Matou Shinji and the Heirs of Slytherin
A Harry Potter / Fate Stay Night Story
Disclaimer: Though I wish it were otherwise, I do not own or in any way, shape or form hold a legal or moral claim to elements of either the Nasuverse, the Potterverse, or other works I may reference in the course of this story.
Summary: Trouble is brewing in the Wizarding World. In the wake of the Stone Incident, Albus Dumbledore has begun quietly preparing Britain to survive the coming war. The Stone Cutters, a new organization at Hogwarts for the most talented and distinguished of students, seek new blood to bolster its strength. The Boy-Who-Lived seeks his destiny as the Heir of Slytherin. And a boy from the east meets a specter of the past.
Chapter 12. Plots and Paranoia
The following morning started off far less grueling than the first for the Second Year Ravenclaws, since a single period of Charms tended to be easier to deal with than two of Transfiguration – especially for Matou Shinji, who had much of a knack for the former than the latter. The fact that Professor Flitwick was generally more easygoing than Professor McGonagall helped as well, especially given that their next class of the day would be Defense against the Dark Arts under the infamous Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the greatest Auror of modern times.
He was said to be more skilled and powerful than any champion of the light save Dumbledore himself. Indeed, during the War against Voldemort alone, his efforts had filled half of Azkaban with the Dark Lord's followers – more than rest of the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement combined had managed. And those who could not be arrested, who resisted to the last, he'd slain without mercy, without any human feeling whatsoever, like the demon of vengeance he was named for.
And after the war, when so many left the ranks, broken or battered by over a decade of terror and violence, of friend turned against friend, brother against brother, Moody endured, continuing his work rooting out Dark Wizards on the rise, while training the Aurors who would eventually replace him – though no one thought a replacement would be necessary anytime soon.
With him here at Hogwarts, commanding a force of Hit Wizards, parents and students felt safe, despite the threat of Sirius Black, for what wizard in their right mind would challenge Albus Dumbledore and Alastor Moody combined? Sadly for Gilderoy Lockhart, his presence had been a relative non-factor, for while he was certainly known as a great adventurer, he was not yet the stuff of legend.
The Welcoming Feast had been the first time most had seen the fabled Auror, and none could deny that he looked every bit like a personification of war and its costs. His bearing was proud, powerful, commanding, though his gait was slightly off, as one of his legs was but a wooden peg to replace the one he'd lost. He was wary too, tense and ready to respond to any new threat or enemy at a moment's notice. And of course, there was his face – barely recognizable as human.
Indeed, the face of Mad-Eye Moody was almost grotesque, looking as if it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces were supposed to look like. Every inch of skin was pitted, worn, covered in angry scars. His mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing.
But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.
One – his natural eye – was small, dark, and beady. And the other – the fake – was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. That one moved ceaselessly, unblinkingly, rolling up, down, from side-to-side, quite independently of the normal eye - and sometimes, it would roll into back of his head, so all one could see was white.
That was particularly unnerving as it was known that that eye could see through objects, see through invisibility, and more, offering him a potential 360 degree field of vision – there would be no mischief in one of his classes, no talking to a friend in sotto voce or passing notes. Doing that would result in a hex being flung their way for not being properly cautious, not being properly vigilant.
And woe betide any who tried to prank him while in class – for Mad-Eye's response wasn't measured at all. It was swift and overwhelming, making one fear for one's very life. So when he'd laid down his challenge, many frustrated, angry youths lashed out, trying desperately to hit him with spell after spell, while he stood there contemptuously, criticizing their form, the spell used, or more.
In the end they had failed, and in the aftermath, as he gave them a point-by-point breakdown on why they had failed, on how useless and pathetic each would prove in battle, it became quite clear to the most of the student population how one man had defeated so many Dark Wizards. In his years on the front lines, Alastor Moody had become more monster than man, proving the truth of the adage that he who fights monsters should beware, lest he become a monster himself.
All of which Matou Shinji was fine with.
