Of Wizards, Akuma, and Exorcists
Three: The Forbidden Art of Exorcism
Disclaimers: I do not own any D. Gray-Man or Harry Potter characters/settings. They rightfully belong to Mr. Hoshino (D. Gray-Man) and Ms. Rowling (Harry Potter). Also, some conversations between the Harry Potter characters are direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and that also does not belong to me!
"Ah, there you guys are!" Lavi said, waving as Lenalee dragged a disgruntled Allen through the crowd. "We've been waiting for you."
"Why, thank you. We've been deserted in an unfamiliar crowd, and we've been looking desperately for you," Lenalee replied, the faint sign of a popping vein visible from underneath her messed up hair. She smiled, but Allen, standing beside her, felt the chilly anger vibrating off her in waves. He shivered.
"Lenalee!" Komui exclaimed, latching on to his sister's arm. "Where were you? Are you okay?"
"Are you Komui Lee?" asked an oily voice from behind Allen. The young Exorcist whipped around in surprise- how had this man snuck up on him?
"Why, yes," answered the tall supervisor of the Black Order, straightening himself up and fiddling with his coat. "I am Lee."
All of the Exorcists took in the appearance of the inquirer, a man with greasy, slightly long black hair, dark eyes, and a pronounced frown. The man stared down at them with a suspicious glare in his eyes and turned back to Komui. "My name is Professor Snape. Professor Dumbledore has told me to escort you all to his office. Please," he said curtly, "follow me."
The trip through the big, strange castle was long. Snape walked in silence for a while, but after a few minutes, he spoke in his deep voice. "It is a pity none of our guests were sorte into Slytherin," he said."You would have been in good hands if you'd had. But, alas, you cannot go up against the Sorting hat and win the argument. He is, after all, Godric Gryffindor's hat."
"You said you were a professor," Allen said. "What do you teach?"
Snape looked long and hard at Allen before he turned away and sniffed. He picked up his speed, but it was hardly noticeable. "Potions. The divine art that does not require students taking out their silly wands and performing incantations."
Lavi nudged Allen's back, and the white haired boy slowed down to fall into step next to him. "What?" Allen asked.
"I've read about this place before in panda-man's books once," said the junior Bookman. "This is one of the most oldest places in Britian, and it's one of the greatest magical institutes in the world." Bookmen, like Lavi's master (who had no name), were people who gathered information, some of which were extremely confidential, and kept the knowledge. When one retires, a Bookman would have passed down his knowledge to his apprentice, and many of the information would be stored in file after file of history. All Bookmen, including Lavi, have a superior memory and could memorize ever stain on an object.
"And?" Allen asked.
"They used to teach something similar to our exorcing of Akumas," Lavi whispered. "It's weird; they used spells to kill off the evil spirits of sadness that sometimes plagued the magical world, and sometimes there were people who were either born with a talent to do that, or people who became especially good after they found this crystal-like object. But this magic became banned from this world several centuries ago."
"Crystal-like objects," Allen repeated. "Do they mean the Innocence?"
"Maybe."
"We are here," Snape's voice cut through their conversation like hard ice. Allen and Lavi looked up and saw that they were all standing in front of a stone gargoyle of a large bird. The frowning professor muttered the name of a western candy (Allen had tried them before) and the gargoyle began to rotate. Lenalee gasped immediately; the gargoyle was rising upwards, and a twisting staircase appeared from the floor. "Professor Dumbledore is in the office above. I was not permitted to enter with you, so I wil leave you here. Good night." With that, he spun on his heels and stalked down the corridor.
"Well, let's a go!" Lavi said, sounding forcefully cheerful, and he jumped onto the roating stairs. Allen and Lenalee followed his lead, and quickly trailing after them were Komui, Krory, and Miranda.
