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.

Whohoo! Summer's here! Time to kick back, relax, write, and read more Dresden Files. Seriously, has anyone else read that series? It's awesomely hilarious, sort of like a humorous Harry Potter for adults. I've ordered all of the short stories from the library, but they haven't all come in yet… Anyhow, hope you all enjoy the latest chapter!

…

Usopp had made it back to his room safely after the mad teacher incident, but he couldn't help feeling paranoid. What kind of teacher leaves a monster in their trunk? For that matter, what kind of teacher leaves a monster that they don't want anyone to knowabout in their trunk? He'd heard that the dark arts teacher was new, new and apparently hiding something. That was never a good combination. Definitely suspicious. I'd better tell someone.

In the meantime, Usopp was off to tell Harry about the dragons he'd found out about. He wasn't envying that encounter. Poor Harry. What do you tell someone who's about to face giant lizards with razor sharp teeth and fire breath? He passed a few intimidating suits of armor and a portrait of a haggard old monk wandering a lonely abbey before coming to the stairs leading to Gryffindor tower. He took a deep breath as he paused by the portrait of the Gryffindor woman. Then he glanced outside. The light peeking in through the nearest window was bright. It lit up the patch of carpet near the tower as if the floor were a star itself. The light of a nice early afternoon. Hopefully, Harry would take the news better in the happy setting.

He gave the portrait the password and then stepped into the common room. He wasn't surprised to see Harry and Hermione studying on the comfortable couches. When Hermione was the only friend around, you tended to hang out with her around books. Usopp stopped in front of one of the couches and watched as a large, orange cat disdainfully moved around his feet as if unhappy with the interruption to the quiet room. "Harry? May I talk to you?"

The boy looked up, lines bunching up together on his forehead, his face already in a dim frown. "Yeah. What is it?"

Usopp scratched one foot with the other and almost lost his balance. "Um, I kind of went snooping around last night. While I was out, I found out what the challenge is going to be."

The grin on Harry's face was the kind of halfhearted one people gave when they didn't truly feel like smiling, but he tried. Usopp suddenly noticed that Hermione's attention was rooted on him. He began to feel as if he was giving a speech. "Well, I found out that you'll be facing dragons." He paused at the odd look he saw cross Hermione's face. She pushed her hair out of her eyes with a thoughtful frown. Usopp started to babble. "Of course, you'll only be facing one and they look a little dangerous, but I'm sure you'll be fine. After all, I faced ten dragons at once last summer and if I can do it then you can too. I'm sure there's some spell somewhere to defeat dragons, right?"

Harry's grin grew more relaxed. He chuckled. "Thanks Usopp. Cedric told me this morning, so Hermione and I 'ave been looking for that spell all day. You want to join us?"

Usopp nodded, though he felt a pang at the words. Then sneaking out was useless huh? It didn't accomplish anything. "Sure."

Usopp noticed that Hermione actually smiled at him as he sat down. When she asked him about the dragons her voice held curiosity, but no suspicion.

He sat with the duo the rest of the day. But the mood in the room grew steadily tenser as no solution was found. The closest Usopp came to approaching anything useful was when he found a spell for putting out candles. The closest Harry came was finding a spell for "controlling the temperament of your cat." Usopp left later that night with a heart anchored down in rough seas. It was only after he slowly turned the corner of the fourth hallway that he remembered that he'd forgotten to tell Hermione about the thing in Mad-Eye's trunk. Damn! The tower's closed now, though.

Usopp sat down on the floor in frustration. He picked at a spot of the carpet that didn't quite meet the wall and huffed as he thought how complicated his new environment was. It's no different than the Merry Go! Every time I try to help people, I end up being useless and overlooked. I even put off searching for a way home so I could help my new friends! Well, okay, there was no way I was getting into the Restricted Section without Hermione's help, not with all those screaming books, but still… Several throaty chuckles drifted from the wall across from Usopp and he glared at the things in the portrait making the noise. The "things" turned out to be trolls dressed in traditional ballet gear. Usopp briefly wondered how they had any authority to be laughing at his pain. He got up and started pacing to get away from their ugly faces.

