Hey I'm back! Thanks for the reviews! Glad ya'll are liking the story so far. I'll have to stop for Christmas, but I should have the next one up sometime in February. Anyway...
Enjoy!
Fate and Nanoha quickly settled into a routine: they would exercise and spar in the mornings in there room, sometimes watch by Tracey, who declined learning martial arts. Once the curfew was lifted at six the two mages would meet Harry, who had spent a lot of time running from Dudley and his gang and to get away from the Dursleys, to run throughout the castle. It was during their runs that Nanoha and Fate found several interesting things about the school: the staircases changed, and Nanoha discovered, thanks to her SA, among other things, many hidden passages that led to different rooms, a hidden room on the seventh floor near a painting of someone teaching trolls to dance, and a hidden entrance on the second floor to someplace underneath the castle. Nanoha and Fate decided to wait to explore the secret rooms because one, they could not open them, though both were working hard to unravel the enchantments on them, and because Nanoha had yet to recover to the point of being able to fight effectively, but she was well on her way to recovery, and Fate did not want to try and instead leave Nanoha defenseless. Oddly enough, when Nanoha tried to extend her senses below the castle, she had found herself blocked.
On a slightly more terrifying note, the mages, as thanks to Nanoha's SA, now knew what was behind the door on the third floor: a Cerberus guarding a trapdoor. The two mages instantly concluded that the dog was guarding whatever Hagrid had withdrawn from Gringotts, but had no idea what it was.
After their morning run, they and Harry would go back to their separate dorms for a shower, go with Tracey to meet their friends for Breakfast at whichever table was the most empty, and then head for classes. This was followed by lunch, afternoon classes, and dinner. After dinner Fate, Nanoha and Harry again went for a run, before working with Harry on self-defense. After the first week, Harry had come to Nanoha to learn judo, which the two mages quickly accepted.
Snape was fast becoming one of Nanoha's favorite teachers, and not just because he was her Head of House. Since Snape knew that Nanoha could enter minds- Fate had chosen not to reveal herself- the teacher and student conversed mentally often, almost every time they were the same room, and he soon learned to trust her.
Snape even listened to Nanoha about his Potions class, which saw the seating switched around. Nanoha now sat with Hermione Granger, the bushy- and somewhat bossy- girl from the train, to try to curb her enthusiasm; Nanoha didn't mind that Hermione was memorizing everything and told people what they were doing wrong, Nanoha was rather blunt herself, but the mage knew from experience that people could get the wrong idea; so Nanoha found herself trying to help the Griffindore tone it down a little. It seemed to be working too, as most of Slytherin were quite accepting of Hermione when she sat down since she offered to help where they were struggling. Fate, who was also good at potions was paired with Neville, and under her tutelage, the chubby boy was quickly developing into a decent potioneer now that Snape wasn't breathing down his neck. Since the class had an odd number of students, Tracey was paired with Harry and Ron.
Harry himself didn't really like Snape since the man was a little nitpicky with him, but Nanoha knew that that was how the ex-Death Eater was handling the fact that Harry was the son of James and Lily. The Potions Master was teaching the son of his love all he knew, but was being hard on him because his father had bullied him. Nanoha didn't exactly like the reasoning, but the method was the same when learning to fight, so she knew it worked. She also knew that the man wasn't being as hard on Harry as he would've been had Nanoha not interfered.
With Nanoha working with Hermione, and Fate with Neville found the two Griffindores becoming friends with the Slytherins; though while Harry and Ron weren't too happy with the bushy haired girl when she corrected them, they tolerated her because of Nanoha.
There was one teacher that bothered Nanoha and Fate and that was Professor Quierill- and that was even before he had gotten within Nanoha's SA. The turbaned man acted like a stuttering, cowardly fool, but his fake verbal tick didn't fool the TSAB Mages. When Nanoha looked at the back of his head, her scared eye would ache and a vision of a snake-like man would superimpose itself of Quierill's head. Nanoha knew that Harry's scar also burned when he was near the man, and Nanoha knew that that could not be a coincidence. And all that was without Nanoha sensing the dark magic that radiated from the faker, the same kind that leaked from the Dark Mark on Snape's arm. Nanoha and Fate debated on going to Dumbledore, but Snape assured Nanoha during one of their mental chats that Dumbledore knew about him and that the Headmaster and Snape himself was keeping an eye on the faker.
