Chapter Eight: Halloween Hijinks


Title: Harry Potter and the Phantom Hourglass

Chapter: 8

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy

Parings: Sorry, only frivolous friendships for now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Zelda. Really. I don't.

Description: Crossover with Legend of Zelda. The Phantom Hourglass has been handed down since its beginning, until finally it makes its way into the hands of a boy named Gabriel. He fights alongside Harry Potter, and soon discovers a darkness that has been waiting to exact a deadly revenge.

Author's Notes:

Hijinks is actually a word, just so you know. :D

Oh, one thing you might notice; my obsession with Draco. Well, you know how in the sixth book, he actually shows his human side and doesn't want to kill Dumbledore? How he's actually afraid that the Dark Lord will kill him if he doesn't? Well, what if someone taught him to be better? I've seen other people turn Draco onto the other side and do it really well, and I want try to do that too. Just cause I can.

Don't know exactly how I'm gonna do that, but… Enjoy!


"You went where?" Gabriel spluttered, aghast.

He shook his head, muttering reproaches under his breath. "The Forbidden Corridor, Harry? It's forbidden for a reason." Harry chuckled. "Hey, we had to. It was the only way we were going to get away from Filch!" Aria tched. "Which wouldn't have happened had you stayed in bed like us sensible people. You're lucky you didn't get caught."

She took a sip of her cereal milk with a spoon, as if testing its sweetness.

Harry winced. "Well, I…" he looked around, and spotted Hermione sitting next to her, and Neville across from Hermione.

"Hey, Hermione, you know why, right?" Hermione glanced at him a moment, then went back to her breakfast. Harry sighed, and turned to Ron for some backup. Ron, the ever-loyal friend, did so. "Well, you'll never guess what we found in there." He piped.

Gabriel raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Hmm? Pray tell, mi amigo."

Ron leaned in closer. "We found… a three-headed dog." Gabriel blinked, not impressed. "And?" Ron sat back. "Well, it was huge! One of the heads was easily as big as a trunk, if not bigger. And the teeth! Blimey, they were giant. About as big as my arm!" He gestured the length from his wrist to his elbow.

Now Gabriel was slightly impressed, with a surprised expression of mild interest.

Ron leaned over the table and nodded to Neville. "Right, Neville?" Neville stuttered something about his Gran and ducked his head into a Herbology book. Ron sighed. Gabriel frowned. "And you got Hermione and Neville involved in this, too?"

"Actually," Aria pointed, "Hermione sort involved herself. Not technically their fault – stupid as the idea was."

Gabriel shrugged. "Whatever. Even if this thing is guarding what you think it's guarding, it's being guarded and out of sight for a reason, so do yourself a favor and listen to me for once, all right?" He licked a chicken wing clean for a few moments before stopping to smile. "But, since you weren't caught, we're free to plot against Malfoy as we please."

Ron and Harry looked at each other and grinned. Gabriel sighed again, but was smiling at the same time.

.oOo.

About a week later, Gabriel sat in the courtyard, reading a book he'd checked out on hourglasses the day before. It told him about the concept of time, the measurement of time, how magical hourglasses were made… but there wasn't a single mention of the Phantom Hourglass.

"Galleon for your thoughts, brother?"

Gabriel looked up to see Aria leaning against the stone archway to his left, smiling gently. He smiled. "Well, you'll have to give me several if you want my thoughts," he replied jokingly. His smile was gentle, but tired. Aria frowned. "What's with the sudden obsession over hourglasses? They can't be that interesting, can they?"

Gabriel leaned back and smiled again. He had to keep his sister off his tail, which was against his character seeing as he told her practically everything that bothered him.

"It was something mother mentioned to me," he lied smoothly, "and, speaking of mother, she wrote to me and told me they're going on vacation with James and Andrew so we'll have to stay here. That's all right with you?" Aria nodded, completely distracted. "Oh, yeah. It's nowhere we haven't been, right?" He nodded.

"Yeah. I don't mind staying. Someone's got to look after those two misfits, huh?" He laughed, and she joined in. Maji, his gyrfalcon, flew overhead, circling once, and then landed on his shoulder.

