The Battle of the Sands arena was unique, based off a clash between the Northern Sand Witches and Southern Desert Raiders of Unova that wiped both wicked tribes from existence.
Like the village this had taken place in, the course was full of tightly-packed clay houses that shared walls and doorways and arches, making it possible to enter one door and come out one four buildings down or walk from rooftop to rooftop.
Unlike most Gauntlets, this one began with the opposing teams on opposite sides and working their way across to the other team's, rather than towards a common goal, thus turning this game into an entirely different beast.
One that would, thankfully, be perfect for their plan.
Waving back as Remus, Ron and Ginny cheered loudly from the stands, Nasrin smiled when she spotted Hermione and Luna in matching Arcanine hats, like the one the half-Veela had worn for the Honor Battle.
Those two were good for each other.
Across the arena, Draco sneered, and Harry noted that the less-than-stellar Runner and his teammates were all wearing brand new jackets.
The pair shared a glance as Ariel and Eevee tensed, ready.
Lucius Malfoy would regret bribing his son onto the team after this match…
The starting buzzer blared, and they were off.
Harry went right, grabbing a flag while Eevee hopped up to activate a pit trap, and Nasrin went left, Ariel turning the sandy ground into a quicksand pit as a button caused tripwires to fill the pathway like a spider's web.
The Third Years crossed each other in random zigzag patterns, setting up traps and stealing flags all across their side of the field like land mines.
Harry stayed low while Nasrin went high, Ariel soaring with Aqua Jet and Eevee darting about with Quick attack, setting up like Oliver had ordered while their teammates met the Slytherins head-on.
Swinging up onto an archway, Nasrin gave a signal for Ariel to drench the main thoroughfare with a Hydro Pump before turning to watch Draco get the runaround, a round of Thunderbolts from Plusle and Minun causing him and his Roggenrola to backtrack.
There was no way he would make it through, even if he got past everyone, so now it was all about running out the clock and getting points.
A three-note whistle, and Nasrin hopped easily across four rooftops to retrieve a flag that Katie was blocked from by a collapsed wall.
A yip from Ariel, and she was pulling Angelina out of a sand pit that had already taken down a Slytherin.
With Harry fortifying home base, she was left to help their teammates out of tight spots and gather out-of-reach flags, enjoying the view as Draco was herded around like a frazzled Mareep, unable to even catch his breath.
The Prince of Slytherin was getting caught up in every trap Gryffindor had set up, and since his team expected Harry to act like a Runner-
Ariel giggled as the blonde activated a mine activated by his own teammates and was sent hurtling head-first into a nearby dune, legs flailing.
Hidden in a doorway, Harry gave a short whistle, and Nasrin dropped down next to him with Ariel as a thick fog descended over the arena.
With Eevee in the lead, they headed for a nearby emergency exit, a secret hidden away in case a player needed medical assistance and the anti-teleportation barrier would take too long to shut off.
The door opened with a groan, and Sirius helped the pair through, voice soft as his Klefki worked.
"You okay?"
Both nodded, and the Fairy jingled happily as the exit was closed and locked up tightly.
"Nice job, Klefki." The Lord praised before recalling the Pokemon. "Hagrid once let me carry some of his keys. I may have made a few copies."
"You're a horrible person." Harry deadpanned as Padfoot howled, adding to the mild fear the surrounding Dusknoir were emitting.
"And you're any better?"
"Yes." The Third Years echoed promptly.
"Now, are we going to rob Hogwarts or not?" Nasrin finished, Ariel curling around her neck like a scarf to keep watch.
With a nod, Sirius motioned for them to lead the way, and Eevee took a moment to catch the scent trail before racing up the gentle slope towards said castle, Padfoot letting out a ghostly howl as he joined in.
Even as the fog thinned, Nasrin kept an ear out for unexpected passersby, not wanting to run into Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall before even reaching their destination, and finally crossed that final barrier.
"Nice work, Nymphie!" Sirius praised as they approached the Auror and her fog-belching Castform.
"Would you keep your voice down? Not everyone went to the game, and there might be a few people who decided to wander back up to the castle."
"Come on, let's live dangerously!"
"We're breaking into McGonagall's office to steal private personal documents." Tonks reminded him. "I think we're living quite dangerously enough!"
