Of Wizards, Akuma, and Exorcists
Seventeen: Expulsion
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!
"Obviously, I'd have been thrilled if I'd gotten an O-"
"Hermione, if you want to know what grades we got, ask."
"I don't- I mean- well, if you want to tell me-"
"I got a P. Happy?"
Allen, Lenalee, and Lavi stared at Ron and Hermione as they, followed by a daydreaming Harry, sat down at the Gryffindor table. Lavi didn't respond when the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan walked up and greeted him, but Fred, George and Lee didn't seem to mind.
"Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of," Fred told him brother, referring to the grade. "Nothing wrong with a good healthy P."
"But," Hermione said, "doesn't P stand for..."
"'Poor,' yeah," Lee Jordan said. "Still, better than D, isn't it?"
Harry coughed violently, his face red. Allen and his friends tuned out the conversation as their minds fell on the dreadful thought of a possible expulsion. The Akumas sure did ruin their mission...
"...Umbridge just lurked in the corner..." one of the twins said, and the Exorcists twitched violently.
"Let's just go to class early," Lenalee muttered, and the boys followed. "Lavi- you're in a different class."
"Oh, right. Sorry, see you."
"Bye," Allen and Lenalee waved. They began walking down the hall towards the North Tower, and Allen said, "This is bad, isn't it?"
"Very," Lenalee agreed. "I can't believe I failed my brother..."
"Well, there's a chance Umbridge might not have noticed it," Allen said brightly, but one look from Lenalee and he sighed. "Well, I guess a one in a million chance."
"Zero," Lenalee corrected.
"But it wasn't really our fault, was it?" Allen asked. Or was it my fault because my eye was failing? he thought in worry.
"Not really," Lenalee answered, "because it's the barrier's fault your eye is...well, at least it wasn't lying this time."
"We're blessed that nobody died, aren't we?"
"Very."
"I don't want to go to Divinatio right now, what if Umbridge is in there?" Allen asked.
"We'll survive," Lenalee said, "but I'm very afraid that she is going to be in Trelawney's class. I have a hunch."
"Well, good afternoon, Mr. Walker, Miss Lee," a dreamy voice greeted the moment the said two climbed through the trapdoor into the stuffy, perfumed classroom. Professor Trelawney, clad in her usual shawls, smiled at them. "I Saw you coming. I See you are both not in your best moods?"
The Exorcists flushed. "Oh, no, um, we're doing great," Allen lied hastily, and he and Lenalee sat down together at a table in the shadows.
"I myself am antsy, although I am sure that my noble art of Divination will surely impress our High Inquisitor," the teacher breezed past their table, adjusing the candles on the wall.
"She's coming for inspection?" Lenalee asked. Trelawney nodded curtly. "Oh, my..."
"So, no sleeping in class, huh?" Allen sighed. "Great."
"Hi you guys," Harry and Ron said, sitting down beside them gloomy two. "What's wrong?"
"You know what's wrong," the Exorcists said in unison. They looked around the classroom, which was starting to fill up slowly, for the squat shadow of Dolores Umbridge, but didn't see her. Probably she was going to be the last one in.
"I'm pretty sure the whole school heard the commotion," Ron said, shrugging.
"That's not good, is it?" Harry asked, seeing the tormented looks on Allen and Lenalee's faces. The latter two shook their heads.
"What could be so bad about a commotion?" Ron questioned cluelessly. "I mean, it was-"
Allen sent the red haired boy a grim look. "I'll give you a hint: if the whole school heard, so. Did. Umbridge."
The color drained from Ron and Harry's faces. "You're a goner," Harry muttered.
"Ah," Allen groaned, "I could see my Master and his hammer...I can see Narein, Mana..."
"What's he talking about?" Ron asked.
"I think he's having a flashback of traumatic moments," Lenalee said. "Allen, get a hold of yourself, I'm sure nothing could get any worse-"
"Good afternoon, Professor Trelawney," a girlish voice cut through the dull chatter inside the classroom, and the foursome looked up abruptly. The squat figure of Dolores Umbridge filled their sight, her wide, sneaky, toady smile aimed happily at Lenalee and Allen before turning to Trelawney, who looked distracted and angry. "You received by note, I trust? Giving the time and date of your inspection?"