"Good evening," greeted Dumbledore's clear voice. His bright blue eyes smiled up at the Exorcists (and Komui) from his cluttered yet neat desk. "Thank you for taking the time to come to this room when you all could be resting peacfully in your dormitories. But where are my manners? Here- please take a seat." He swept his arm in an arc across his desk, and seven comfortable looking chairs appeared out of thin air.
"I shall take your offer," Komui said, bowing slightly. He sat down in the middle chair and motioned to his sister and the others. "Come on guys."
When the Exorcists were all seated, Dumbledore weaved his fingers through each other and leaned on his hands. He was calm and relaxed, and Allen felt a great serene power flow around in the air around the old man. "Now, am I sure you are all expecting an explanation."
"Absolutely," snapped Kanda, who had been silent for so long that Allen'd forgotten his presense. "Tell us why we were called here. We have an Earl to destroy; we've no time to waste here."
"Kanda," Lenalee gasped, "don't be so rude!"
"He has every right to be angered, Lenalee. No need to worry," Dumbledore chuckled. "And Mr. Kanda, you will be getting your explanation in a moment." He waved his hand again, and a pile of papers landed in Komui's lap. With another wave, more piles appeared in front of the Exorcists. "You do not have to read them right now. You may read them during your stay here. Just in case you may forget details about your, ahem, mission here."
"So," Lavi said slowly, as if choosing his words, "what is our mission here?"
The headmaster of Hogwarts closed his eyes. "It seems that your villian in your world, the Millenium Earl, has joined hands with our villian, Lord Voldemort," he said.
"What?" Allen gasped, jumping out of his seat. "The Earl?"
"Yes, he has joined hands with Voldemort."
"Who is this Voldemort, anyways?" Kanda asked, glaring at Allen.
Dumbledore sighed. "He is the most greatly feared wizard these days. Killing many of our people, destroying a lot of the outside world. I fear that, if he and the Earl join forces and attack the world, it will surely fall to their power."
"No," whispered Lenalee. "We won't let that happen..."
"Is that why we were called to your school?" Allen asked. "Can't you...can't your magic defeat this Voldemort?"
Lavi tugged on his friend's sleeve. "Sit down, Allen. I'll explain," he said. "You know what I said earlier, right? How wizards and witches used to be taught something similar to exorcism in this world? Well, exorcism- anything similar to it, even- was banned form this school and any part of the magic world several centuries ago by what is now the Ministry of Magic. So no one here, other than us, know how to destroy Akuma. If Voldemort attacks Hogwarts with the Akuma, the school will stand no chance against it. That's why Dumbledore came to seek us. Us, who are extremely old schooled compared to the students here; us, who lived almost a century before these people; us, who were and are the only remaining Exorcists in Europe."
"Why was it banned?" Miranda asked quietly, seeming scared of speaking up. "Exorcists destroy Akuma and save people's souls. Maybe it's just me, but Exorcists aren't bad people..."
"To the Ministry, exorcism was just as bad as murder. Destroying a body that once used to belong to humans; they do not see that saving one Akuma is like killing a hundred humans," Dumbledore answered.
Krory leaned back in his chair and fiddled with his hair. "To put it simple, our mission is basically the same as usual. Destroy any attacking Akuma, and in the meantime, find information about the Earl and Voldemort and hopefuly defeat them. Don't let our identity as Exorcists be found out, and follow the rules of your world," he summarized. "Correct, Headmaster?"
"Precisely," said the old man. "Especially around Professor Umbridge. As respectable her authority may be, you Exorcists should not let your guard down around a woman who works for the Ministry. But maybe, if you talk to Harry Potter and his friends, you could get more help gathering information. He has reliable sources, and he will be glad to do anything to help in the downfall of Voldemort. Also, most of our staff knows who you are, mostly all but Professor Umbridge. No need to fear them, I assure you."
"Alright. It...sounds...quite...easy," Allen mumbled. "But difficult enough. What should I say about my hand?" He held up his left hand, taking off the glove in the process, and showed Dumbledore the red, scaly skin that covered his hand- his anti-Akuma weapon, the Innocence that he was born with.