I just wish there was something I could use to help my nakama. Some way to show them that I can handle anything. Something I could use to show them how much I can help them. There's got to be something, or some way, to make myself useful! Maybe even something that'll help Harry, Hermione, and Ron. There's no way I can just- Usopp trailed off as he turned around and noticed something a little weird.

There was a door right in the middle of the hallway. A hallway that, until just a second ago, had no doors.

Okay, lets amend that. A lot weird.

Usopp cautiously approached it. He reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out his slingshot, readying it with ammunition as he did so. As his hand drew closer to the doorknob, it started to shake a little. Maybe I shouldn't open mysterious doorways? Usopp shook off the thought and steadied his hands. If he couldn't even open a silly door then he was never going to be a real part of Luffy's crew. He slowly turned the handle, and then flung open the door so hard it crashed into the wall.

Inside was a small room about the size of a cabin on the Merry Go. It was lit with candelabras made of tarnished silver that threw firelight onto the stone floor. The light also spilled onto a tall pedestal in the middle of the room. The rest of the space remained so dark that the walls were indistinguishable from the shadows. Usopp glanced around, the rubber of his slingshot taut in his hands. A sudden noise, like that of birds taking wing, startled him and he looked up. Far above him, light came down from a stained glass window, set into the ceiling, in faded shades of blue and green. As he watched, a dark spot on the window disappeared with another shuffle of wings. Usopp shook his head and continued on to the middle of the room.

As he walked closer, Usopp could see that there was something on the pedestal. The firelight ran like lava over the thin object, showing the grain of rough, dark wood. Usopp gasped. It's a wizard's wand!

The wand looked sturdy, but wasn't as polished as many of the student's wands. The handle seemed to be made of some ebony wood, a wood that shined with a smooth luster. The rest of the wand was rough, the wood dark and blackened in places as if struck by lightening. Usopp hesitated as he looked at it. What's an old wand doing out here in the middle of an empty room? He glanced around at the shadows, at the walls he couldn't see. Then, he prodded the wand with his outstretched slingshot. Nothing happened. Oookay… Usopp sighed and picked up the old thing with delicate fingers.

This time he felt an odd shiver run over his body. The tip of the wand glowed briefly. Usopp almost dropped the thing out of shock, but managed to hold on to some of his dignity. He wondered if he could use it like Hermione and the others used their wands. It was worth a try anyway. He held the stick out with the tips of his fingers, pointed it at the podium, and did his best Hermione imitation. "Wingardium Leviosa." Even though he put a lot of stress on the "o," nothing seemed to happen. He tried again, putting more stress on the "sa" sound. Nothing still continued to happen. Maybe I'm too much of a "muggle" to use this thing? Usopp shrugged a bit. He pocketed the item anyway. Even if the thing proved useless, there was no point in leaving it in a empty room. I'm sure whoever owns the wand won't miss it, besides Nami would be proud. Usopp let out a derogatory snort as he left the mysterious room, closing the door firmly behind him. I've finally found my backbone. Perhaps Hermione will help me practice…? Or maybe not. I'm not exactly allowed to have one of these.

…

Tuesday morning came at full sail and even though Harry had assured both Hermione and he that he was going to be all right, Usopp still felt a little sick at the idea that he and everyone else would have to sit back and watch Harry battle monsters all by himself. Ron still wasn't speaking to Harry on the subject. He didn't even go to the entrants' tent to wish him good luck. He did sit near Usopp and Hermione in the stands though, talking to everyone while chewing on some kind of strange, fizzling, popcorn. He seemed to be watching the arena avidly and started pointing in growing excitement when a team of people began pulling on a set of large chains that had been hidden behind the trees. Usopp noticed that when he saw the size of the chains, though, his excitement morphed into worry. Then an enormous dragon was brought out, its hide gleaming a murky blue-gray in the afternoon light.

Ron's face went so quickly from worry to stark fear that several people near him asked if he was okay. He spoke, his voice squeaky and cracked. "Dragons?! But dragons are… They're…" He couldn't seem to decide what exactly dragons were. "Harry can't…"

His voice had come out quiet even in the relative nervous stillness of the crowd, but Hermione heard it. She looked him in the eye as she spoke, "He'll be okay, Ron. We've practiced many different spells to prepare. He'll be alright."

