I don't own Harry Potter or Code Lyoko

Nobody in particular

"Alright, quieten down. Across the board, the results of the last class test were far from brilliant. Your grades were almost all Cs and Ds. Obviously, there are exceptions. Stern! I gave you full marks. Belpois! I gave you an A-. The minus was a reminder that there is no such thing as perfection. Other Stern, you are clearly pushing the limits of your I-don't-care attitude. A nucleus is not made up of croutons, but protons. C-! If memory serves, and mine is more reliable than yours, you promised you'd put in an honest effort, didn't you?" asked Ms Hertz. "It seems quite clear that you didn't even glance at your notes. This is not going to help you at the academic review tomorrow morning. Poliakoff!"

Nicholas, who had been laughing at Ulrich, stopped in surprise.

"Zero. A kilogram of mercury goes not weigh a tonne! So if I were you, I would stop snickering like an idiot!"

Later

"Don't worry," said Odd as they sat at a table. "It will work out."

"I doubt it. Ms Hertz will do anything to transfer me to ninth grade remedial."

"They wouldn't do that in the middle of the year," protested Yumi.

"Don't bet on it. Mine and Harry's parents will kill me. Finding time to fight Xana is going to be a real nightmare. I'm not like Harry who remembers everything."

"Come on Ulrich. Nothing's been decided," said Aelita.

"And I'm sure we'll find a way to improve your grades," said Harry.

"I could try to sue my status to keep you in our class," said Sissi.

"Aelita's right. Maybe a teacher will defend you," said Jeremy hopefully. "Anyway, I've got some good news! We've finally found a way to virtualise you directly into Sector 5! Not bad, huh?"

"You mean without going through the Transporter?" asked Odd.

"Yeah, that's right! By interpolating the source codes in Planck's quantum space, we can get around the Eisenberg uncertainty theory. The only risk is coming up with a mathematical singularity," explained Jeremy.

"In English?"

"Uh…it can work, but it's dangerous. Before I can really be sure, I'm going to need a…a…uh…"

"…guinea-pig?" asked Odd.

"Right! Any volunteers?"

Silence ensured at the table. A fly buzzed around.

"The shortest string bean is it!" said Odd firmly. He held out string beans. The others pulled them out and Ulrich pulled out the shortest one.

"I guess today is not my day."

"I can agree with that," said Sissi.

"We'll run the test today at eight," said Jeremy. "Ok?"

"I hope this works," said Harry. "I don't want to lose my brother."

"Here, I'm leaving you my cherry soda, in case I don't make it back," said Ulrich as he passed the can to Odd.

"You're kidding! Thanks, but I couldn't possibly accept! Here Yumi, you're the most worthy heir to the great Ulrich, the first man to set foot on Sector 5 without passing Go!" Yumi took the can and looked at it, amused.

Sector five

The transport orb arrived and dropped everyone except Ulrich off.

"Did you all get to the arena?"

"Yep. Last stop, everyone out," said Odd.

"We're waiting to welcome Ulrich," said Yumi.

"We're in position," said Sissi.

"Good. You ready Ulrich?"

"Roger."

"Logically, you should arrive directly at sector five," said Jeremy as the scanner opened. "Right between Odd and Yumi."

"Jeremy, you sure you know what you're doing there?" asked Ulrich nervously.

"Yes! Well…about 98%. Hold on now. Ulrich's going to be with you soon."

Ulrich stepped into the scanner.

"Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualisation."

"Where is he? Did he take the local instead of express?" asked Odd as Ulrich failed to appear.

"Where is my brother?"

"The virtualisation did take place. He should be right next to you."

"Maybe he was transferred to the wrong place," suggested Aelita as Harry clenched his fists.

"I'll do a search though I can't see how." An error beep sounded. "Oh no! Impossible!"

"What's the matter?!" asked Yumi.

"He…he doesn't even show up on the screens anymore!"

"Have you lost my brother?!"

"Do you want us to look around sector five to see if we can find him?" asked Aelita.

"And have Xana take advantage of the situation and pull a dirty one on us? No thanks. I'll launch a search from here. You'd better come back in. I'll rematerialse you now."