"Say you burned it," Lavi suggested, and Kanda nodded in agrement. When Allen stared at the Japanese swordsman in shock, he muttered, "You're clumsy enough that anyone will believe it, you bean sprout."
"Oh, thanks."
Dumbledore smiled and stood up. The Exorcists followed suit. "Thank you all for letting me waste time off of your resting hours. Now, as a last minute information: Mr. Lee, Krory, Miss Lotto- considering that you three are a bit too old to be one of our students, I would like you to stay and help me out in my office; unless, of course, you find a teacher you would like to aid. Lavi and Kanda, I would say you are a bit older, but since you both don't look too much older than the others, you could join the seventh years (without taking exams, not to worry) in their lessons and learn with them. Allen and Lenalee, you will join the fifth years in their classes. Oh yes, and please do be careful not to say Voldemort's name out loud at school. If you must, we refer to him as You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and other names."
"Thank you for the warning; we shall keep it in mind," Komui promised, and he bowed to the headmaster."I will have these house elves take you to your dormitories," Dumbledore offered. "I do not want my guests lost." He motioned to the back of the room, where three tiny, thin elves stood waiting patiently. They looked plenty ugly, but after years of seeing Akuma, they looked quite adorable to Allen. One of them, who seemed more clean and well-kept than the others scurried up to him, Lavi, and Lenalee and curtesied.
"Dobby the house elf. Dobby will take sirs and misses to the Gryffindor dormitory."
Lenalee smiled at the elf's politeness and patted his head. "Please do, Dobby."
Dobby smiled wide. "Yes, miss," it bowed again.
"Good night, everyone," said Dumbledore.
It was the next morning at the breakfast table that Harry Potter and his friends saw the weird group who'd arrived last night. Harry and Ron were both fast asleep by the time the three Gryffindor "outsiders" had come back, apparently. Ron's older twin brothers, Fred and George were chatting away with Lavi, who looked quite interested in whatever they were talking about, and Allen Walker, the strange white haired boy Hermione was talking to, was scarfing down a huge pile of waffles. Lenalee, the cute Chinese girl who reminded Harry of his crush, Cho Chang, was sitting beside him and eating quietly.
Hermione sat down beside Allen. Ron after a moment's hesitation, sat down heavily beside her and sulked.
"Good morning Allen," Hermione said, and the boy looked up from his food. He sat up straight upon recognizing her and gulped down whatever he had in his overstuffed mouth.
"Good...good morning Hermione," he said sheepishly.
The girl smiled and pulled a plate of toast towards herself. Turning to Ron, she said, "I'd forgotten Wood has left. I suppose that will make quite a differnce on the team?"
"I s'pose," Harry replied, sitting down opposite his friends. "He was a good Keeper..."
"Still, it won't hurt to have some new blood, will it?" Ron commented, fidgeting slightly.
Allen, who'd been listening to their conversation, apparently, tapped on Hermione's shoulder. "Excuse me, but what's a Keeper?" he asked innocently.
Ron blanched and stared at Allen. "You mean you don't know what Quidditch is? Blimey! You're just as bad as Harry was during first year!"
"Hey," said Harry. He grinned. Allen still looked confused.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm quite..new to your world, I guess.
"Not to worry," Hermione assured him. "I came from a completely non-magical family. And Harry too, even though he's half blooded."
Harry leaned across the table and grabbed a waffle off Allen's plate. "Don't hog all the food, please, Allen. Anyways, if you put it in the non-magical way, Quidditch is basically soccer on broomsticks."
"Harry's one of the best players on our house team; he's only lost one game so far," Hermione added.
Ron looked up at the ceiling. "Ah, mail's here."
There was a loud clattering, whooshing, hooting, and hundreds of owls flew into the dining hall. Harry, scanned the air quickly and looked down at his food once again, seeing as his snow white owl, Hedwig, was nowhere to be seen, and that his godfather, Sirius Black, probably had no letter to send to him with information on Voldemort.