One thing that got the troop of first years excited was flying lessons. Even better, it was happening on September 30th, Nanoha's birthday. Nanoha didn't think that she could've had a better present than being able to fly once more. The Slytherins were out on the Quidditch pitch, each standing next to a broom that lay on the neatly clipped grass. Malfoy was loudly proclaiming that he had been flying for years. The Griffindores soon came up, followed by the hawk like woman Madam Hootch.
Madam Hootch took a stance at the end of the two lines of students. "Good afternoon class."
"Good afternoon Madam Hootch," the class chorused.
"Welcome to your first flying lesson."
"If only she knew," Fate sent to Nanoha.
Nanoha agreed it would be funny to see Madam Hootch's reaction to their flying spells as the teacher continued.
"Stick your hand out over your stick, and say 'up'."
With full confidence, Nanoha stuck her hand out and commanded, "Up!"
The broom shot into her hand, that only her quick reflexes and sense of balance kept her from falling on her backside. Harry, Fate, and Malfoy managed a similar feat, unless you counted the handle of Ron's broom knocking him in his nose.
Hermione and Neville had the hardest time of it, their brooms simply rolling on the ground, while Crabbe's and Goyle's refused to move. Once everyone had their brooms in hand, Hootch had them mount them, going around and correcting their positions. Harry and Ron took great satisfaction when Hootch told Malfoy that he had been flying wrong for years.
Once she was done, Hootch said, "Now, I want you to kickoff, hover three feet off the ground for a moment, then touch back one." She lifted the whistle around her neck. "On three. One...two...three"
Poor Neville was so nervous that when the whistle blew he shot it the air. His broom went every which-way refusing to respond to him at all, Nevile screaming all the while.
Nanoha didn't hesitate: she would not leave a friend helpless, secrecy be dammed.
With a rush of wind that sent hair, cloaks, and skirts billowing, the Ace of the Sky took to the air.
"What are you doing Takamachi!" Madam Hootch roared.
Amid shouts of encouragement from her classmates, Nanoha accelerated the old broom as fast it would go. Neville's broom, as if sensing her approach, began accelerating away, Nanoha following close behind. It led her on a merry chase through the castle ramparts, dodging between towers and ducking under arches, but Nanoha wasn't known as the Ace of the Sky for nothing, and matched the broom turn for turn before it crashed into the stone wall twenty feet above. The back of Neville's head smacked against the stone wall with a sickening crunch, and the unconscious boy fell limply, face down. The students screamed as Nanoha dived. With perfect aim, Nanoha wrapped her legs around her boom before flipping herself upside down. Catching the limp boy in her arms she mentally willed the broom to pull up as hard as it could while flipping rightside up again, barely in time to land lightly on her feet, supporting the unconscious Griffindore as Madam Hootch and the students rushed over.
"If you have a spell that will prevent him from moving, I would suggest that you use it Sensei," Nanoha said, "He could have a concussion or cracked skull from that beating."
Hootch nodded and quickly performed a series of spells to lay Neville out and make him float in the air. "I'm taking him to the infirmary," Hootch told the students, "If I see a single broom in the air when I come back you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say Quidditch." Hootch looked at Nanoha. "Takamachi, come with me. I want to talk to you."
Nanoha and Fate followed the Flying teacher to the infirmary. Once Neville was taken care of, Madam Hootch said, "Miss. Takamachi, where did you learn to fly like that? I've never seen a first year pull off something like that."
"Oops," Nanoha thought. "I did not learn," Nanoha said, remembering her first experience flying with Raging Heart, "It just happened. I was able to follow it because as a martial artist I am used to predicting movement."
Hootch nodded. "I see. Well I was wondering if you would like a spot on the Quidditch team."
"What?" Nanoha asked.
"I thought that first years were not allowed their own brooms," Fate added.
Hootch nodded. "True, but you have great natural talent, and I'm sure Dumbledore will allow it.
Nanoha nodded. "I will think about it."
