Ron opened his mouth to reply, but Lovino slapped his hand over it. "Do you hear that?"
There was a whimpering sound coming from the next staircase.
"Is it Mrs. Norris?" Ron asked.
It was Neville, crying on the staircase. When he heard them approach, he jumped up and ran to them.
"Oh, thank God you found me! I've been waiting here for hours; I can't remember the password to the tower."
"Quiet, Neville," Harry shushed him. "The password is 'pig snout' but it won't do you any good; the Fat Lady's disappeared. How's your wrist?"
"It's fine. Madam Pomfrey fixed it in a few seconds."
"Good. Okay, Neville, listen, we have to meet someone, so see you-"
"No! Don't leave me here alone! The Bloody Baron's already been by twice; I don't want to meet him again!"
Ron glared at Hermione and Neville. "If either of you get us caught, I swear I will hex you."
They continued on in silence to the trophy room. Lovino dropped back to whisper to Hermione, "Good job."
"It doesn't feel right, acting like this," she whispered back. "If we're caught, it's your fault."
"We won't be caught," Lovino replied. "My brother's keeping watch."
"Feliciano?"
Lovino nodded. "Thank you for helping." He increased his pace, cutting off the conversation.
They had just reached the entrance to the trophy room when light, hurried footsteps came towards them in the darkness.
"Hide!" Harry hissed, stumbling backward.
A pale hand reached out and grabbed his arm. "It's just me!"
"Feliciano?" Harry asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard about the duel from Malfoy," Feliciano whispered back. "You have to get back to Gryffindor Tower. Filch is already in the trophy room."
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment they heard Filch's voice echoing in the trophy room. "Sniff around, my sweet. They might be hiding in a corner."
"Run!" Harry said, ignoring Feliciano's yelp of "Wait!" He turned and dashed back down the hall, pulling Ron and Neville behind him. He could hear Hermione, Feliciano, and Lovino keeping pace behind him as he turned a corner, running down a hallway at random. He lost track of all the twists and turns he took. Finally Feliciano called, "Harry! Stop running, I think we've lost him!"
Harry slowed to a stop, breathing heavily. His friends slowed their steps around him. Neville bent over, hands on his knees, while Hermione was leaning on Lovino for support; Lovino didn't look too happy about it.
"So… where are we?" Ron asked. When no one answered, he groaned. "We're lost, aren't we?"
"If you had just waited like my brother said, we wouldn't be," Lovino grumbled. "We can ask a painting for directions, if-"
He was cut off by a cackle from above. Peeves had come out of a hallway next to them and started giggling in his high-pitched voice.
"Be quiet, Peeves, please – you're going to get us expelled," Harry said.
"Naughty, naughty students, running around in the middle of the night," Peeves giggled. "You're going to be caught, you know!"
"No, we won't if we're quiet. Peeves, please!"
"Should tell Filch, I should," Peeves said, placing a finger to his chin in mock contemplation. "For your own good, you know."
Ron finally had enough. "Get out of the way, Peeves!" he snarled, slapping the poltergeist. This was a huge mistake.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves howled gleefully. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"
Without prompting the group ducked under Peeves and ran full pelt down the hallway. Harry frantically pulled at the door at the end. It was locked.
"We're doomed!" Neville moaned. "What do we do? My gran will kill me if I'm expelled!"
"Let me through!" Lovino commanded roughly. He bent over the lock, messing with it for a few seconds while the others waited anxiously. The lock made a clicking sound. "Got it!" He pushed the door open and the seven students piled into the room. Feliciano, the last one in, quickly shoved the door shut. They waited with pounding hearts for what was to come. Through the door they heard Filch interrogating Peeves.
"Peeves, where'd they go?" Filch growled in his usual surly manner. "Tell me, now!"
"Say 'please'!"
"Don't mess with me now, Peeves, tell me where they went!"
"Won't say nothing if you don't say please!" Peeves said in a sing-song voice. They clearly heard Filch sighing in frustration.
"Fine, please tell me."