Lab

"Nothing in the Mountain Sector, nothing in the Arena, nothing in the Celestial Dome, nothing in the Core of Lyoko, and not a trace in Sector 5 either!"

"What are you saying?" asked Yumi aggressively. Harry closed his eyes.

"Ulrich has…disappeared…I don't know what to do…"

Bridge

"I don't know where I went wrong," said Jeremy as they walked out the factory. "In spite of all my research, I haven't managed to localise him. I'll still keep searching from my room computer, he's gotta be somewhere…"

"Go on, you can keep trying. But the truth is you messed up big time and Ulrich might be lost forever!" yelled Yumi.

"He's alive. I know he is," said Harry as he locked down. "Call it brother's instinct."

Jeremy was horrified and Yumi ran off crying. The remaining three friends were in despair.

Odd's and Ulrich's dorm

Odd opened the door to his room and saw Kiwi on Ulrich's bed.

"You get off of there!" he yelled. Kiwi looked frightened and hid under the desk. Odd looked very sorry and goes over to him. He was on the verge of tears. "Oh…Oh Kiwi, buddy, I'm sorry…"

Aelita's dorm

Aelita released a tear as she lay in her bed.

Harry's and Jeremy's dorm

The two boys worked on their computers.

"I know he's alive," said Harry. "He has to be."

Yumi's room

Yumi cried on the can as she stared at it.

Scanners

All the lights were out. The scanner Ulrich was in opened…to show Ulrich! Apparently unhurt but disconcerted.

"Jeremy?" asked Ulrich. The teen noticed he's alone in the factory. "Nice, thank you for such a warm welcome!"

He tried to press the button but went straight through it.

"What's happening to me?"

The next day

Ulrich entered Harry's and Jeremy's room…by passing through the door! He stood behind Jeremy who was working on his computer.

"Jeremy, what's happening to me?" asked Ulrich. There was no response from Jeremy who doesn't seem to know Ulrich is there. Harry looked at him and gaped. There was a knock at the door.

"Come in!"

"Yo, Jeremy!" Aelita and Odd entered the room. "Odd, you can see me, right?"

"Well, anything new?" asked Aelita.

"Nothing. Still no sign of Ulrich," said Jeremy sadly.

"Come on, he couldn't just disappear into thin air!" exclaimed Odd.

"He's right there," said Harry as he pointed at Ulrich.

"There's nobody there Harry," said Jeremy. "I think you're hallucinating."

"What do I have to do to make you see me?!" asked Ulrich.

"I must have made a mistake somewhere," said Jeremy. "But for now, I don't know where I messed up."

Ulrich reached over to wave in Odd's face. "Yo hoo Odd."

"He's in front of you Odd," said Harry. "He just waved in your face."

Odd rolled his eyes. Kiwi barked.

"Kiwi, can you cut that out?"

"You're a good dog," said Ulrich. "Do you have any ideas on how to make them realise I'm here?"

Kiwi jumped through Ulrich.

"Maybe an emergent property appeared in the algorithms, and altered the normal functioning of the virtualisation," suggested Aelita. "It's possible…"

"Looks more like a big system bug to me," said Ulrich. Odd and Aelita are startled as they looked around to try and find where the voice came from. "I'm down here, lower!"

The four friends look down and see…Kiwi.

"Surpriiise!"

"That's fantastic! All my training methods have finally paid off, Kiwi's talking," said Odd excitedly.

"No, no, it's me talking! Ulrich! From inside Kiwi's body," corrected Ulrich.

"I told you he was here," said Harry.

"What are you doing inside my dog?" asked Odd. "It's crazy."

"And how are you talking?" asked Harry. "Dogs don't have the necessary organs in the throat to be able to talk."

"I got into Kiwi's body by accident. It's thanks to him that I can talk to you. Otherwise I was like some kind of disembodied ghost."

Odd knelt and patted Kiwi on the head as Sissi walked in.

"What an adorable little diggity dog!"

"Any sign of Ulrich?" asked Sissi.

"Knock that off or I'll bite you," threatened Ulrich. Sissi stared.

"Oh, you mangy mutt!"