"Eh? You were placed on the Quidditch team," Nanoha asked her friend Harry as she and her friends except for Neville who was working on a Herbology project, sat together at the Ravenclaw table at dinner.
Harry nodded.
"You should've seen him Nanoha-chan," Ron said excitedly, he and the other Britons used to the honorifics by now and even used them with each other, "After Malfoy threw Neville's Remembrall away, he caught it after a fifty foot dive!"
Nanoha's expression darkened considerably. "Malfoy did what?"
"He tried to goad Harry on with Neville's Remembrall. Threw it towards a tower."
Nanoha shook her head in disgust.
"Speaking of whom..." Fate sent.
"Eating you last meal here Potter," Malfoy said started haughtily, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. He stopped at the look in Nanoha's eyes.
"Malfoy-san," she stated, her tone hard as a rock, "if I hear that you have been harassing my friends again, I shall ask Quierill-sensei to make you my sparring partner for the next Defense class."
Everyone but Fate winced. After Nanoha had accidentally blasted her previous partner with an overpowered Knock-back Jinx, no one but Fate wanted to be paired with her. In Nanoha's defense since it had been her first time using Wizard Magic, she had had no idea how much force to use, and even with most of her Linker Core out of action she was stronger than most wizards.
Malfoy decided to try to get back in her good graces, if only for selfdefense since they shared a dorm. "Sorry."
Nanoha gave him a slight nod. "Accepted."
Malfoy left to sit at the Slytherin table, though Nanoha and Fate noticed that he sat close enough to hear them.
"How do you get him to apologize, Nanoha-chan," Ron asked.
"He is probably afraid of messing with the "Pink Terror of Slytherin," Harry teased, calling Nanoha by the nickname she had earned by her over-powered, pink glowing, Knock-back jinx.
Nanoha shook her head. "It was only one time. And it was not even a real fight."
"Why do you accept that name anyway," Hermione asked, "It's not exactly flattering."
"Well, actually at home I am known as the 'White Devil', so I am used to it," Nanoha said.
The others wisely decided not to say anything about that.
"Harry," Oliver Wood said, coming up to them, "I need you to meet me out by the Quidditch Pitch after dinner so that I can show you what do."
Harry nodded.
"Is it alright if Fate and I come too," Nanoha asked, "We do not know about Quidditch and would like to learn as well."
Oliver nodded. "As long as you promise to keep him being on the team quiet."
Nanoha nodded. "You have my word."
"Mine as well," Fate said with a nod.
"Alright then." Wood left, leaving Harry nervous.
"Don't worry Harry-kun," Ron said, trying to cheer him up. "Quidditch is great; best game there is."
"But I've never played," Harry admitted. "What if I make a fool of myself?"
Hermione opened her mouth, but Malfoy's voice interrupted her. He couldn't believe that he was doing this, but he needed to get back in the Takamachis good graces, and this seemed like a good opportunity. "You won't. It's in your blood. The Takamachis too...Well, at least Nanoha-san's."
"Excuse me," the Children-Who-Lived-plus Fate echoed.
Malfoy smirked. "Follow me." He started off.
The group of eight looked at Nanoha, having learned that she was a good judge of character. Nanoha nodded and followed after the blonde boy, her friends following.
"What do you think he's up to," Fate asked silently even as Malfoy said "My father went to school with your parents and told me about this."
"No idea," Nanoha replied as they headed up the stairs. "But it looks like we're headed for the trophy room."
Nanoha was soon proven right as Malfoy led the group into the Trophy Room on the second floor. "Look there," he said pointing to one of the display cases.
Everyone's eyes widened as three names stood out among the Trophies. James Potter, Gryffindore Seeker, Takamachi Shiro and Precia Testarrossa, Slytherin Beaters.
"Blimey," Ron whispered.
"I never knew," Harry whispered, Nanoha and Fate echoing him.
The group decided to head back downstairs, Malfoy tagging along. Though the others, mainly the Gryffindores, were unhappy, they tolerated him because of Nanoha.
As they headed down a flight leading to a landing, Ron said, "This is spooky. Malfoy knows more about you three than you do."
"Who doesn't in this world," Nanoha said, sensing Malfoy opening his mouth to retort.
Suddenly the staircase lurched and began to swivel up and around.