Hermione's voice featured absolute conviction, but Usopp noticed how tightly her hands clutched the hem of her robes. Ron seemed to notice too. He grimaced and turned his face away from her, staring wide-eyed back at the sinewy lizard gouging up the clearing with its claws. He spoke something again, but the noise was lost as Bagman's voice shouted Cedric Diggory's name to the crowd. Usopp could only make out the word "help."

The three contestants, Cedric and the two from the other schools, somehow managed to evade the dangerous lizards and grab their respective eggs. The crowd that had been so quiet when the dragons were brought out had erupted into cheers for each of them, gasping and shouting when the participants made a daring move or avoided death. Then it was Harry's turn. As the crowd settled down, Usopp discreetly set his hand near his slingshot. I'm not leaving anything to chance, no matter how much the judges won't like it. Usopp wasn't surprised to see Hermione doing the same thing; she had her wand on the bench beside her. Hiding the wand from the row behind her was a large cup of pumpkin juice. As he looked back over at Ron, Usopp was gratified to see that he was sitting on the edge of his seat, the tip of his own wand sticking out from under one sleeve. When Harry walked out into the clearing the whole arena went silent. Usopp clearly heard him shout, "Accio Firebolt!" A small murmur started up from Durmstrang's section of the stands. A minute passed. Then two. Usopp actually jumped when Harry's broom came zooming in from around the trees. Hermione and Ron both cheered. The redheaded boy looked rather relieved.

When Harry shot up into the sky, the entire stand went nuts and everyone craned their heads to see what Harry would do. He didn't disappoint. Usopp watched in amazement as the boy dove and spun, evading the dragon's belches of fire by the breadth of a hair, dodging the leaden spikes as they thrashed the earth to ribbons. Bagman's commentary kept them all on edge. He began shouting things like, "Look at that flying ability! He might just make it," "That dragon's going to slice him to shreds!" and "Oh, that was definitely a close one!" Harry kept the dragon occupied by swerving around the massive head, though it didn't seem to be doing much except making the lizard angrier. Usopp's heart rate sped up as the chase went on. Could he possibly…? And then Ron's shout of horror brought his attention to the blood suddenly leaking from Harry's arm. The dragon's spiked tail had brushed the boy's limb, tearing flesh and sending Harry veering off-course. Usopp felt Ron, sitting next to him, gasp and almost jump off the seat. Usopp himself was shaking so hard he could barely keep his hand from rattling the ammunition in his pocket. Hermione sat still, perfectly still; she barely seemed to be breathing. They all relaxed when Harry flew out of range.

It took a while for Usopp to realize what Harry's plan was, but once he did, he smiled. The dragon slowly became so distracted by Harry's broom that the boy easily lured the behemoth away from the eggs. After that, Harry swooped down, snatched the golden one, and left the arena in triumph. Beside him, Usopp felt Ron slump down against the bench. The freckled boy looked as if he'd been held up by strings the entire time and was just now being cut off from all support. Usopp sympathized. He wasn't feeling all that steady himself.

Hermione helped them both up and excitedly drew them towards the tent Harry'd been led off to. As they jogged closer, Usopp grinned at Ron's happy chatter. He was going on and on about the match and how "cool" Harry had been and how "dangerous those bloody dragons" were and how he reckoned "someone must be trying to kill Harry!" He ended with, "We have to figure out who put his name in, right 'Mione?" Hermione seemed torn between laughing, crying, and yelling at Ron. She settled on marching into the tent hand in hand with him and practically shoving the boy, who looked sick with guilt, most likely at Harry's imagined reaction, in Harry's face.

Usopp laughed when the two made up. Good, now Harry has someone else to look out for him. Maybe now that he's safe for a while, and now that Hermione no longer suspects me, I can concentrate on getting home. I might as well try practicing more with the wand too… I wonder if my own nakama will welcome me back like that?

…

Author's Note: Wow, I got this chapter out fast! Go me! I'm pretty proud of it. Oh, and thank you avatoa for the awesome encouragement! I sometimes need reminders to stop apologizing for things. :) Anyhow, please feel free to leave a review or critique if you want!