Harry Potter and the Aliens
Part 13
Hogwarts was gearing up for the Christmas season, and Emiko noticed both Kisshu and Yuki were confused. She knew that Cyniclons didn't have an equivalent of Christmas, so she did her best to explain. Unfortunately, they just got more confused when Minerva told them about the Yule Ball.
"I thought it was Christmas," Kisshu said, puzzled.
"Yule is the ancient word for the season; Christmas is the holiday itself," Minerva explained. "What I wanted to talk to you about was the ball itself; it's open to everyone fourth year and above. Students can bring a younger student if they want to, however. Yuki has accepted Sirius's offer to go with him; since Kisshu is old enough to go, I'm willing to let you go too, Emiko. You both would be required to wear dress robes, but I just thought I'd offer, since Yuki is going, and so are all your friends."
Kisshu considered, then asked, "Where would we get dress robes?"
"I'll take you all to Diagon Alley again; there's a clothes shop there," Minerva said. "Yuki needs dress robes too."
Kisshu looked at Emiko, and asked, "Do you want to go?"
"I'd like that," Emiko said.
Kisshu looked back at Minerva and said, "I think we'd both like to go."
"Alright, will you tell Yuki that today's a good day to go to Diagon Alley?" Minerva asked. Kisshu nodded and teleported out. "Do you know how to dance, Emiko?" Minerva asked.
"No, but Oniichan does," Emiko said. "Who are you going with?"
"I'm going with Karkaroff; the only other person who doesn't have a date on the staff is Remus, and I'd feel awkward dancing with one of my former students," Minerva said. "Also, as Headmistress, I have a duty to entertain our guests, so going with anyone else would be considered an insult. I suggested that Pomona take Remus, and since her other option was Barty, she agreed. Madame Maxime is going with Hagrid, surprisingly; I'm thinking there's something going on with those two."
Emiko giggled as Yuki and Kisshu teleported in. "So we're going to Diagon Alley?" Yuki asked.
"Yes," Minerva said. "We're taking the Floo; follow my lead."
They Flooed to The Leaky Cauldron, and went to a shop with a sign that said 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions'.
When they went in, they were greeted by a friendly witch dressed in mauve robes. "Minerva, good to see you," she said. "Who are your friends?"
"This is Emiko, Kisshu, and Yuki," Minerva said. "They need dress robes for the Yule Ball this year."
"Oh yes, I heard about that; this fall was very busy," Madam Malkin said. "Come in, we'll see what suits you."
Yuki, Kisshu, and Emiko followed her in, and Madam Malkin started taking measurements on all of them. When she was done, she asked, "Now, what colors would you like?"
"I'd like dark green," Kisshu said.
"Can I have sky blue?" Emiko asked.
Yuki thought, then said, "I like pale yellow."
"You three are much easier than the last folks I had in," Madam Malkin commented. "That's very easily done. I can have those ready by Wednesday; should I send them to Hogwarts?"
"That would be perfect, since I can't take Wednesday off," Minerva said. "How much?"
Madam Malkin considered, then said, "I'll give you all three for fifteen Galleons."
"That's quite the deal, thank you," Minerva said. She took fifteen Galleons out of her purse, and handed them to Madam Malkin, who smiled and said, "I'll have those to you by Wednesday."
"Thank you," Minerva said.
"Yes, thanks," Yuki, Emiko and Kisshu said.
"You're very welcome, dears," Madam Malkin said.
They left, and Minerva said, "While we're here, Emiko, have you made a decision regarding Mr. Ollivander's offer?"
"Yes," Emiko said. "I talked with Aunt Yuki, and she said it's fine, so since I kind of wanted to do it anyways, I think I'll tell him yes."
"Then let's go see him before heading back for lunch," Minerva said. She led the way to Mr. Ollivander's shop, and went in, followed by the others.
Mr. Ollivander came over to them as the door closed, and said, "Oh, you're back? Have you made a decision?"
"Yes," Emiko said. "I would be honored to be your apprentice, Mr. Ollivander."