In fact, he was perhaps uniquely qualified to deal with monsters in human shape, given his experience with beings of that sort.
His grandfather of course, was the inhuman Archmagus who had devised a system to bind and command spirits from the Throne of Heroes – a feat that should have been impossible by any mere mortal. His master, Aozaki Touko, the sister to the wielder of True Magic called Blue, was perhaps the world's greatest puppeteer, whose creations could fool the soul and the world itself. The Director of Atlas Academy, with power on the tier of an Ancestor and perfect command over thought and calculation, was one as well - but then being a monster was practically a prerequisite for leading one of the Three Great Branches. And he supposed Tomas qualified as a monster as well, his red eyes betraying his inhuman nature as he trained Shinji in much the same brutal fashion that Moody was rumored to use.
So Shinji mused as he walked through the door of the Defense classroom and glanced about at his surroundings, which were far more spartan than History had been. There were no windows, for a start, just walls of solid stone, a floor of the same, and desks laid out in the usual arrangement. The only concession the professor had made to decoration was a collection of Dark Detectors in one corner of the room: all manner of Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, Foe-Glasses, and Probity Probes alike.
The man himself was absent of course, but then, Shinji had expected as much, since he probably wanted to get a good look at the students in his class with his magical eye before entering, taking their measure as if they were all potential foes he might one day have to deal with.
And who knew – it was certainly possible they might be.
With that sobering thought in mind, Shinji and his peers took their seats. Soon after, the distinctive clunking of the Defense Professor's footsteps came down the corner, with the man himself entering the room, his expression intense and almost frightening.
Well, frightening to those of them who weren't used to dealing with the killing intent of powerful magi and archmagi, at any rate.
"You can put those away," the Auror growled as he stumped to the podium in front of the room, noticing how many of his students had their books out. "You won't be needing them."
A welcome change for some, though Hermione's expression soured slightly.
He proceeded to call out the names of his students, barely even looking at the class register. Instead, his magical eye seemed to fix on each student as he or she answered, as if comparing what he saw to what he had heard.
"You'd be the one with the Order of Merlin," Moody said gruffly when he got to Shinji, the blue orb staring at him – through him. "Papers say you fought a Dark Wizard your first year."
"They do," the boy from the east answered.
"And did you, boy?" the Auror asked, both his normal eye and the glassy orb of his prosthetic boring into him.
"Not as well I'd like," Shinji replied.
Moody just grunted, seeming to accept that answer as he continued down the list of names.
"Right then," he noted, once he was finished with the class roster. "From what Dumbledore tells me, Quirrell drilled the basics of dueling and tactics into you, saying something like fear was the greatest enemy."
There were some nods here and there, and a murmur of assent.
"Well, he wasn't wrong, but you need a better grounding in Dark Creatures – boggarts and Dementors for a start – and of course, the basics of what wizards can do to each other." He smiled grimly, the white slash that was his mouth horrifying in the gloom. "But first, let's see if anything you learned last year managed to stick in those brains of yours. Hit me with a spell…if you can."
As you wish, Shinji thought to himself, leaping to his feet and flicking his wrist, his wand falling into his hand.
"Expelliarmus!"
After all, that was part of the plan he and the Second Year Ravenclaws had agreed on. As the one person Moody likely had the most information on – and the one he'd take most seriously, given his Order of Merlin – Matou Shinji had argued that he was best suited for drawing and holding the man's attention, leaving the others free to take action.
He'd returned to Ravenclaw Tower with Luna following his encounter with the Grey Lady, thinking about how to beat Mad-Eye Moody's challenge and win his respect. If the Auror was anywhere near as skilled as Tomas, he wouldn't be able to hit the man with a spell – not alone, at any rate. Plus there was the matter of his magical eye.
In the end, it had been Luna who'd suggested that he call his classmates down for a strategy session using his authority as Consul. When he'd mentioned that technically, his authority only extended to matters related to History of Magic, she'd just looked at him oddly until he'd admitted that those limits were hard to gauge, and slippery anyway, whereupon she smiled.
