A Mugiwara Goes to Hogwarts

By: WhiteFang72

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Harry Potter or any of the related characters. Also, this story takes place right after Skypiea in the One Piece universe and during the fourth book in the Harry Potter one.

Hmm, I've come to the conclusion that I may never finish this story… I'll try my best though! So sorry everyone! Umm…. Things in the book didn't occur in precisely this order, but… Oh well. Artistic license.

…

After a few more stories', Usopp could see that Harry was feeling somewhat better. Either that, or he was becoming better at hiding his fear. At any rate, around the time dusk filtered in through the library's windows, Harry grudgingly got up to return to the Gryffindor dormitory. Usopp was left alone then, with only contemplation for friendship. He discovered it made for very dangerous company.

Obviously Harry didn't put his name in that goblet, he thought, No one could possibly be that morose, when they thought no one was watching, if they had planned the whole thing. It's really ridiculous to think that the boy would put himself in such danger on purpose. But… Most of the students here seem to have only two ways of seeing Harry Potter. They either look at him as if he's some wonder boy, incredible in everything he does, or they make him out to be a reckless attention-seeker, incredibly dangerous in the things he does. Is this what fame brings? He decided not to dwell on that. Regardless, he shouldn't have to fight his way through the tournament alone.

In the library Harry had told him the date of the first task, but had also mentioned that he'd have no idea what he'd be facing. Usopp frowned. Harry seems to know how to use some magic at least, but it's always better to go up against something with a little foreknowledge of what it is you're going to face. I wonder if the other schools' have any clue?

Usopp pushed his chair back and worriedly set the last of his study material on the shelves. He had to be drunk on saltwater or something. Why else would he think that spying on the competing schools' teachers was a good idea?

…

Usopp chose the Saturday before the first task to commence hard-core snooping. At first he'd tried hanging, unobtrusively, around the other judges to fish for clues, but he hadn't been at all successful. People had started to notice him lounging around in deserted hallways, near restricted bathrooms, underneath dinner tables… I'm pretty sure that Bagman man thinks I have a fetish for feet. Now was the time to put all his amazing deduction skills to better use.

So he decided, with steely bravery, to investigate the Durmstrang ship. If anyone knows what the next task will bring it'll be that Karkaroff man. He seems to be a shrewd one. After hours, Usopp carefully let himself out of his room, stilling his breath as if he felt breathing could alert the entire hallway to his activities. He slid the door closed, winced as it clicked, and shoved his hands into his robe pockets as he'd seen countless heroes nonchalantly do in times of crisis. It took him a second to realize that he looked ridiculous. It took him even longer to realize that, if someone caught him sneaking out, and it came to a fight, his hands wouldn't do him any good resting in his pockets. He quickly took out his slingshot. Then, he began slinking down the various halls of the school.

Usopp located the entranceway within fifteen minutes. With an almost Luffy-like grin he wrapped his long fingers around the door handle, turned it, then spat out a whispered curse. Footfalls were resounding softly off the corridors leading to the school's entrance. Usopp nearly panicked as he heard them. Oh, Pirate-King, I can't tell where they're coming from! This is not good, this is not good… I just need to pick a place to hide and find a plausible excuse. Usopp nearly gutted himself on a coat rack as he dashed behind a patterned curtain. There really wasn't a lot of time to wonder if the whole "Help Harry" mission was worth it, but Usopp found himself pondering it anyway. There is no way all this "jailbreak" stuff is healthy.

He stiffened as the footfalls entered the room and stopped. He couldn't see who it was that stood in the ensuing silence, but the person, after waiting a minute, muttered something with a confused air and then quietly turned around and left.

Usopp let relief wash through his frame. Then he quickly made his way out the massive doors.

…

He reached the ship swiftly and eyed its gaunt exterior with disdain. No lanterns glowed through the cavernous windows, no stifled whispering could be heard within. The only sound accompanying the ship was the gentle lapping of inky water against the hull. Usopp began to sneak near one of the windows in the hope of catching someone awake, someone gossiping about the tournament, when the sound of crunching grass met his ears. Crouching beside the lake's dark edge, he listened.

