Wands and Kryptonite

"Do those moving pictures creep you out as much as they do me?" asked Clark as he and Kara were on their way through the halls toward Dumbledore's office. Due to the time, they hadn't run into many students.

Kara scoffed, "You're practically made of steel and you're afraid of oil painted canvases?"

"Shu-"

"What are you two doing out of your dormitories," they heard a deep voice directly ahead of them, "and out of uniform?"

Looking up, they saw a man with long, greasy black hair, billowing robes and a hooked nose. They then looked down at their normal clothes that they brought with them: Clark's Jeans, Blue T-shirt and red Jacket; Kara's blue jean short-shorts and white shirt and blue vest.

"I'm sorry, sir. We're new here, and we have an appointment with Professor Dumbledore at 6:30. And we weren't told that we had to be in uniform at all times," said Clark, as the man walked over to them, "I'm Clark Kent, by the way, and this is my cousin Kara, Professor…," he held out his hand in a friendly gesture and waited on the professor to introduce himself.

The professor, however just looked at the hand with a blank look on his face, then looked at Clark with a sneer on his face, "You may call me Professor Snape, Kent. Now move along before I deduct points from your house for dawdling."

Clark stared at the man confused for a second before withdrawing his hand.

"Excuse me," Kara said, stepping up to the man, "you don't have to be so rude,"

Snape glared at her, "I am assuming since you come from the direction of the Gryffindor tower that you are both in that house?"

"Yes we are," said Kara defiantly.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor,"

"You act as if I care how many points you take away," she said her voice rising as Clark tried to discreetly pull her away.

"Kara!"

"We don't have to deal with this, Clark"

"In that case, you now have detention," they were now nose to nose, "Tonight; Any more argument, and it will be tomorrow night as well."

"You just pile it on, you overgrown bat!"

"Why you…" Snape was about to retort.

"Severus!" Turning around, they saw Professor Dumbledore walking towards them.

"Headmaster, I was just seeing to these two new students. They are the most insolent…"

"Severus, I do not believe that they would respond with insolence unless provoked in some way," he said in his stern but kind way, "Therefore, I don't think any detentions or point deductions are necessary."

Snape deflated under the gaze of the old wizard, clearly defeated, "Yes, Headmaster,"

"Now I believe we are late for a meeting," he said to Clark and Kara. Snape sent one last glare at the two Kryptonians, and then left, his cloak billowing behind him.

"Shall we?" said Dumbledore, pleasantly.

The three finished the journey to the secret staircase leading to Dumbledore's office. Upon entering, there was a young woman already inside sitting near the desk. She had long black hair and wore a magician's outfit.

"Zatanna?" Clark was surprised to see his friend.

"Clark, it's great to see you again," she said, hugging them both.

"Splendid, you already know each other," said Dumbledore cheerfully.

"Yeah, we met back in Metropolis a few months ago," said Clark, "This is my cousin, Kara."

"Nice to meet you," said Zatanna, shaking Kara's hand.

"What are you doing here?" asked Clark.

"Well it's a long story. But I've been researching my ancestors since I've started developing my powers. One of my ancestors lived here in England over a thousand years ago. He knew the founders of this school," She waved an arm around to gesture their surroundings, "The founders offered him a part in creating the school and teaching new generations of witches and wizards. He declined so that he could travel the world and research different branches of magic. So when the school was built and an organized government was created, he kind of lost touch with the rest of our kind. That is until now."

"How did you find this school though?" asked Kara.

"Oh, it was not easy," said Zatanna, "you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a large castle in Scotland."

"We're in Scotland?" asked Clark. Zatanna sent him a sarcastic glare.

"So what are you doing here now?" asked Kara.

"Dumbledore wrote me last night. You know how difficult it will be to pretend to be students when you can't do magic, right?"

"We actually haven't thought about it since last night, but now that you mention it, it is kind of an obstacle," said Clark, "Do you have a way of helping us though?"

"Of course," replied Zatanna, grinning broadly, and pulling out three wands. One was made of a dark, polished wood and had silver on both ends to make it look like a magician's wand. The other two were just ordinary looking wizard wands, which she handed to Clark and Kara.

"How are we supposed to use these?" asked Kara.