Of course, that hadn't been the easiest thing to do, not when Hermione – who'd been waiting for him to get back from dinner – had taken one look at him and Luna entering the Tower together, laughing over some joke, and had stalked off to the female dorms without a word.
"…what was that about?" Shinji had murmured, only for Luna to blink once as she looked at the place where Hermione had sat.
"A bad case of wrackspurts," Luna had replied solemnly, turning her gaze on the boy beside her.
"Wrackspurts?" Shinji had asked. He'd never heard of the creatures, though he admitted there were plenty that he didn't know about – almost as many as the British seemed to lack knowledge of. In fact, what Luna called a Crumple-Horned Snorkack sounded disturbingly like a Kirin in Asian myth – a noble, majestic creature that ranked alongside the dragon and the phoenix, and was said to only appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a great sage or illustrious ruler.
…which would explain why they were so rarely seen, given the rarity of sages or illustrious rulers in the world today, Shinji thought. Or perhaps ever.
"Wrackspurts..." Luna had confirmed, nodding. "They're invisible. They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy."
"How odd. I would have thought Hogwart's wards would protect against such things, but I suppose you never know." Shinji had just shrugged. "Anyway, can you get the second year girls from the dorm, including Hermione? I don't want to break my head open when the staircase transforms."
Luna had nodded and bid her companion good night, while she went to do just that. Shinji for his part, had made a rare appearance in the boys dormitory – which caused a stir in and of itself, since he was practically never found up there – summoning the male members of his year to the Common Room.
Back in the classroom, Matou Shinji launched spell after spell at the Auror, noting as the man either leaned out of the way of any that came particularly close or simply deflected it with his wand as needed.
He's efficient, I'll give him that. And unlike Tomas, he's not showing off, either.
For unlike Moody, Tomas had made no effort to dodge at all, save for when he'd cast the false "Avada Kedavra", instead choosing to employ a spellbeam defense or simply taking over the spells Shinji cast.
Moody didn't even have that weakness. Where Tomas liked to intimidate, Moody was pragmatism made flesh.
What the Auror did have, on the other hand, was a wooden leg and an obvious limp – perhaps explaining why he doesn't move much.
"Incendio!" Shinji cried, aiming for the wooden leg, frowning as he saw Moody slide of the way with unexpected ease.
'Damnit! So he exaggerates the effects of his injuries, getting people to underestimate him. Somehow, I'm not surprised.'
One who had become a notorious hunter of dark practitioners of witchcraft and survived into old age tended to have some tricks up one's sleeve, after all.
"Is that all you can do, Matou?" he asked, keeping his natural eye on the Consul while his magical orb surveyed the room.
"Hardly," Shinji replied as he took aim again. "Verdimillious Tria!"
Jagged green lightning raced from him towards the teacher, as at the prearranged signal, five Ravenclaws stood as one, red spellbeams lancing from their wands as they cast Expelliarmus in staggered bursts one after the next, with Moody sliding again out of the way, though he had to deflect the last with a shield.
…again, just as planned.
The night before, the Ravenclaws had gathered in the Common Room at Shinji's request, all in different states of disarray, as some had gotten ready for bed – and some had not.
"Ah, and so the mighty Consul Matou is already becoming a tyrant," Su Li – one of those he'd sat with on the train - had said dryly, though her words lacked much of a sting with her in pajamas and fuzzy slippers. "Over both peers and underclassmen alike."
"Hardly a tyrant." Shinji had raised his hands in a placating manner. "I just returned from a meeting of the Stone Cutter Society and have some interesting news to share."
"Oh? Is Lovegood a Stone Cutter now? Is that why she came back late at night - with you?" Mandy Brocklehurst – another train companion – had asked, her eyes curious. Since she had first seen Lovegood and Matou together on the train, with Matou saying Lovegood was "with him", she'd wondered as to the exact nature of their relationship. And if Matou had inducted her into the Stone Cutters, then…
"No." Shinji certainly didn't want any misunderstandings to spread about that. It would require something quite heroic to join the Society, and Luna hadn't done anything of the sort – yet. "We ran into each other afterwards."