Stillness, and then more footsteps.

Usopp breathed through his nose, tried to eliminate any noise, and drew his slingshot tight. He wasn't the stealthiest pirate around so he stayed far back from where he presumed the person to be. Then he began to follow. The footsteps continued on, reaching the edge of the forest and passing through the thick, tangled brush. As the soft steps kept their steady march, Usopp began to wonder if he was following the wrong person. Just because I've stalked them since reaching the Durmstrang ship doesn't mean they're part of said school… He frowned in puzzlement and ran a hand through his thick hair. When his fingers became tangled in the strands Usopp automatically adjusted his goggles to help free his hand. Then he stopped. Goggles! Rolling his eyes at his own expense, Usopp set the ocular device over his eyes and gazed in the direction of the footsteps. Through the gloom, he could see a tall, lanky man with short, white hair passing swiftly through the trees. So it is Karkaroff.

The knowledge kept him moving. But Usopp paused every now and then, placing his hand against the rough bark of a tree, and tried to measure how far he'd moved from the castle. It must have been a half an hour of scuffing through dirt and dead leaves before he heard the shouts. Disembodied yells and commands floated along the outskirts of the forest, eventually becoming coherent enough to recognize as words. Phrases met his ears with all the semblance of a stage play.

"Keep that lizard down, She's dangerous!"

"Watch the eggs!"

"That's not going to work!"

Usopp's confusion was immediately rectified when he peeked into the clearing from behind a large behemoth of a tree. He wasn't sure whether to stand in awe or shrivel up and die. It would certainly save the monsters the trouble…

In the very middle of the clearing, roaring and stamping and hissing, stood four dragons. Each leviathan was battling a group of handlers and each seemed very, very pissed. Usopp staggered back in panic as a burgundy dragon with gleaming, golden spikes shot its sinewy neck towards the handler nearest to him. The man himself had to jump to the side to avoid the fangs snapping in his direction. Another dragon, this one blue with hints of silver, beat its enormous wings against its sides and tried to shake off the metal collar and chain attached to its neck. A third lizard, the color of shamrocks, spit and snarled at everyone in the vicinity, narrowly missing two people with what looked to be some sort of noxious toxin. To one side of the clearing, an onyx-scaled dragon, its body hunched low to the ground, was screeching and warbling in anger. A tail replete with jagged spikes thrashed against the dirt beneath it, gouging trenches in the ground. Then, a thud shook the tree Usopp was leaning against, and he noticed that the dragon on the far side of the clearing, the green one, had fallen to the earth. People with wands in their outstretched hands closed in on the creature. Usopp heard the shout of "Stupefy," from several other groups and watched in fear as golden light smashed into the rest of the dragons' hides, knocking the remaining leviathans from their feet. Relative silence followed the outcry. Then, as the handlers were beating iron pegs into the dirt with their wands, and attaching the dragons' chains to the pegs, Usopp recognized Hagrid's gruff, booming voice coming from near the black dragon.

"What breeds ya got here Charlie?"

Usopp blinked, wondered what the giant man was doing in the area, and crept nearer. When he got closer to the dark lizard he saw that one slitted yellow eye was still partially open, completely alert. A single, cat-like pupil focused on him as he walked. Usopp's knees began to tremble, but he ignored it, very bravely, and continued on. Near the edge of the forest he tried to listen in on the large man's conversation. Hagrid was speaking to a handler, one with hair as red as Ron's. A little behind the two stood the Beauxbatons' Headmistress.

The man, Charlie evidently, spoke, "The black one's a Hungarian Horntail." He paused, "Nasty one really. Worst of the bunch. The green one's a Common Welsh Green, the red one's a Chinese Fireball, pretty rare, and the blue one's a Swedish Short-Snout."

The red-haired man watched Madame Maxime walk toward the clearing with obvious distaste. "The champions aren't to know what the first task is about, Hagrid. She'll be sure to tell her student."

Hagrid, obliviously gazing at the dragons in a sort of reverent awe, replied, "I jus' thought she'd like to see 'em. They're amazing."