Sirius rolled his eyes, but donned his mask nonetheless, while Tonks pulled out a make-up case.
Harry and Nasrin shared a look before Ludwig appeared to use his Ability.
"That's just cheating."
The man pouted, though Tonks flashed them a thumbs-up.
"You're just made that you could never convince my mom to let you use her Litwick for pranking."
"I swear, Lily was born without a funny bone!"
"You know, it's called Invisibility, not Mute." Nasrin warned, the four waving to Castform as they headed further up the slope.
"Alright, not that I don't trust your little…candle, but I think I'll be overly cautious." Tonks decided, quietly sending out Rotom so the Ghost could cover the security system.
"Aw, but I wanted us to be all sneaky-like, tiptoeing down corners and having to repel down elevator shafts!"
Sirius pouted at the dry looks he received.
"Party poopers, no cake for you. Padfoot."
The Houndour sniffed and growled, nose pointing to their right.
"Filch."
"Then left it is." Harry decided, leading the way to Professor McGonagall's office with Nasrin.
"So…Is it Ludwig?"
"Huh?" Both Third Years replied, confused, and Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Ludwig. Is it him?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Sh!" Tonks hissed, though she was ignored.
"Which one of your Pokemon is going to be your Pokemagnus partner? Eevee? Ludwig? Ariel?"
"First off, you can only be a Pokemagnus with a Pokemon that has a single evolution, so that rules both Eevee and Ludwig out." Tonks lectured, glaring. "Something you should know!"
Sirius shrugged, as if he was just a big child and hardly knew better.
"Truth be told, Remus was in charge of the prep work. James and I spent most of our time trying to figure out how to attach a camera to Wormtail's back so he could-"
"I don't even want to know." Tonks huffed.
"I second that." Nasrin agreed, Ariel smacking a flipper over her eyes.
"It's not what you think! We wanted to see up girl's skirts."
Harry snorted as the Auror gave her cousin a foul look.
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
"It was? Nice to know you have a filthy, perverted mind, Nymphie."
"What was number two?" Harry wondered as they reached Professor McGonagall's door and Sirius called out Klefki.
"You said 'two things'…"
"Second, you all need to keep quiet before we get caught."
"You're the one being loud, Nymphie." Sirius replied, the barrier swinging open on well-oiled hinges. "Alright, let's find that file and get out of here."
"Where are we looking?" Nasrin wondered, glancing around as Ariel kept a weathered eye on their exit.
"Minnie is old school. No electronic documents for her." Sirius explained, one hand brushing over a filing cabinet. "Nope. Nothing but hardcopy."
"She'll have them all together, sorted by date." Tonks continued, opening a different cabinet to thumb through. "Of course, she also keeps almost every memo and document she gets, so we might be here a while."
"We just have to think it through." Harry reasoned, following Nasrin's gaze.
"She gets a new file every year and she keeps them together."
"That means we're looking for a whole drawer by itself."
"One that isn't close to her desk, because she would want to use those for documents she needs to get out and check regularly."
"But it wouldn't be hard to get to because she needs to add a new file each year."
"Look at the little Sherlocks!" Sirius praised. "He gets that from me."
"Sure he does." Tonks drawled, eyes rolling.
"These ones." The Third Years decided, selecting a cabinet near the back of Professor McGonagall's office.
"Just enough dust-"
"Okay, okay, we get it, pups!" Sirius laughed. "Now open it up!"
The Lord of Sevii pumped his fist when the opened drawer revealed neatly lined-up folders marked Pokemagnus Results, shaking each of them by the shoulder.
"You did it, pups! You did it!"
"Indeed they did."
Everyone went very still at Professor McGonagall's voice, Ariel whining low in apology for being distracted.
"Now then, Mister Potter, Miss Universe, imagine my surprise to find not only you, but Miss Tonks, who really should be at her job rather than acting like a common criminal, skulking around my office with a strange man-"
"Not so strange, Minnie." Sirius replied, turning slowly as he removed the skull mask. "Surprise?"
A beat of silence, and Professor McGonagall calmly shut and locked the office door before retrieving a bottle of Cianwood Whiskey from her desk and, after a brief consideration, poured three drinks.
"Explain. Now."