There was a choked cry from Hermione, who looked at Shinji with wide eyes, her face pale and drawn as she her mind raced.
"That is, we were on Consul Business," Shinji had continued, hoping that cleared things up.
"…she's a Consul too, huh?" Su Li murmured curiously. "But what business would you need to take care of…together?"
At that, Shinji had only smiled.
"Why, appointing a co-Consul, if one of us was ever absent."
"Now...wait just a second!" Terry Boot squawked in outrage. "Do you mean to say that you're putting a first year in charge of us?"
There had been a general murmur of unrest and displeasure at that, as the mere idea of him elevating someone who'd just arrived at Hogwarts over his own classmates was—
"No." Shinji had said, putting up his hand to forestall any further protest.
"Then who?" Terry challenged, looking like he was going to draw his wand if he didn't get a satisfactory answer. "I know it's not one of us. Not even Granger, who you partner with in classes, so—"
"The Grey Lady."
Shinji would always remember how Terry's mouth froze in mid-sentence, his eyes bulging as the Eastern boy's statement sunk in.
"…what."
"But she's a ghost," Mandy rejoined, looking puzzled. "I know she's the Ravenclaw House Ghost, but what made you think she would be a good—"
"—the fact that her name is Helena Ravenclaw," Shinji stated blandly.
The silence that ensued was as abrupt as it was deafening. When someone finally spoke, Shinji wasn't surprised that it was Hermione.
"…but that's the name of Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter," the girl said weakly, summing up what all of them knew. "But how? The Grey Lady's identity isn't in any book. I know. I've read most of them."
"Simple. I asked."
"…you asked," Su Li had repeated blankly. "You asked and she just…told you?"
"Yes."
And it was true, more or less.
"Now, before I was interrupted, I mentioned some news?"
This time, the crowd just nodded, curious as to what he had to say.
Shinji had proceeded to sum up what Harry had told him about Moody's teaching style, as well as the challenge the man would set forth.
"There are a few main challenges to overcome as far as he is concerned. First, he's more skilled than we are and has far more combat experience. Second, his magical eye gives him an unobstructed 360 degree field of view – and a way to see through invisibility – so just sneaking up on him is useless. Third – well, I probably won't be able to hit him no matter what I do, since he probably knows how I fight, and even if he didn't, will be paying extra attention to me, since...Order of Merlin and all."
…which were some pretty big disadvantages.
"So with all that in mind, how can we beat him?"
"Well, there are more of us than there are of him…" Su Li mentioned, pointing out one of their greatest advantages. "And if we all cast at the same time, we could probably have enough spells coming at him that he wouldn't be able to dodge, especially not with his wooden leg."
Shinji thought that over for a moment. A massed volley would be quite powerful, but then he was afraid that Moody would just put up an area defense shield like Protego Totalum, which would negate any advantage they had.
"It can't all be at once," Shinji pointed out. "We'll need to split our forces into several squads, or he'll just beat us all at once. More than two, since whatever advantage his magical eye gives him, it can only focus on one thing at a time, but not enough that he feels like he's cornered."
Which we are, in fact doing, but we don't want him to think that.
"So what you're saying is, we need to make sure that he thinks we're disorganized, so he underestimates us," Terry chimed in, intrigued since anyone who could hit Alastor Moody with a spell – as a student spell – would likely leave quite an impression on future teachers or employers. "So someone needs to draw his attention."
"That will be me," Shinji said, surprising no one, since they knew he liked his time in the limelight. "Since Moody will expect me to rise to the challenge, I see no reason to disappoint him. The rest of you, groups of five. We'll stagger our attacks. I'll lead, another group will join in when I cast Verdimillious Tria, and then at your judgment after that."
"Reasonable enough," Mandy agreed, a mischievous smile coming to her face. "Shall we split it by boys and girls?"