You should really tell her someday, he reminded his master gently. Gabriel nodded mentally. Someday. It's not like I know very much right now, and there's no one threatening my life – that I know of. So maybe I should just forget about it for now.

Maji paused, and ruffed his feathers. Perhaps. He nuzzled Gabriel's cheek and took off for the owlery.

Then Aria noticed something odd about the corridor across for Gabriel's right. "Is that… Harry?" she squinted to get a better look. "Good golly, it is! And he's got a broom!" Gabriel's head swiveled around. "A broom?" He scrambled to stuff the book in his bag. "Anyone with him?"

Aria nodded. "Yeah. There's Ron and… oh no. The snake squad."

Gabriel hissed, "Damn…" under his breath, and walked briskly towards the two groups. Ron spotted Gabriel and waved him over just as Malfoy finished saying, "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know, Malfoy," – who had, upon hearing Gabriel, jumped about a foot in the air – "that their brooms were a gift from my father. We're close neighbors, you know." It was at this point Professor Flitwick chose to appear by Malfoy's arm to inquire if they were fighting.

Both groups – and Gabriel – insisted they were not, and Harry and Ron went about their business. (Ron gave Gabriel a grateful wink and nod, and Gabriel nodded back in acknowledgement.)

"You'd better watch your back, Silverwings." Malfoy hissed. Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Why? Whatever for? I've no quarrel with you. If you want to fight, take it up with my father. I'm not going to go drag my family's name in the dirt just because someone else who doesn't know any better wants to pick a fight. I'm going to put it blunt for you Draco; learn some respect."

He turned around to walk off. "Because you sure don't give a damn about your own."

And he left them there, staring after him, doing a very good impression of a fish.

.oOo.

Gabriel sometimes came to watch Harry practice Quidditch, since there was nothing else he had to do. He'd dropped looking for any mention of the Phantom Hourglass, since it didn't seem to exist in any notable schoolbook he had, or could find. He had the fleeting thought there might be a mention of it in the Restricted Section, but no teacher was gullible enough to let him look, and he wasn't about to go sneaking off at night just for a mention of it.

Wood had noticed how good Gabriel was when they practiced in their lessons with Madame Hooch, and he pointed out that next year he could try out for back-up Seeker, if he wanted. The thought was indeed entertaining.

Things settled into a natural rhythm that settled well with Gabriel, for he scarcely felt as if two whole months had passed. Harry, despite his troubles, was about the same. However they spent just a little less time together as they had before when they attended the muggle schools together. But, of course, Ron was his friend too, if not a bit of a short fuse.

Ron was Harry's outlet for trouble, and Gabriel talked him through it, when he'd let him. They both served their purpose. When not with Harry, Gabriel liked to play his flute in one of the more deserted courtyards. Occasionally he'd get glimpses of Draco Malfoy, alone, walking the halls. Was the other boy stalking him?

It didn't matter to him the morning of Halloween. They were practicing with flying objects today in Flitwick's class, and to him, it was pretty easy. (He already knew how to do the spell both verbally as well as not.) His partner happened to be the unfortunate Neville, but knowing how the spell worked himself, he was patient with Neville and walked him through the steps.

"Forget about the swish and the flick for now, okay?" Neville nodded. Gabriel smiled and put a hand on Neville's shoulder. "Good. Now focus on pronouncing the spell correctly…" Ron, on the other side of the room, was paired up with Hermione. Neither looked particularly happy about their pair, and Harry knew why. He had gotten stuck with Seamus, who was currently trying to put out his burning feather. But – that wasn't why.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron barked, waving his arm impatiently.

Aria, being an odd one out, had to do it herself. She was sitting in front of them, and could hear the mistakes he was making as he said the spell. She turned around, hoping to gently correct him, when Hermione beat her to it.

"It's Levi-o-sa not Levio-sar!" Hermione snapped, through with his frustration. Aria practically slapped herself.

"Hermione, if you're going to correct someone, don't do it so harshly. Ron, try it again but… just… yeah. Do what she said. Oh, you're saying Wingardium wrong, too. Make the 'gar' a little longer and don't try to put a 'd' in front of the 'g'. Okay?"