"I think I know what happened," said Jeremy. "During the virtualisation, Ulrich's body and mind got separated."

"Is that the reason why you couldn't localise him on Lyoko?" asked Aelita.

"Right, because it's not Ulrich who's there. Just his body which doesn't give the same signal."

"Do you think you can put me back together again?" asked Ulrich.

"Since we have now classes today, I'll go back to the computer lab with Aelita and Harry and run another search," Jeremy knelt down. "Once we locate your body, I'm sure we'll find a way to put you back into it, ok?"

"How long will that take you?"

"Hopefully by this afternoon."

"Cool. That will give me time to see about my future."

"What are you talking about?" asked Odd. Kiwi stared to bark. "Ulrich? You still there?"

"He just left," said Harry.

"Was Kiwi just talking?" asked Sissi.

"That was Ulrich in Kiwi's body."

Yumi's house

Yumi's phone rang.

"Yes Jeremy?" She sat up excitedly. "Alive?! Oh! That's great! Where did you find him?! …huh? Kiwi?"

Jim's room

Jim was in front of his mirror.

"Hey! Heya! Who's that handsome-looking guy? It's Jim Morales!" said Jim as Ulrich walked behind him. Ulrich took control of Jim and tried out his voice.

"Ahem! Who's that handsome-looking guy? Who's that handsome-looking guy? Who's that handsome-looking guy?"

Ulrich walked out the room and slipped on a bar of soap.

"Oh, thank you for finding it for me," said Nicholas as he picked it up. "I've been looking for it everywhere."

He ran off.

"Oh my back!" Jim's phone rang. "Hello? Ms Hertz? Just the person I was hoping to talk to about the academic review!"

"Really Jim. Call me Susanne. I have a favour to ask you. Meet me in the gym in five minutes."

"Uh, ok. I'll be there Ms… er… Susanne."

Lab

"Where can he be?" asked Jeremy to himself as he typed on the kneeboard.

"In sector five probably," said Harry.

Gym

Ulrich walked through the door.

"Jim darling! You once told me you used to be a professional ballroom dancer in Buenos Aires! Right?" Ms Hertz walked over.

"Uh, yeah. That's right."

"Goo. Then I'm going to need your help. Ever since you mentioned that I've been absolutely dying to learn how to tango!"

"Uh, wait a minute Susanne. First, I wanted to discuss Ulrich Stern."

"Oh no Jim. Not now. The academic review is the right time to deal with that issue."

"That's what I mean. It would be too late then. We need to discuss this now."

"Don't be like that Jim. I've got a date with Pedro for the Sunday afternoon dance and brunch and I've got to learn how to dance the tango by then! If I don't, he won't pay any attention to me!"

"Ok! But first, let's talk about Stern! If he had a second chance he could get better! I think…"

"Oh! I must have given that boy a thousand chances! Honestly, I'm sick and tired of that lazy good-for-nothing! Come on now, Jim, let's tango," interrupted Ms Hertz.

"Uh-uh! No second chance for Ulrich Stern, no Australian tango lessons! I am outta here!" Ulrich stalked off.

"Argentinean tango," corrected Ms Hertz.

Lunch Hall

It's a total mess in the lunch hall. Jim tries to calm everyone down.

"Quiet down!" ordered Ulrich. "Sounds like a zoo around here!"

Everyone stopped and looked at Jim strangely. Then Odd, atop a table, launched the assault

"FIRE AWAAAAY!"

"YEEEEEEAH!" yelled the students as they threw bread at poor Jim.

"Odd! Cut it out! It's me, Ulrich!"

"Ulrich?!" asked Yumi in surprise.

"I should have known," moaned Sissi. "That's what he meant by seeing about his future."

"SOGGY ROOOOOOOOLLS!"

Ulrich ran out.

"What are you doing inside Jim?" asked Yumi as they shut the door.

"Trying to smooth things out with Ms Hertz. No luck yet."

Yumi's phone rang. "Hello? Yes Jeremy?"

"We finally found Ulrich's body," said Jeremy. "It turned up in sector five."

"Ok, great. I'll tell him." She ended the call then turned to Ulrich. "We have to get to the factory. Looks like Jeremy solved your problem."