Umbridge was rewarded by a short nod from Trelawney, who turned her back and returned to handing out copies of the Dream Oracles to the students. The High Inquisitor sat neatly, a clipboard on her lap, waiting for class to begin.
Trelawney was nervous, that much was obvious. Her hands trembled, and her eyes seemed wider, rounder, and just large with fear through her thick glasses. "Divide into pairs, please, and interpret each other's latest nighttime visions with the aid of the Oracle."
Allen and Lenalee watched as Trelawney made as if to walk over to her seat, and then did a one-eighty upon seeing Umbridge sitting near her desk. Instead, the teacher steered herself towards Lavendar Brown and Parvati Patil, who were discussing Lavendar's most recent dream, totally absorbed in the lesson. The toady woman sat for a few minutes jotting down notes on her clipboard, then stood up and began trailing after Trelawneylistening to the teacher's conversations with students and sometimes asking questions.
"What kind of dream did you have recently?" Lenalee asked suddenly, flipping through her book page by page. Umbridge and Trelawney were a few steps away from their table.
"Oh, a dream that...that...I don't remember," Allen answered. "What about you?"
Lenalee shrugged. "It's still the same dream as usual, the world ending," she muttered.
"Oh, right, then I guess I should make up one," Allen said. "Let's just use my usual excuse: Jeryy."
The Exorcists began looking through the Oracle to interpret Allen's fake dream. They'd just come up with a possible explanation for it when Trelawney and Umbridge came to a stop by their table. The latter was asking a question.
"Now," she said, "you've been in this post how long, exactly?"
Trelawney looked as if she wanted to banish Umbridge then and there, probably offended by the inspection. After a moment, she said in a low voice, "Nearly sixteen years."
"Quite a period," Umbridge noted. "So it was Dumbledore who appointed you?"
"That's right."
"And you are a great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated Seer Cassandra Trelawney?"
"Yes," Trelawney seemed to get a bit of her pride back.
Another note. "But I thin- correct me if I'm mistaken- that you are the first in the family since Cassandra to be possessed of second sight?" Umbridge asked.
"These things often skip- er- three generations," Trelawney replied.
"Of course," Umbridge cooed, her smile ever the more wider, if possible. "Well, if you could just predict something for me, then?"
"I don't understand you," Trelawney said, looking offended.
"I'd like you to make a prediction for me."
Allen and Lenalee looke up from their books, then looked down, feeling pity for the teacher. Allen, tired from the previous battle and lack of food -he hadn't been able to eat anything earlier- dropped his head on his book as Lenalee leaned her cheek on her hand, closing her eyes. There was an uptight silence before Trelawney's shaking voice snapped, "The Inner Eye does not See upon command!"
"I see," the scratching noise of quill on paper.
"I- but- but...wait! I...I think I do see something...something that concerns you...Why, I sense something...something dark...some grave peril...
"I am agraid..I am afraid you are in grave danger!"
"...Right," Umbridge said slowly. "Well, if that's really the best you can do..."
Allen peeked through his white bangs as the toady woman turned away from Trelawney and took notes. He was watching her for about a minute before she glanced down at him and sneered evilly. Leaning down, the woman whispered, "I'd like to see you and your friends in Professor Dumbledore's office tonight."
Allen gulped. One dreadful thought ran through his mind. Mission: failed.
Defense Against the Dark Arts passed in a dull gray blur of movement and Dolores Umbridge's annoying, frightening smile. Allen barely heard as Harry got into another shouting match with the teacher, but he was vaguely aware that he received another week of detention with her, and was seething as the bell rang. He and Lenalee were told to stay in the classroom by Umbridge, who took her precious time to clean up from lessons and lead them through the school gathering up every Exorcist from their classes, none of whom seemed confused as to why she was calling them, although Kanda sent her one of his best dath glares, which was promptly ignored as she led them to Dumbledore's office.
"Ah, Professor Umbrige," Dumbledore said pleasantly as they walked into the circular room, "to what may I owe this fantastic visit?"
"Good evening, headmaster."
"Allen, what is going on?" Komui asked from his place in a pile of books and files. "Lenalee?"
"Did something happen?" Dumbledore asked.