Charlie rolled his eyes, but seemed to think better of speaking.

Hagrid continued on, this time in a more alert way. "Four dragons. One fer each eh?" A slightly concerned look crossed his face, "Will they have to fight 'em?"

The handler shook his head, "I don't think so. They just have to find a way to get past them. Of course we'll be there if it starts to get nasty, but still… I wonder why they wanted nesting mothers?" He suddenly shot Hagrid a shrewd glance, "And no you cannot have one."

Usopp gazed back at the massive dragons and swallowed the sudden rise of bile in his throat. Poor Harry. This isn't going to be easy. As the conversation took a less informative turn, he decided that it'd be prudent to leave before someone noticed him. Concealing himself within the trees, Usopp trudged back toward the castle, thoughts weighing heavily on his mind.

…

Creeping along deserted corridors was beginning to make Usopp nervous. He knew the layout of the castle fairly well, at least the areas around the Gryffindor dormitory, the classes he'd attended, and his own room, but, at the current moment, he was somewhat lost. He knew he was somewhere around one of the classes he had previously been to, but he couldn't remember how to get to the Gryffindor rooms, or his own, from there. He sighed, most of the pictures surrounding him were asleep, so as long as he was quiet he shouldn't be caught. But I can't stay out here all night…

A quiet thud interrupted his thoughts. Usopp hastily took out his slingshot, fumbled with the little ammunition he had left, and readied it for battle. A slight creaking noise followed, startling him until he realized that the noises had come from one of the classrooms up ahead. Usopp thought about running, but no more noises occurred after the two he'd already heard. He took a deep, almost rib-cracking breath, realized that it wasn't any of his business who else was also sneaking around at night, and let his curiosity rule his decision. After all, it's probably just a student trying to set up a prank in one of their classrooms. If it is, I'll just leave. If not, well, I might be able to follow Nami's example and keep whatever I find as blackmail material.

Usopp soon witnessed that it wasn't a classroom the noises had come from. It was an office. Mad-Eye Moody's office if the name on the door was anything to go by. He cautiously approached. The old door had one of those windows set in it, the kind a lot of offices seemed to have, but the window itself had been covered from within by some sort of dark covering. As he crept closer, shoes lightly settling upon each floorboard, Usopp noticed something odd. The door, though from a glance it looked to be closed, was actually slightly ajar, as if someone wanted the option of leaving in a hurry, with as little noise as possible.

Trepidation in every breath, he reached the door. To put his eye against the crack, through which he could see a smidgeon of the classroom, he knelt down near the floor. Hopefully whoever was occupying the room at the moment would only think to watch out for intruders at eye level. It took his eyes a second to adjust to the thicker darkness of the room beyond, but when they did, he almost gave the game away by gasping in alarm. Just off to the side of the middle of the room, kneeling before a massive, rusted trunk was Mad-Eye Moody himself. The man's unnatural eye was swiveling in its socket, glancing between the trunk and a large, ornate mirror leaning against the wall. The thing the man was holding was what attracted Usopp's attention the most. It seemed to be a clump of hair, with what looked like skin particles still attached. Usopp's eyes widened as something started to reach out of the trunk, in a brief flash of panic he thought it was a claw, but then Moody closed the lid on the thing, latched the lock on the wooden trunk and settled back on his heels.

Usopp's brows drew together in confusion. What could the mad teacher be keeping in an old trunk? Then he realized he'd lingered too long. Mad-Eye Moody's eye had ceased gazing at the mirror against the wall and had spun to look at the door.

Right at Usopp.

A sudden widening of the man's other eye was all the warning he got before Moody whipped out a wand and lurched toward the door.

"What are you doing here? Answer me." Moody's voice was a low, guttural growl that evoked no argument.

Usopp cursed, turned on his heel, and started running. A bolt of violet light sped past him, missing him by a centimeter.

…

Authors Note: Another chapter finished! Soon everyone's going to get to hear from the rest of the Strawhats. :) Oh, and happy holidays everyone! I love this season. I actually got to play chess with my family. That definitely doesn't happen often. Please feel free to leave a review or critique if you want!