"And where you're sitting," Shinji added. "He'll probably be standing front and center. We need people on both sides, so we can push him into one direction. Say, into a corner."
"…you think we can win, don't you?" Su questioned, looking at the boy oddly. "You actually think that, even though we're facing the greatest Auror of our time, a wizard more monster than man."
Shinji just smirked at this.
"Look, if Harry can stop Voldemort barely a year after he was born, I'm pretty sure we can land a hit on Moody when he's holding back."
He'd deliberately used the Dark Lord's name for a measure of shock and awe, and it seemed to have worked, with the others noting how he was not afraid. Of course, if he failed, they'd be looking at him with very different eyes, but that that was a risk he knew he had to take.
Besides, there would probably never be a better time. Right now, inside Hogwarts, his foe couldn't apparate or disapparate, and with his peg-leg, already had a movement impairment. Plus as a teacher, he was likely going to be handicapping himself, so where another practitioner of witchcraft – like Quirrell – would have simply blown them all away with a Blasting Curse.
And they were only second years, he wouldn't take them seriously.
Not yet.
"Then that will be all. Good night," he said, dismissing his peers to their rooms. "Hermione, stay behind if you would, please. We need to talk."
The others filed out, back to their dorms, though some couldn't help glancing back in curiosity at what he might need to talk about. There was that bit of gossip that said the two of them might be involved as well, after all…
"…so you and Lovegood were just talking to the Grey Lady?" Hermione had whispered after some moments, though she refused to look at him.
She hoped desperately that what he said was true. Seeing the two of them together, looking so happy, had reminded her so much of the time she'd seen Shinji and Sokaris come back together – the night she'd broken down in tears. It reminded her of how before Shinji and Sokaris, she'd never really had a friend, of how others she thought had been her friends had just left her, abandoned her, used her. But Shinji wouldn't…would he?
"That's right, Hermione," the boy confirmed. He was troubled by the look on her face, the way she seemed like she was about to cry – the way she had stalked off at his return. She could be confusing in a way Sokaris had never been. "We both asked the Grey Lady to be co-consul, as she is more a Ravenclaw than any of us. Quite literally at that."
"And…and she just told you who she was?" Hermione squeaked, almost unable to believe it. From what she read, the Grey Lady had never told anyone her identity, so why would that change now? Why – why did Shinji always have to contradict her books? Why was it like he was making her choose? Why? "But that's…"
"Hermione," Shinji broke in, his fingers lifting her chin so that she'd look at him. "Hermione."
"What?" she almost snapped. The brunette was just so…confused.
"I need you."
Her heart seemed to stop in her chest, then start again, hammering faster, faster, faster. Her mouth was dry. Her palms felt sweaty. She felt hot. Very, very hot as some odd dreams she had had that began with those very words came to mind.
"What…did you say?" she managed, unsure if she'd heard him correctly.
"Of all of us, you're perhaps the best read witch I know," Shinji began, his voice and the feeling of his fingers cupping her chin sending pleasant chills down her spine. "And certainly, you know the most spells, right. At least, Western spells. Quite impressive really."
"Thank you," she whispered, flushing at his praise, wondering where he was going with this. She'd never had anyone her age praise her before, Sokaris aside, and some days she wondered if Sokaris too had outclassed her, and that was why she had fought the Dark Wizard alongside the Boy-Who-Lived, along with the Stone Cutters and Quirrell.
"You shouldn't thank me for just speaking the truth," Shinji quipped, which made her want to look down, except that his hand – his hand was there and so distracting, as she raised one of hers to cover his, hardly believing it could really be there. "So, can you help me?"
"How can I help?"
Shinji smiled, and in sotto voce, asked if there was a spell used in dueling which could incapacitate an enemy and didn't leave a trail of light. Something harder to see.
"Erm…Petrificus Totalus, the Full Body Bind," Hermione recalled, having of course, read the textbook ahead of time. "But...why do you need it if you have your Eastern Magic?"
As she remembered from bitter experience, it could do much the same, and without him having to say a word.