Mr. Ollivander's face lit up, and he said, "I'm very happy to hear that. As I told you, though, you have to be thirteen to begin the apprenticeship, so we should talk over what will happen between now and then."
"Can you tell us more about the apprenticeship system?" Yuki asked.
"Yes, of course," Mr. Ollivander said. "The earliest age someone can be apprenticed at is thirteen, since traditionally, the master will become the apprentice's guardian, and the apprentice will go to live with them. The apprentices start out with simple tasks, often helping prepare materials and cleaning, and then moves on to more difficult tasks. A typical apprenticeship lasts for seven years, and after that the apprentice can either set up shop on their own, or continue working for their master. My personal plan is that if Emiko shows enough promise, I would make her my heir, and when she's completed her apprenticeship and has some experience under her belt, I would turn this shop over to her."
"That's quite an honor, but one thing concerns me," Yuki said. "You said Emiko would come to live with you?"
"Yes," Mr. Ollivander said. "Considering her age, however, I would be willing to let her live at home at least until she's ready to be on her own a bit more, unless she lives too far away to get here easily."
"We live on the outskirts of London; where are we right now?" Yuki asked.
"London proper," Mr. Ollivander said.
"Well, I can teleport here pretty easily," Emiko said.
Mr. Ollivander nodded, and said, "Well, we can work out the finer details as we go; it's currently lunchtime, or just about. You can use my fireplace, if you need to."
"That would be appreciated," Minerva said.
They Flooed back to Hogwarts, and headed to lunch. Kisshu noticed Emiko was thinking, and asked, "What's on your mind?"
"I was thinking of asking Harry if he wants to learn telepathy," Emiko said. "Judging by what I've heard of him, while Hermione and Ron are usually with him when something happens, if they're not, he has no immediate form of communication if he's alone and in trouble. And from what Hermione says, he's a trouble magnet."
"You should teach Sirius too," Yuki said. "It would be pretty simple for them to form a mind link, since they're so close."
"Good point," Emiko said as they reached Gryffindor Table. They were greeted by Fred and George, as well as several others. "Where were you guys all morning?" Fred asked.
"Diagon Alley," Emiko said. "We got dress robes and went to see Mr. Ollivander again."
"So you made your decision?" George asked.
"Yup, I said yes," Emiko said happily. "The apprenticeship will start when I'm thirteen."
"Awesome!" Fred and George chorused.
Emiko smiled as she started eating. When she was done, she looked over at Harry, and asked, "Harry, do you want to learn telepathy?"
"Telepathy?" Harry asked, looking at her.
"Communicating mind-to-mind with another person," Emiko said. "I was going to ask Sirius too, and see if anyone else wants to learn, but since Hermione says you're a trouble magnet, I thought it would be good to have a way to tell someone you're in trouble if you're on your own."
"Would that work?" Harry asked. "Aren't your powers different?"
"I don't know if it will work or not, but it's worth a try," Emiko said. "The worst that will happen is that it wouldn't work."
"How do you use telepathy?" Harry asked.
"Focus on me and think what you want to say," Emiko replied. She watched as Harry concentrated, and then heard, Can you hear me?
Yup, I can hear you, Emiko replied telepathically, and then said aloud, "Good. And I'm assuming if you can do it, any other wizard or witch can do it too."
"We should test that," Hermione said, having been listening to the conversation. She concentrated, and Emiko noticed Harry looked startled. "I take it you can use it with each other?" Emiko asked.
"Yeah," Harry said. "Thanks, this should be helpful."
"Sure," Emiko said. "I should tell Minerva-san that there's a new way to communicate; it'll help her out too."
"Good plan," Yuki said. "I can tell her, though; she asked me to meet with her after lunch."
"What about?" Kisshu asked.
"Preparations for the Yule Ball," Yuki replied.
"I wish I had different dress robes," Ron moaned. "Mine are magenta…."
"Why not use a color-changing spell on them?" Emiko suggested.
Ron looked startled and said, "I never thought of that…."
Kisshu muttered something along the lines of, "I knew he was an idiot…."
Ron turned red, and Yuki quickly intervened, saying, "Okay, lunch is over, so why don't you go to class?"