"These children have caused a wreck in the school grounds ealier today," Umbridge accused, but at the same time sounding as if she was reporting the weather. "They have skipped class to do so as well, and Professor Snape's classroom had been completely destroyed." Dumbledore nodded, and she took it as a sign to continue. "Headmaster, I would like, as High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, to have these students expelled from this school."
I knew this was coming, Allen thought in dismay.
Dumbledore was peering at Umbridge in curiosity. "Professor, I'm afraid that, in the past, there have been many cases of explosions on this campus."
"They were fighting some kind of monster," Umbridge argued. "It is an outrage! Honestly, Headmaster, along with Harry Potter, now these people-?"
Dumbledore remained calm despite Umbridge's sudden, desperate and angry tone. He sat straight in his chair, watching the seething teacher, then turned to Allen, who couldn't stand to meet those electric blue eyes, but couldn't stand to look away either. They were so calm- what was going on behind those spectacles, inside that wise mind? Was he planning to dismiss them? Or was he...?
"Professor Umbridge," the old man said, turning back to Umbridge. "As High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, it is up to you who will be expelled or not. If you feel you must dismiss them from our list of students, you may do so."
Umbridge nodded quickly and began to turn around, her trademark smile on her face. "Yes, Headmaster. Now, you children shall-"
"But," Dumbledore cut in calmly, raising a finger to stop Umbridge, "they are, as well as being students, my guests, and although you, as the High Inquisitor, may have the right to dismiss a student, I do not think that there was any decree passed that you be able to send my guests away from the castle. The reason being, of course, that guests are a personal issue, and the Ministry, depsite its powers, still does not have any right to meddle with it."
"But," Umbridge sputtered. She glared at the Exorcists, and said, "why would your guests be a group of young children- a group of delinquents, at that matter!"
"Oh ho," Kanda said in amusement, raising his eyebrows as he leaned against the wall of the office, "a group of delinquents, you say?" A painting of one of the past headmasters of Hogwarts shushed at him, but the samurai merely knocked on the frame until the man scurried into his next-painting neighbor, seething angrily. "Well, excuse you, oh great Madam High Inquisitor."
"Kanda, be quiet!" Allen and Lenalee hissed.
Dumbledore surveyed Umbridge quietly, waiting for her to say something. Komui had picked himself off the floor and was now standing beside his sister, who was looking at him apologetically. Komui, seeing the look on Lenalee's face, smiled at her reassuringly. "It's okay, Lenalee, everyone," he whispered.
"Very well," Umbridge said at last. "Your guests may stay, but they are no longer allowed to attend classes with the rest of our students, and-"
"-Because they will be spending most of their stays with me, they will have a limited time of contact with the rest of our students," Dumbledore finished, although that was obviously not what Umbridge was meaning to say, "and they will be staying in their dormitories in the houses they have been Sorted into. You do not have inconveniences with that, do you, Professor?"
"I- but," Umbridge said.
"Yes?"
Umbridge looked furious as she spun on her heels and marched out of the office. Allen and Lavi watched as she slammed the door behind her, exchanged glances, and sighed in relief at the same time. Lavi must have been ver nervous, or dramatic, as he leaned on Allen and Kanda's shoulders muttering about being blessed, saved, or whatever. Komui was shaking Dumbledore's hand and thanking him, while Lenalee stood behind her brother, smiling at Dumbledore. Miranda looked ready to faint, and Krory must've sensed it for he was standing behind her, glancing her way every other second.
"Everyone's going to be so surprised," Lavi muttered. "This is- what?- our third week here? We're already expelled."
Kanda tsked, and Allen didn't say anything. Komui and Lenalee turned away from Dumbledore and opened the door of the office, motioning to the boys, Krory, and Miranda to follow. They all bid good night to Dumbledore and returned to their respective dorrmitories.
Tuesday morning came violently with Angelina Johnson shouting at Harry at the top of her lungs. In the end, McGonagall took away five points from Gryffindor, and Harry took out his irritation on Hermione, ignoring her for the rest of breakfast. Allen, Lenalee, and Lavi were given pieces of parchment by a Ravenclaw second year, who looked at them curiously before walking away.
"It's from Komui," Lavi said, looking at the neat, squiggly handwriting on his parchment. "He says for me and Allen to look through the Restricted section in the library- what about you, Lenalee?"