"Don't worry, they're not real wands," she replied, twirling her own wand in her hands, "You see, since I saw you last, I've been doing magical experiments on meteor rocks."

"Why would you do that?" asked Clark.

"Mainly to see what uses they have to magic users," said Zatanna, "What I ended up with was a magical meteor rock hybrid with a purple hue. And I've found that the radiation that comes from it has the ability to manipulate magical energy."

"Really?" asked Kara, "So you give use those meteor rocks and we can do magic?"

"Pretty much as long as your mind is focused on what you want to happen," said Zatanna, "Inside the handles of your wands, I put several small pieces of purple meteor rock."

Kara immediately pointed hers at Clark, whose blue shirt and red jacket turned purple and pink.

"Wow, it works," said Kara. Clark almost raised his to retaliate, but was stopped by Zatanna.

"Cut it out, guys," she said, "There's one more thing that I've got to tell you. Every time you use these wands, it uses some of the radiation in the meteor rocks."

"What does that mean, exactly?" asked Clark.

"It means that once all of the radiation is used up, the rocks turn clear and you can't use them anymore. And I've only got a limited number of them at the moment. So don't waste it."

The two Kryptonians humbly stowed their new wands. Dumbledore chose this moment to speak up.

"Furthermore, Ms. Zatara will be staying here as well. She will be posing as a student along with the two of you just in case any difficulties should arise. When a non-magical goes undercover in a magical setting, it is always best to have a magic user accompany them."

"That's fine, but do you know why we're here even?" asked Clark.

"Yes, I do. Professor Dumbledore told me about it already. And allow me to offer my congratulations at having found your brother."

"Speaking of which, he should be here any minute. I'd like for the three of you to be present for my meeting with him. But it might be best if you were all in uniform."

Zatanna raised her wand, with purple sparks flying out of the end, and waved it over herself and the in the direction of the Kryptonians. In a second, they were all in Hogwarts school uniforms.

"I hate these things," said Kara, looking at the baggy clothes. Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," said Dumbledore as he went to sit back behind his desk. The door opened slowly and Harry came in, "Harry, my boy, you're early."

"Good morning, professor. Am I interrupting? I could come back…"

"No, we were just finishing. I believe you have met two of our new students already: Mr. and Ms. Kent, and Ms. Zatara has just arrived this morning," Harry waved at each of them in turn.

The three young adults and the teen stood awkwardly for a minute while Dumbledore hummed happily to himself staring at the ceiling.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude, but I have a private meeting with Professor Dumbledore."

Clark and Kara were about to speak up, but Dumbledore spoke for them, "Actually, Harry, they are still here because our meeting involves them. Please, all of you sit down."

Dumbledore conjured up a few more chairs, and the other four sat down opposite him.

"Harry, I'm sure that due to the current climate you will not begrudge me a few extra precautions for your safety."

Harry was becoming suspicious now.

"You see, Mr. Kent, Ms. Kent and Ms. Zatara are not really students. They are here to pose as students to keep an eye on you this year, to keep you safe."

"So you brought them all here to babysit me and make sure I behave like a good little boy this year?" asked Harry sarcastically, standing up out of his chair.

"As I said, Harry, it is for your safety."

"So what, they follow me around all year and report to you every single thing that I do?"

"Not at all, Harry. They will just be there just in case of, say, a death eater attack or attempted kidnapping. Something like that. They won't report to me at all even. They will just be there for you. You don't even have to think of them as bodyguards. Think of them as new friends."

"I don't need any bodyguards!" said Harry, leaning on the edge of Dumbledore's desk, staring straight at the headmaster.

"I'm sorry Harry. But it has to be done."

"But what will everyone say? Don't you remember last year? They thought I was an attention seeker. Now I'll have bodyguards."

"You needn't tell them anything. If you must, you can say that you were chosen to show the new students around the school, and you merely became good friends with them."

"But…"

"It is not negotiable, Harry," said Dumbledore, his expression stern, "Now I don't want to make any of you late for breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day, and it is the first day of classes."

Harry let out a frustrated growl. He then turned around and sent a glare at his new 'babysitters', which unknown to him caused his brother's throat to tighten slightly because of the anger directed at him. Harry then stormed out, and the other three hurried to keep up with him.