"Because I'm not going to be the one using it," Shinji replied. "You are. You're going to bind Mad-Eye Moody."
"But that's…"
"You're the only one that can, Hermione," the boy insisted. "I can't do it – he'd expect me to have some kind of hidden trick. The rest of us don't know that spell. It has to be you. Will you do this for me?"
"Y-yes."
"Good. Close your eyes at the red, open at the white," said Shinji, letting his hand drop and twist slightly, pulling the hand Hermione had used to cover his to his lips, where he kissed it in imitation of a scene in a book. "Oh, and Hermione? I'm glad you're with me."
Hermione could barely think – or say another word – when he released her, walking to her dorm in a daze.
In the classroom, Matou Shinji was moving, having just cast Orbis – a spell meant to sink the enemy into the ground, forcing Moody to block him with a powerful Shield charm, which he timed to intercept both his spell and the volley of Flipendos coming his way, deflecting them out into the crowd.
"Not good enough. I expected better, but you're as fractured as the Slytherins," the Auror commented, prompting another group of five to start casting spells at him. "Only a few at a time, not even a massed attack."
"And you wouldn't put up Protego Totalum, Professor?" Shinji asked, casting the Stickfast Charm towards Moody's feet while the others kept trying to herd him – though the scarred veteran smiled unpleasantly.
"Heh. Well, it seems one of you has some brains after all. Even if it's not going to be nearly enough," Moody rumbled, his hands moving more quickly than Shinji had anticipated, casting a wide stationary shield that blocked a rectangle as tall as he was immediately between himself and the class.
Shinji frowned – this meant Moody couldn't move as readily, but then he hadn't moving much as it was – and it also protected the man against anything that didn't come from one of the sides. And with him being much closer to one wall than the other, he was in a good defensive position, since most of the fire would come from one side.
The Boy from the East was confident enough in what was to come though, and so began to cast a smokescreen, which he'd need for this part of the plan. Sure, Moody's eye could probably see through it to where he was, but did Moody know that he knew that?
Besides, he had one last trump to play.
"Periculum!" he intoned, raising his wand to the air, as a burst of red light filled the room, something looking much like a signal flare blasting into the air.
…and Peeves the Poltergeist phased through the ceiling, a wadded up ball in his hands glowing with light as he raced towards Mad-Eye Moody with manical glee.
"Maddened mage who doesn't fear, well you should, since Peevesey's here!" the spirit of discord shrieked, rather handily grabbing the fullness of the Auror's attention.
"Skurge!" the weathered man roared, blasting the poltergeist backwards – with Peeves interposing the ball of light, which detonated in an incandescent blaze of light and sound that blinded and deafened all those who hadn't been ready.
Which in practice meant everyone but Hermione Granger, who opened her eyes just after the flash and moved so she was clear of the shield – the shield that shimmered where it hit the smoke the explosion had forced aside.
"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried – and with that, Mad-Eye Moody stiffened like a board, his arms and legs snapping together as he collapsed to the ground. As an afterthought, she disarmed him and took the man's wand to Shinji…who cleared the remainder of the smoke, only to deal with the sight of Peeves sticking his tongue out at Moody and making all sort of odd and hilarious poses alongside the famous Auror...including at least a minute of teabagging the paralyzed man.
Suffice it to say that when Moody was released from his paralysis some time later, he was…in quite a state. On one hand, someone from the class certainly had hit him with a spell, and he couldn't say they hadn't worked together – because they had. On the other hand, it was hardly a test of their abilities when someone had leaked the particulars of what he had in mind, giving them a chance to come up with a strategy. They'd also brought in…help…that was certainly not of the class, and who had come with some unknown ability.
The ringleader of the operation was obvious, given that he'd been the one firing off spells that the Auror now recognized had been prearranged signals, and of course, the fact that he did not look shocked at the Poltergeist's actions.