"What's happening," came Malfoy's screech.
"The staircases change remember," Hermione reminded him, though her usual bossy tone had diminished with Nanoha's help.
"Of course I remember mu..." Malfoy paused as Nanoha's head whipped around. Her eyes were hard, her right hand near the Pink Ivory wand in the holster on her left arm, so he wisely switched words, "Muggle-born."
The staircase stopped. "Let's go this way," Daphnae said.
The group got off the stairs and found themselves in a darkened hallway.
"Does anyone feel like we're no supposed to be here," Malfoy asked, Nanoha and Fate detecting a hint of fear.
"We're not," Tracey said, "It's the Third Floor."
"We should go back," Fate said.
"Too late," Nanoha said before they heard a low meow behind them. The group turned to see the glowing yellow eyes of Ms. Norris. Nanoha could sense Filch coming. "Run!"
The group began running though the hall, Nanoha keeping a track of Filch. Making a left, they saw a wooden door.
Ron tried the door in vain. "It's locked!"
"Move over!" Hermione pointed her wand at the lock. "Alohomora."
The door clicked open and the group scrambled in, closing the door behind them.
"Alohamora," Ron asked.
"Standard Book of Spells, Chapter Seven," Hermione, Nanoha, Fate, Daphnae and Tracey said at the same time.
There was several tense seconds before the handle of the door rattled. Then they heard Filch say, "Come on sweet."
Nanoha and Fate tensed, listening as his footsteps receded. A few seconds later Nanoha said, "He is gone."
"He probably thought the door was locked," Malfoy stated.
"It was locked," Hermione reminded him.
"And for good reason," Harry nearly squeaked.
The others turned...and saw a giant three headed dog beginning to wake. Nanoha instantly wished that she'd been paying better attention to her surroundings rather than focusing on Filch.
As soon as it saw the eight students, the dog began to growl.
"AHHHHH!" Screaming at the top of their lungs, the eight scrambled to get out the door. Seeing that there were so many of them, Nanoha poured her magic into her voice, pushing it into the ultrasonic to buy them time. It worked. Suddenly the Cerberus's angry, snarling barking turned into a pained whine and it tried to cover its ears with its paws.
The group ran from the third floor, and did not stop until they reached the Grand Staircase.
"What the bloody Hell do they think they're doing," Ron growled, "Keeping a monster like that locked up in a school."
"For once I agree with you Weasley," Malfoy said angrily, "Just wait 'til my father hears about this..."
"No!" Nanoha whirled to face them, "That is the wrong thing to do! Did you not see what it was standing on?"
"I wasn't looking at its feet, Takamachi," Malfoy snapped.
"It was standing one a trapdoor," Fate interjected, 'It was not there by accident."
Malfoy and the others looked thoughtful. Then a look of realization crossed the face of the Malfoy Heir. "It's guarding something."
Nanoha nodded.
"This is all interesting," Hermione said, "But if you don't mind, I'm going to the dorm; before any of you get another good idea to get us killed." She seemed to glared at them, "Or worse expelled."
"That muggle-born needs to sort out her priorities." Malfoy said. "Goodbye." The Malfoy heir left also.
"Well that was an adventure," Ron stated.
"Indeed," Nanoha agreed, checking her watch. "It is time to go meet Wood-san. Too bad we do no have time to go to the dorms now."
"I'll take your books back to the dorm for you mate," Ron told Harry.
"Thanks Ron-kun," Harry said, handing Ron his books.
"Do you want me to take your bags," Tracey asked her dorm mates, eying the duffles that the two mages used.
Nanoha and Fate shook their heads. "Arigato, but no," Fate said.
"We are fine," Naonha added.
"Try not to make any noise when you come back to the dorm," Tracey said.
"Hai."
Nanoha, Fate and Harry then headed to the Quidditch Pitch, where Oliver Wood, standing next to an ornately carve, though badly battered wooden chest about five feet long, was waiting for them.
"Glad to see you made it."
"I have been looking forward to this, Wood-san," Nanoha said. "I must admit that I do not know a lot about Quidditch."
Harry and Fate nodded in agreement.