"It says for me to help Professor Dumbledore with Miranda," said girl answered.
Students were slowly starting to file out of the Great Hall for their first class of the day. In the distance, Allen saw Kanda move swifly over to the staff table where he spoke to McGonagall, then disappeared through a back door. Krory and Komui were already gone, and Miranda was standing by the Hufflepuff table, looking lost. Lenalee bid the boys good bye and walked away.
"Shall we get going as well? Allen asked Lavi as he finished up his tenth pancake. Lavi snapped out of his stupor (no matter how long we worked with Allen, he would never get used to the boy's great appettite) and nodded.
"Where are you two going?" Hermione asked the boys, narrowing her eyes. "Did something happen with Umbridge after class yesterday?"
"Great guess, Hermione," Ron said, "of course something happened, the teacher took them to Dumbledore's office, or that's what Fred said, at least, that Lavi and that Kanda were caught like a mouse by the teacher after their last class."
Allen scratched his head uncertainly. "Well, you see, we kind of got...expelled?"
"What?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice, goggling at them with her eyes spread to the size of saucers.
"That Akuma from yesterday," Lavi sighed, downing a goblet of water in one large gulp, "Umbridge saw us, apparently, and said that we were- what was it again?"
"A 'group of delinquents,'" Allen quoted. "We 'caused a wreck'-"
"-'skipped class'-"
"-and 'destroyed Professor Snape's classroom'-"
"-so thus she wanted us expelled," Lavi concluded, "but Dumbledore kept us inside this castle as his guests, and now we're going to the library to help out our poor supervisor with his research on Innocence in this- your- world."
Allen stood up from the table, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Dropping the cloth onto his cleaned plate, he said, "We'd better get going now. We'll be seeing you around."
"See you!" Lavi called as the two of them left the Great Hall. "At least we'll have more freedom when it comes to destroying Akuma," he reasoned.
"True," the boy replied, "but we're not exactly welcomed to roaming the halls, Umbridge won't believe us even if we truthfully say that we're partolling..."
The two boys entered the library. Dumbledore must have told the librarian about their staying, for Madam Pince led them into the Restricted Section without a question when they entered, then closed the door behind them and returned to her desk where she promtly opened a book that so fat it would've made Hermione happy.
Lavi and Allen looked around the bookshelves during the next half hour, grabbing any book that gave a hint of a connection to the Innocence, the Earl, or the wars. There were a lot more than they'd expected, and Lavi sometimes exclaimed that some of the authors were past Bookmen, or that some mentioned the Black Order, although it almost always used a different name to refer to them. Allen was amused by Lavi' excitement, but he was surprised as well when he found a book with a list of past prophecies- and found the phrase "the destroyer of time" mentioned in it. None of the books, though, said if the war between the Earl and the Black Order ended.
"Well, figures," Lavi told Allen, "because the war's still going on, isn't it?"
About an hour after they started their research, they still couldn't find a single book that said anything about Innocence causing any strange occurences in the past century. Lavi and Allen had read through nearly thirty books each, all of which had at least three hundred pages, and were now randomly looking at books on magical creatures and famous wizards. Maybe one of them would have something to do with the Innocence.
"A History of Great Wizards...Magical Creatures and How To Nurture Them..." Allen muttered, reading title after title book after book. "Magical Stones and Crystals: How They May Effect the World- wait a minute!"
Allen grabbed the book and sat down on the floor, opening the heavy book to the index at the very back. Running his finger down the page, Allen scanned the 'I' section, his heart pounding. He bit his tongue to stop himself form whooping and cheering. His finger rested beside one word. It said, in tiny, thin script. The word, Innocence.
"Hey, Allen?" Lavi asked as he poked his head around a corner. "What you doing on the ground?"
"Lavi, I found it," Allen said, his voice shaking. "Innocence. I found something on Innocence, in this book."
"Really?" Lavi gasped. He nearly skipped over an dropped onto the floor beside Allen. "We have a whole section on the Innocence in this book! Let's take a look."
Allen nodded and turned to the first page listed after 'Innocence', and the two boys found themselves at the beginning of a chapter titled, The Innocence and Dark Matter.
Bingo.
"Let's check this book out," Lavi said, "and read this while we have time. I think we should go find ourselves a book about the Noahs, if we could fine one."