With a yelp of surprise, though, Allen upsetted a goblet of pumpkin juice, and his hand flew to his hood from where he grabbed a golden ball. "Tim, I don't know if it'll happen but I don't want you getting eaten by owls, too," he muttered to nothing in particular.
"Is that the Snitch?" Ron said to Harry, who shrugged.
"Don't worry, Allen. It's just the morning mail. Nothing to fret about," Hermione said.
"Yes, but...Timcampy! Where are you going? People will see you!" Allen gasped. Lenalee, too, was looking down at the boy's hands in confusion when a yellowish gold ball whizzed up into the air. "Tim...!"
Harry was watching the scene on the other side of the table in slight awe when the golden "Snitch" flew out of Allen's grip and right into his slice of pie. "Wah!" he exclaimed as pieces of pumpkin splattered his face.
An owl landed in front of Hermione, a copy of the Daily Prophet held in its beaks. She tugged it out and placed a coin, a Knut, in the leather pouch on its leg and opened the newspaper as the bird took off.
Harry, feeling irritated at seeing the magazine, which had many a times written nonsense about both Harry and Sirius, scoffed. "What are you still getting that for? I'm not bothering...load of rubbish."
"It's best to know what the enemy are saying," replied Hermione and started reading.
"Enemy?" Allen repeated. Lenalee looked at Harry inquiringly. "What enemy?"
Harry saw Ron trying to catch his eye and looked his way. The red haired boy was questioning, probably asking if it would be alright to tell this new boy about their ultimate enemy. Obviously, none of the guests knew the going-ons of the magic world. To answer the question, Harry nodded.
Harry looked around to make sure nobody else was listening. Satsified that everyone was more into their own food and conversations, and seeing that McGonagall was still handing out schedules to the students on the other end of the table, he leaned in towards Allen and Lenalee and asked, "Have you two heard of the man, Voldemort?"
Allen and Lenalee looked slightly surprised at the name (Ron shuddered, of course). The two of them glanced at each other for a moment and nodded. "Professor Dumbledore told us about him last night. Told us to...well, watch out just in case. What's this got to do with the newspaper?"
Ron took a trembling breath and answered. "Most people think that You-Know-Who's gone. Dead. They think that...that Harry killed him or something."
"I almost did, when I was about a year old," Harry explained to two confused faces. "Voldemort killed my parents, and he tried to kill me, but it didn't work out for him. But Dumbledore said that his failing to kill me somehow made him weak, and he's been in hiding for thirteen years. But just a couple months ago, there was this accident...and..."
Lenalee held up her hand to stop Harry. "He came back, is that what you're trying to say? "
Harry nodded. "Yes."
"And no one believes you."
"Mhm."
"And those are the enemies? The people who don't believe you?"
"Yep."
Hermione emerged from behind the newspaper just then. McGonagall walked up to the five of them and handed out their schedules.
"Look at today!" Ron groaned. "History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts...Binns, Snape, Trelaeney, and Umbridge all in one day! I wish Fered and George'd hurry up and get those Skiving Snacksboxes serted..."
Allen and Lenalee were looking down at their schedules. Harry wondered, What classes do they have?
"Do mine ears deceive me?" said Fred as he and George, followed by Lavi, walked up to the group of fifth years, and the three of them sat down in the crowded space next to Harry. "Hogwarts prefects surely don't want to skive off lessons?"
"Look what we've got today," Ron said, shoving his schedule under Fred's nose. "That's the worst Monday I've ever seen."
"Fair point, little bro," Fred replied as he glanced at the column. "You can have a bit of Nosebleed Nougat cheap if you like."
Allen looked up from his schedule and looked at Fred and George. "I think I can understand Umbridge and Snape, but is the rest that bad?" he asked. The twins nodded.
"Why's it cheap?" Ron said, regarding the Nosebleed Nougat.