"Well Quidditch is easy enough to understand. Each team has seven players: three chasers, two beaters, one keeper, and a seeker, which is you Harry." He opened the box and took out a scarlet ball with several large circular cutouts. "There are three kinds of balls. This one is called the quaffle." He handed it to Harry, who looked it over with Nanoha and Fate as Wood continued. "The Chasers handle the quaffle and try to put it through one of those three hoops," he pointed at three staggered goal posts at the far end of the pitch. "The Keeper, that's me defends the hoops."
The three nodded. "What are those," Nanoha asked, pointing at the two brown iron balls that struggled against their bindings. She and Fate swore that they were growling slightly.
Wood offered her a wooden bat that had been bound in iron. "You might want this."
Nanoha took the bat in her right hand as she had been since she began at the school to hide that she was left-handed. Her years of training meant that she was proficient with her right hand; it wasn't as good as her left, but enough to fool people.
Wood undid the clasp on the iron ball. It immediately rocketed upward.
"It's coming back now," Wood said.
Nanoha took a stance and once the ball was close enough she swung with all her might. There was a crack the ball was flung away.
Wood's eyes rose, and he barely had enough presence of mind to catch the ball as it came back. Struggling with the ball, he put it back into the box.
"What was that," Nanoha asked.
"Bludgers," Wood said latching the metal hatch shut. "Follow me."
"Now what," Fate sent as they followed Wood into the castle.
"No idea."
Soon they found themselves in front of the office of Severus Snape, Slytherin's Head of House, behind the Potions classroom.
Nanoha could detect the greasy-haired professor and Marcus Flint inside. Nanoha groaned a little, realizing through their lips that they were discussing Quidditch.
"What's the matter Nanoha-chan," Harry whispered as Wood knocked on the door.
"You will see."
"Enter," Snape called.
"Ollie," Marcus greeted his life long friend and Quidditch rival, "What brings you here?"
"Remember how you told me over the summer that you were looking for some Beaters, Marc?"
Flint looked at the two mages. "They don't look like much. Have you flipped your lid?"
"She just knocked a bludger away like it was nothing.
Nanoha chose that moment to speak. "Both Fate and I practice martial arts, so we are stronger than normal. We practice swordsmanship, so using a Beater Bat isn't much different."
"What about her flying," Flint sneered, pretending that the two mages weren't there, "She's just a first year."
"Hootch did say that they were both flying prodigies," Snape said, remembering Hootch's excitement after watching Fate fly. "I approve, and I know that Dumbledore will too.
"They don't have brooms," Flint said skeptically.
"If he doesn't, I can always remind them about what happened earlier"
"Fine," Flint relented. "They can join." He looked at the two mages. "Make sure you spend time with the right people."
The two mages bristled.
"Whoever Fate and I spend time with is none of you business," Nanoha whispered.
Flint glowered at her. He'd heard the rumors about the girl, but didn't believe them. He decided to play it safe and backed down. "Fine, do what you want. Practice is at 7:30am Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 6:30 on Saturdays."
The two mages nodded.
Flint stormed out.
"He did not seem very pleased about Nanoha's answer did he," Fate observed.
"Flint's ok," Wood said, "he just a bit prejudiced. See you later." He left, Harry leaving with him.
"I'll talk to Dumbledore about sending you your brooms tomorrow. For now, get some rest."
The two mages nodded and bowed. "Good night Professor."
The two mages headed for their dorm.
"Do you think Flint will make trouble," Fate asked in Japanese after Harry left.
Nanoha shrugged. "Not sure," she responded in her native language. "I hope not. I don't want to fight someone if I can help it."
The two mages left it at that. After returning to the dorms, being careful not to wake up Tracey, they changed, and after a quick check of Nanoha's Linker Core went to sleep.
Breakfast the next morning found the two mages with their friends from Gryffindore, Slytherin, and the one Ravenclaw sitting at the table.
"You two got placed on the Slytherin team," Ron asked after nearly choking on his eggs.
Nanoha nodded. "Fate and I are Beaters."
Just then, four owls came in. Three, an eagle owl, and two horned owls, each bore a long object that ended in a thick tapered end. The other, an ancient looking owl that they recognized as Ron's, bore a newspaper.
The thee younger owls dropped their packages in front of Fate, Nanoha and Harry, while the old one flopped in a dead faint in front of Ron.