"Nothing! Haha! I told you, unless you say please, I won't say nothing! Haha! Hahaha!" Peeves giggled hysterically as he flew off. They could hear Filch cursing in the corridor.
"Doesn't Peeves's laugh remind you of Alfred?" Feliciano mumbled quietly to Lovino.
"How do you even think of things like that at times like this?" Lovino sighed.
"We should be safe now," Harry said. "Agh, what is it, Neville?" Neville had been tugging his robes, trying to get his attention. The rest of the group turned and saw something straight out of their nightmares.
Harry had immediately assumed that they were in an empty classroom, but he realized now that they were in a corridor. The forbidden third-floor hallway. Now, the reason it was forbidden was clearer than day.
Standing in front of them was a huge dog, big enough that its head brushed the ceiling – or one of its heads. The dog had three heads, each head's dark eyes trained on the group of first-years, drool dripping out of its three mouths. The only reason it had not attacked yet was because it was as startled by the first years as they were of it.
Feliciano, who was nearest to the door, fumbled with the knob, yanking open the door. All seven students flew out the door, running as fast as their legs could carry them. They dashed through the corridors, no longer caring if anyone heard them. All that mattered was that they got away from that monster.
Finally, Feliciano, who ran the fastest, stumbled to a stop at the landing of a staircase. "Are… are we safe now?"
"I think so," Hermione gasped.
"We should go," Lovino said. "Somebody probably heard us running like a pack of wild animals through the halls."
Feliciano shuddered. "I don't ever want to see that again," he whimpered. "I… I'll see y-you all tomorrow." He turned and headed down the staircase. The remaining Gryffindors huddled together as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower.
"Now where have you all been?" the Fat Lady asked as they approached.
"Not now, please," Harry said, shivering a little at the thought of the dog. "Just let us in. Pig snout, pig snout!"
The Fat Lady sniffed a little in annoyance at being ignored, but swung open anyway. Lovino hung back a little. "Thanks for helping me."
"You don't always have to thank me," she replied. "I was happy to help. I haven't seen those paintings since June!"
Lovino nodded, and climbed into the hole in time to hear Hermione say scathingly, "No, it wasn't standing on the floor. It was on a trapdoor. That dog is guarding something." She glared angrily at Harry and Ron. "I hope you're happy now. We were almost killed – or worse, expelled." She took a deep breath, calming herself. "If you don't have anything else to say, I'm going to go to bed now."
Ron glared at her retreating back. "Why's she acting like that? It's as if we forced her to come along or something."
"Do either of you have any idea of what the dog could be guarding?" Lovino asked.
"We just had a near-death experience, and that's what you ask?" Ron said disbelievingly. "No, I don't, and at the moment I don't really care either."
Harry looked thoughtful, though it was a little hard to tell through the fear still written on his face. "I think I have an idea, but it's getting late. I'll tell you at breakfast."
Lovino shrugged. "Sure." And I thought this was going to be an easy job. I'll have to keep a closer eye on Harry from now on, or he's not going to survive his first year.
[1] I think they were rock cakes. I'm not sure. I couldn't figure out the translation.
[2] Vladimir Popescu is the name I use for Romania.
[3] I translated the whole thing. Be proud of me! If there's some really important error, let me know.
[4] Potato Bastard #1 is Germany. #2 is Prussia.
I finally got my act together and wrote another chapter for you guys! It's about a thousand words longer than what I aim for, so I guess that's sort of a special treat. The painting thing was completely unplanned, but when you look at it it makes sense. I mean, what the heck was Hermione doing in the common room at 11:30 PM?
I only just noticed that I mostly write from either Harry or Romano's POV. You guys don't mind, right?
Also, I've gone back and fixed some gaps in the earlier chapters. Especially Chapter One. Go back and read it.
Next chapter will have the other countries at the World Meeting! Yay! I read somewhere that the United Nations meets in September, so yeah.
Thanks to everyone that reviewed and told me to hurry up! See you all next chapter! Ciao~