"Because you'll keep bleeding till you shrivel up, we haven't got an antidote yet," George answered.
"Cheers, but I think I'll take the lessons."
"And speaking of your Skiving Snackboxes," Hermione said, "you can't advertise for testers on the Gryffindor notce board."
"Says who?"
"Says me. And Ron."
"Leave me out of it."
The twins sniggered as Hermione glared at Ron.
"You'll be singing a different tune soon enough, Hermione," said Fred. "You're starting your fifth year, you'll be begging us for a Snackbox before long."
"And why would starting didth year mean I want a Skiving Snackbox?"
"Fifth year's O.W.L. year," said George.
"So?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"So you've got your exams coming up, haven't you? They'll be keeping your noses so hard to the grindstone they'll be rubbed raw."
"Half our year had minor breakdowns coming up to O.W.L.s. Tears and tantrum...Patricia Stimpson kept coming over faint..."
"Kenneth Towler came out in boils, d'you remember?;
"That's 'cause you put Bulbadox Powder in his pajamas."
"Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten...Hard to keep track sometimes, isn't it?"
George leaned his head on his hands, his elbows on the table. (Harry saw that Lavi was deep in conversation with Allen and Lenalee, although the three of them looked quite cheerful compared to some other times.) "Anyway, it's a nightmare of a year, the fifth. If you care about exam results anyway," George said. "Fred and I managed to keep our spirits up somehow."
"Yeah...you got, what was it, three O.W.L.s each?" Ron said in exasperation.
"Yep," answered Fred carelessly. "But we feel our futures lie outside the world of academic achievment."
At that, Harry saw, Allen, Lenalee, and Lavi looked up at the twins. He thought he spotted a flash of admirance (or awe, shock?) in their eyes before George went on talking. "We seriously debated whether we were going to beother coming back for our seventh year," he said happily, "now that' we've got-"
Panic seared through Harry, and he shot the boy a glare, hoping to catch his eye and also hoping to look alarmed. He certainly hope George would get the message and not blurt about the gift Harry'd given the twins at the end of last year...
"-now that we've got our O.W.L.s," George comcluded in a hurry. Apparently, he'd gotten it. "I mean, do we really need N.E.W.T.s? But we didn't think Mum could take us leaving school early, not on top of Percy turning out to be the world's biggest prat."
"We're not going to waste our last year here, though," Fred added. "We're going to use it to do a bit of market research, find out exactly what the average Hogwarts student requires from his joke shor, carefully evaluate the results of our research, and then produce the products to fit the demand...also with help from our new dear friend, Lavi, here, of course."
Harry saw Allen mouth something to Lavi, and Lavi whisper back. The white haired boy looked somewhat skepticle, yet satisfied with the answer.
"But where are you going to get the gold to start a joke shop?" Hermione was all doubts. "You're going to need all the ingredients and materials- and premises too, I suppose..."
Harry, feeling heat rise to his face, dropped his fork and dove down to get it. Above, Fred said, "Ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies, Hermione. C'mon, George, Lavi, if we get there early we might be able to sell a few valuable Ears before Herbology."
Harry got out from under the table to see Fred, George, and Lavi walk out of the dining hall. Allen and Lenalee, once again, were talking amongst themselves, but Harry swore he saw the golden object (that had attacked his pie) staring at him as if it knew something the others didn't.
Hermione, meanwhile, was thoughtful. "What did that mean? 'Ask us no questions...' Does that mean they've already got some gold to start a joke shop?"
Hello readers, this is Kagine324.
I've gotten a question regarding the sorting hat in one of the reviews for chapter two:
Q: You do realize that the hat speaks to them mentally, right? It doesn't tell everyone else what it's saying to the guy wearing it. Or girl.
A: I do not remember the hat talking mentally, for it was a long time since I actually read any of the books. All I remember is the hat moving its mouth in the first movie, so I used that. The things I have here regarding Harry Potter are probably a mix of the movies and the book, so maybe they're not really accurate in places.