Ron nodded and proceeded to try the spell again. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted again, swishing his wrist and flicking the wand properly this time, with conviction. The feather lifted, just a little, and Ron smiled. His concentration broke, of course, and the feather floated back to the ground, but he'd done it.

"Thanks Aria!" She shrugged, "No problem." Her gaze fixed a moment on a flabbergasted Hermione. She nodded to her, and turned back to her own feather. Suddenly, there was a commotion on the other side of the room. It was Neville. His feather was several feet in the air, and he was grinning completely from ear to ear. Gabriel was standing behind him, also grinning, but smugly and with pride more than anything. Across the room, their gazes met, and Gabriel winked. Aria chuckled as she leaned back and shook her head.

"Oh well done!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed. "Everyone, see here! Mister Longbottom's done it!"

.oOo.

"She's a nightmare is what she is," Ron snapped.

Gabriel shook his head. He'd been trying to convince Ron that he was just being rough with her, but the redhead wouldn't have any of it. He turned round just in time to see Hermione walking toward them, face streaked with tears. She barreled in between Harry and Ron, towards someplace other than where her offender stood. Gabriel lazily glanced in Ron's general direction, trying to scold him without actually waving a finger.

"I think she heard you," he muttered not to kindly.

Ron, though somewhat visibly perturbed, said offhandedly, "So? She must have noticed she's got no friends." Gabriel shook his head again, looking up at the skies as if they held the answer. Aria caught up with them then, and he whispered the recent tiff to her discreetly. Instantly, she looked about ready to kill Ron, but off she went in search of Hermione.

At dinner, Aria returned to them saying, "I found her in the girl's bathroom, crying her eyes out. Said she wants to be left alone. Well, that's what she said a while ago anyway." Aria shot a look at Ron and made her way into the Great Hall. This once more disturbed Ron, but all the thoughts of guilt vanished once they saw the inside. It was covered with thousands of live bats, low lying black clouds, and pumpkins containing candles. The feast appeared before them in an instant, similar to the start-of-term banquet.

Gabriel felt slightly off, as though something didn't feel quite right to him. This feeling proved to be very true, for not long after he'd finished his chicken potpie, Professor Quirrell burst through the large double doors, turban offset and looking to be in a general panic. He stood a moment to catch his breath before calling out, "Troll! There's a troll in the dungeon!" He wheezed in a few more harsh breaths and finished with, "Thought you ought to know." And then he promptly proceeded to collapse on the floor: completely out cold.

Instant chaos ensued.

Gabriel sat there, frowning over the spectacle when Headmaster Dumbledore gave the call for silence.

"Prefects," he shouted, "lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!" They gathered behind said prefects, and made their way back to their respective places. Halfway there, Gabriel finally remembered why he was so troubled.

"Hermione!" he hissed, almost jumping.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "What about her?"

Harry gasped. "Ron! She doesn't know about the troll! Ron hesitated, but one look at either one of their faces sealed his defeat. "Oh, all right. But we better not get caught!"

They scrambled down the hallways until they found the girl's bathroom. There was an awful stench coming from it, something akin to a combination of unwashed socks and a public stall that no one seems to clean. Gabriel could've sworn he saw Ron's pallor turn a sickly shade of green, but he couldn't be sure. He was too busy trying to keep his own chunks from spewing.

Once they actually saw the troll, however, this didn't matter at all.

It was easily several times their height, perhaps thirteen feet at the least, all lumpy and gray and covered in little but a huge loincloth. For that, at least, Gabriel was grateful. He was hardly in the mood to be confronted by the actual business end of the enormous and powerful creature.

They stood, their eyes transfixed on the troll who was simply standing there stupidly in the light, until a lock from one of the stalls beyond clicked.

Loudly.

The troll's, as well as the three boys' attentions turned to that one lock. The door opened casually, as an unaware Hermione rubbed her face of its remaining tears. She stopped, sensing something nearby, and her gaze stopped – not at them – but at the gray matter that was the troll's foot. Hermione, of course, did not know what it was, and proceeded to look up.