"A little early for mail is it not," Nanoha asked, probing the packages with her magic as Ron opened his paper. "Ah, I suggest not to open them here. They are our new brooms."
"Alright," Harry agreed.
Ron spoke. "Hey, someone broke into Gringgotts."
Harry looked over his shoulder as Fate and Nanoha exchanged glances.
"Gringgotts was broken into on the 31st of August. Gringgotts goblins, having acknowledged the break, insist that, after an long investigation, nothing was taken. In fact the vault in question, number 713, had been emptied earlier that same day." He looked at Nanoha and Fate. "Isn't that the vault Hagrid took us to?"
Nanoha nodded. "Hai; it is."
"Someone is after that Logia," Fate sent, as their friends turned to other topics.
"Hai," Nanoha sent with a mental smile as she thought about her healing core while fingering her watch- it had healed to the point that she could use her Mid-Childan Divine Shooter with near impunity, and that wasn't even counting that she'd soon be able to use her other abilities. "And if they try anything while we're here...they are going to regret it."
The first Sunday in October was always an interesting day for Severus Snape, though he never showed it.
He sat in Dumbledore's office, his face a mask of indifference and contempt as he listened to the idle chatter of the other teachers as they waited for the first staff meeting of the year to begin. His black eyed gaze swept about the room, only the quick movements of his eyes giving it away.
His Dark Mark throbbed as Quierill came in, though the Potions Master managed to hide his discomfort.
After Quierill took his seat, Dumbledore started the meeting. As they went through the usual topics, the progress of the older students in their O.W.L and N.E.W.T. years, the equipment inventory, and other topics, the former Death Eater mostly tuned it out, speaking only when his subject came up, as he tried to keep his mind off of the knowledge of the spirit of his former master hitching a ride on Quierill.
His thoughts where interrupted when Dumbledore said, "How are your first years doing Pamona?"
The matronly Herbology teacher said, "My Badgers are doing quite well, as are my students. In fact, while I don't know if the others will agree with me, the first year Slytherins have been very well behaved."
"I quite agree with you Pamona," McGonagall said, suprising the others since her rivalry with Severus was quite legendary, "the Takamachis in particular." The elderly Scottswoman smiled slightly. "In fact I think it's because of those two that their year mates are so well behaved. Though I think Nanoha's throwing Malfoy like a sack of potatoes has more to do with it."
The others affirmed their agreement, remmembering the rumors circling the school, which were discounted by most of the higher years.
"It could a-a-also be b-b-because Nanoha ac-ac-accidently, b-b-b-blasted her sister ac-ac-accross the room with the Knockback J-j-jinx," Quierill stuttered, rousing Snape's aire at the obvious fake stutter. Seriously, it was a wonder it fooled anyone.
He did draw several gasps with that revelation though.
"That's impossible," McGonagall exlcaimed, "Noone can be that strong!"
"Quite the contrary," Flitwick said, the small half-goblin the only one not suprised, "Both Takamachis have shown conciderable power, far beyond first years at any rate. And I *have* personally known a handful to have just as much power, Nanoha's father among them." Flitwick's reputation as a former duelist lent credence to his words, and they all knew who else he was talking about.
"What are your thoughts, Severus," Dumbledore asked, "They are, afterall, in your House."
All eyes turned to Severus. He remained silent for a momment, thinking about what he could tell them. "Takamachi Nanoha, as well as her sister, is one of the sweetest, kindest, and gentlest people that I know of." He paused for a momment, and then said, "However, Nanoha is quite possibly the scariest people I've met."
Dumbledore looked at him. "How so,Severus?"
Snape shook his head. "I can not say, Headmaster. Only that whoever earns the girl's anger will get the fright of his life."
Elsewhere:
The hulking sixth year shoved the smaller first year to the ground, careful not to injure her to avoid evidence.
"I'm warning you mudblood," he snarled, "stay away from Takamachi or else!"
The burly sixth year left the girl on the floor.
I am well aware that Nanoha is left-handed in cannon. She is pretending not to be to gain a slight advantage in a fight. In terms of skill, she's like Westley from Princess Bride: Really good with her right, near unbeatable with her left.
See ya next time!