And worst of all…
"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the man held himself back – barely – from responding with something far less restrained. After all, the whelp still hadn't given him back his wand. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do…"
"With all due respect, Professor," Shinji replied, his voice calm and even. "It is hardly cowardly in your case, since your eye can see behind you."
"And the poltergeist?" Moody asked sourly, still glowering at the boy who held his wand. "Explain that."
"The challenge was for one of us to hit you with a spell," Shinji answered to that, pausing a moment to meet the Auror's gaze unflinchingly. "That was all. What's more, you wanted to learn what stuck in our heads from last year. Well, last year, I faced a troll and a practitioner of the Dark Arts – both opponents more powerful than I was. I didn't do it alone, and we didn't all just go in firing. We improvised, had a plan, and won, with outside factors – like Harry's immunity to the Killing Curse – saving the day. Teamwork is important, and honor, but so is having a trump card."
With that, Shinji bowed slightly and returned the Defense Professor wand to him, leaving the scarred veteran looking thoughtful.
"I didn't tell the other classes not to pass along what they did, did I?" he asked gruffly, whereupon Shinji shook his head. "Matou, was it? Maybe that Order of Merlin isn't all for show. Shows me why I need to stay on my guard. Constant vigilance!"
Moody smiled then, a rather unpleasant smile at that, as he took a drink from his flask.
"Now, can anyone tell me how that might have gone badly had this been an actual battle, and had I been, say a Dark Wizard using Polyjuice?"
The class to follow was engaging, thoughtful, and more than a little disturbing at times, as Moody assessed their tactical acumen in a less confrontational manner. One thing was for sure though, that Matou boy was worth keeping an eye on – as were all the Stone Cutters, if they had that kind of inventiveness and…creativity towards interpreting rules and orders.
Frankly, they might make good Aurors. Or terrifying Dark Wizards. Sometimes, it was hard to tell.
As for Shinji, he was relieved that it had worked – that sending the House Elf Kizzy to request an audience with Peeves had succeeded. It seemed the Weasley Twins had mentioned the Stone Cutter Society to Peeves, and how, the one who had dealt the finishing blow to the troll, it was only right that the Poltergeist be a member of the Society.
This had of course, made Peeves swell with pride – and think up some opportunities for mischief – as he found Nearly Headless Nick's face when he heard of Peeves' exploits to be quite the amusement.
And so the poltergeist had agreed to work with him, especially if Shinji would lend him one of those wonderful explosive implements he had had access to last time. When asked how he'd take that with him, Peeves had grinned, mentioning that he could make the things he took with him intangible – something which had…possibilities, to say the least.
In the coming days, Matou Shinji's name would come up often among the spirits – and among the Ravenclaws, who found it impressive he'd managed to convince Peeves to do anything, as well as get the Grey Lady to work with him. Suffice it to say that he would have more dealings with the spirit world, with a most interesting opportunity arising during Halloween.
For Ron Weasley, on the other hand, the first two days of class had been absolutely horrible. It just wasn't fair how Snape had made him mess up his potion so he'd be sent to the infirmary. It wasn't fair how knowing he wanted to join the Quidditch team, that wanker Longbottom and that Dunbar bint had become utter tyrants, banning him – him – whose brothers were in the bloody Order of Merlin – from trying out unless he got at least an Acceptable on his History homework.
And wasn't that an injustice – why should he have to do homework, given Longbottom and Dunbar had the power to waive it completely? But when he'd asked, they'd come out with this rubbish instead, as if history under that wanker Lockhart was something important. Everyone knew the important parts of history already.
Slytherins were the House that turned out Dark Wizards. The Goblins loved to rebel. The giants were bad. And Muggles were weird and primitive people who should be pitied because they couldn't do magic, no matter how his dad was obsessed with their things.
For Merlin's sakes, even his sister was being scouted for the Quidditch team on the recommendation of Fred and George. As Seeker. Possibly the youngest Seeker in a Century if all went well.
Where was the justice in that?
And on top of everything else, Scabbers had run off too, abandoned him in his time of need.
"Bollocks. Just…bollocks."