She screamed. Her jarring shriek irritated the creature, but Hermione panicked and went back into the stall, crawling under the gaps between stalls in hopes of making it to the safety of the sinks. She did, just barely, before the creature swung its rather large wooden club across the tops of the stalls, flinging debris everywhere. It spotted Hermione trying to hide under the sinks, and she saw it too, attempting to back away. It missed her by a single sink: a small water main spraying water over the bathroom floor.

She shrieked again. Upon noticing the three boys' presence, she cried out, "One of you, do something!"

While this command did finally move them into action, she was so loud the sound was rattling through the room and driving the troll insane. Gabriel had enough sense to bolt right then, for Hermione, of course, but by the time the troll had control of enough wits to attack, it started for Ron.

And he had no way of escaping the attack.

Harry noticed this and attempted the impossible. He launched up into the air at a great running leap, and latched onto his back, his arms around the neck. His wand, however, still happened to be in his hand, and thus it went straight up the troll's nose, forcing it into a great frenzy. Gabriel stopped short a few feet from where Hermione lay cowering, looking back over his right shoulder.

No!

He knew not what compelled him, but he whipped around and shouted a single command:

'SLOW!'

The command was strange and echoic to his ears; just as well – it appeared he was the only one who had heard it, and that he hadn't actually spoken the word with his lips. But the troll was indeed slowing down, though not fast enough. Gabriel regained enough sense of self to lock onto Ron and bark a curt, "Do something! Anything!" before turning back to the horridly frightened Hermione.

Ron whipped out his wand, his mind blank of what he wanted to do. A single incantation came into focus and he aimed his wand and shouted it cleanly without breaking.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The troll, who had been about to swing the club yet another time, found he could no longer do so, for the club was no longer in his grasp. It was floating in mid-air as easily as if it were a feather, and then Ron consciously let go off his concentration and the club promptly collided into the troll's skull with a sickening crunch. It fell to the floor, allowing Harry to release his death grip on the troll and attempt to remove his wand from the nose of the troll.

He did, though it was completely covered in troll boogers.

BLAM!

The bathroom door opened, teachers spilling in. Gabriel smacked his forehead, attempting to restrain a groan. "Ugh," he hissed, "adults… yet, somehow, I don't regret it, though." Hermione looked over to him. "Regret what?" He gave her one of those looks. "What else?" Was his singular reply.

"What on earth were you thinking?" McGonagall shrieked. Her gaze turned on Gabriel. "And you! Surely, your mother taught you better." Gabriel, unperturbed, piped, "I know I should have told someone that Hermione was missing, but I wasn't sure if they would have found her in time to…" Here he faltered, not sure if he should continue or stop there.

Professor McGonagall simply shook her head. "You're lucky you weren't killed!" Hermione, who stood next to him, finally found the courage to speak.

"Please, Professor McGonagall, they were looking for me… for my own safety. I went looking for the troll because I thought I could deal with it on my own – I've read all about them. If these three hadn't come and found me… I'd probably be dead by now. At least, that's what Gabriel was trying to say."

Gabriel resisted glancing at her incredulously, as that would have given the clever ruse away. His golden eyes spied an injured, limping Professor Snape in the corner, glaring. He knew.

Professor McGonagall didn't. But that made her no less unforgiving.

"Miss Granger! Whatever were you thinking taking on a fully-grown mountain troll whenever it could have taken your life at any moment? How foolish! Five points from Gryffindor!" They all held their heads low, save for Gabriel. He calculating eyes watched her carefully; she wasn't done yet.

"However, since not many first years can take on such a feat and still live to tell the tale, I think this situation merits five points for each of you boys…" she paused for effect, then finished with, "for sheer dumb luck!"

And she left.

"I think you f-four o-ought to b-be getting t-to bed." Professor Quirrell stuttered. Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the bathroom with haste, but Gabriel lingered a moment. He took a good, long look at Quirrell's face, and then reluctantly trotted after the others for the Gryffindor Common Room.


So tired… I'm going to bed now. Sheesh, this is the first time I've written a chapter for this in a long time, but it feels good to be getting it together. I do not enjoy going back and finishing Quest of the Four Sword… that story is so messed up in terms of the Zelda 'timeline' I may have to completely erase the Minish Cap from existence! XD

(Speaking of which, why does the Minish Cap have to be so damn expensive on Amazon? Sheesh!)