"I'm NOT an idiot," Ron grumbled as he obeyed.
"What are we doing now?" Kisshu asked Emiko as Yuki also left.
"Sirius asked me to help with his seventh years again; I guess you can come with me," Emiko said. "They're supposed to be starting Avifors Spells today."
"What's that?" Kisshu asked.
"Turning something into a bunch of bats," Emiko said.
"Sounds fun," Kisshu said. "Let's go."
Emiko nodded, and they teleported to the Transfiguration classroom.
They got there at about the same time as the students, and Sirius said, "Good timing. Why's Kisshu here?"
"I don't have anything else to do," Kisshu said. "And it's good practice for me."
"Okay," Sirius said. "Find a seat."
Kisshu obeyed, sitting next to a boy from Ravenclaw, and Sirius said, "Okay, today we're doing the Avifors Spell, which as you know turns the brick in front of you into a bunch of bats. I know you've probably already done this, but since I don't think you've done it without a wand, I figured we'd try it."
"And what's he doing here?" a Slytherin girl asked, pointing to Kisshu.
"Kisshu is here because we're teaching him transfiguration too, and he should be able to manage at least one bat," Sirius said calmly. "Any further questions?"
"If I turn Professor Snape into a bat, will I get in trouble?" Kisshu asked.
"Not from me, but Minerva will have a fit," Sirius said, snickering. "Stick to the bricks for now."
Kisshu sighed and snapped his fingers at the brick. It turned into something that looked like a baby pterodactyl, and everyone's eyes bugged out. "Um… what is that?" the boy sitting next to Kisshu asked as the pterodactyl spread its wings and flapped them experimentally.
"It's a pterodactyl," Kisshu said. "A baby pterodactyl. I don't know what went wrong…. but it's kind of cute, don't you think?"
The pterodactyl launched itself into the air suddenly, and zoomed out the door. Sirius groaned and said, "Much as I enjoy mayhem, I think that thing should be brought back. Emiko, Kisshu, go get it, and I'll handle class."
"Okay," Kisshu and Emiko said, and ran out as they heard someone shriek, "What IS that!?"
They followed the voice, and found a girl huddling against the wall, and the pterodactyl nowhere to be seen. "Which way did it go?" Emiko asked.
"It was headed for the dungeons," the girl said. "Was that a flying lizard?"
"Dinosaur, actually," Kisshu said. "Sorry, I can't seem to get things transfigured properly. I was trying for a bat."
"Oniichan, we'd better find it before it gets too far," Emiko commented.
"Right, let's go," Kisshu said, and followed Emiko as she ran for the dungeons.
They reached the Potions room just as they heard Malfoy's voice shriek, "SOMEONE'S GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!"
Looking at each other, Kisshu and Emiko went into the room, and found most of the students edging away from Malfoy as the baby pterodactyl attempted to yank his hair out. Snape looked up as they came in and asked icily, "I assume there's a reason behind this?"
"It was supposed to turn into a bat," Kisshu said sulkily.
"What was it originally?" one of the Slytherins asked.
"A brick," Kisshu said. He snapped his fingers at the baby pterodactyl, but it didn't turn back. "Uh-oh…." he said.
Emiko sighed and snapped her fingers too. This time the pterodactyl turned back into a brick- and fell on Malfoy's head. Snape picked up the brick and handed it to Kisshu, then said, "Get out of my classroom, and next time you transfigure something, make sure it can't fly."
"Oh, fine," Kisshu said sulkily. He and Emiko left, and then teleported back to Sirius's classroom. They found a few bats flying around, and Sirius asked, "Did you find it?"
"Yeah, for some reason it went to the Potions room and attempted to yank Malfoy's hair out, so Emiko turned it back into a brick," Kisshu said. He handed the brick over, and Sirius took it. "You two might want to go find Minerva, she was looking for you earlier," he told them.
"Okay," Emiko said. She and Kisshu left the room and teleported to Minerva's office.
I am SO sorry I took so long. I hope you liked this chapter, and I think the next chapter will include the Yule Ball. Happy reading, and please review!