"Ok, after the academic review. It's too important, especially after what just happened with Ms Hertz," said Ulrich.

"What happened?" asked Yumi curiously.

"I'd rather not talk about it… I'll be over there as soon as possible."

"Odd Della Robbia! It's time for your class's academic review. You are the class representative," said Delmas as he strode over.

"Oh noo!" moaned Odd.

"Now hurry up."

Odd and Ulrich walked away as Yumi's phone rang again.

"Yumi, something is wrong. Ulrich's body seems to be…moving on its own."

"But isn't that normal?" asked Yumi.

"Of course not! Without Ulrich's brain it should do anything!" said Jeremy. "Harry thinks our old friend Xana has something to do with it. He's probably right. Better get over here as soon as you can."

"Odd and Ulrich are at the academic review."

"Rats. Aelita, can you text them and tell them we have an emergency?"

Random room

"And now, should we see the files in ascending or descending order?" asked Delmas. Odd's phone beeped. "Della Robbia, I wish you would show a little courtesy. Mobile phones are forbidden. Turn yours off."

"I'm sorry sir."

"Who should we start with?" asked Delmas.

"Last person in the alphabetical order," said Ulrich.

"First person," said Ms Hertz.

"Ladies choice."

Ms Hertz smiled.

Lyoko

"Virtualisation."

Sissi landed next to the other three in the mountain sector.

"We're ok Jeremy. We've reached the edge of the sector," said Yumi as they ran over.

"I'm sending you the transporter."

Jeremy entered the code and the Transport orb scooped them up. It dropped the four in sector five. They ran through the entrance and instantly spotted the key.

"This is too easy," said Harry as he frowned. Pillars started to fall.

"You just had to say that didn't you?" asked Sissi.

Random room

"Right, and now let's look at the file of Jeremy Belpois," said Delmas.

"All's well, nothing to add."

"Yes, I think that everyone would agree with me when I say that he is an exemplary student. In short, he never makes a mistake," said Ms Hertz.

"Never makes a mistake?!" asked Ulrich incredulously. "You must be kidding!"

"Mister Morales! Sports aren't everything, you know!" Ms Hertz said sharply.

"Alright. Next student."

Sector five

Harry ran to the other side and hit the key. The pillars retreated and the four ran through the exit.

"Take the next passage on your left." They turned left. "Now go right."

They ran into another room and saw Ulrich's body.

"Ulrich?"

He turned and his eyes were replaced by the eye of Xana.

"Super Sprint!"

He ran off. Harry rolled his eyes and caught up easily.

"You can't get away that easily."

Random Room

"Does everyone agree that Della Robbia has remarkable potential, and that he is lazy as the day is long?" asked Delmas.

"But wait! Personally, I think he's made a lot of progress, especially in gym! Isn't that so, mister Morales?" asked Odd.

"Uh…yes, yes! A lot of progress! The other students aren't afraid anymore when it's his turn at the javelin, and he's stopped dropping the shotput on his toes!"

"Alright, I'll make a note of that in his file…" Delmas said.

Sector five

Ulrich's body pushed past Harry.

"Don't lose him."

"Easy for you to say," said Yumi. "They're fast!"

The slower three jumped down a shaft.

Random room

"So now, we've come to the case of Ulrich Stern. Anyone care for some turnip soup?" asked Delmas. "Afraid that's all there is."

"I think we have a serious problem," said Mr Fumet.

"Yes, this is scandalous! They could've left some sort of variety, like tomato or vegetable or even just coffee!"

"No, I was referring to Ulrich Stern," corrected Mr Fumet.

"He has simply stopped working! He does absolutely nothing at all! His grades are terrible especially when compared to his brother. At best, as far as I'm concerned, I recommend he be transferred down to ninth grade remedial, where he has a vague chance of catching up," said Ms Hertz.

"Right, so is everyone in agreement?" asked Delmas. The teachers all murmured words of agreement.

"I do not agree at all," said Ulrich as he stood.

"And neither do I," said Odd.

"Go on. You have the floor, Jim."

"You can't make a decision based only on my…his grades. They're far from excellent, I'm not denying that, but to go from there to saying that I…that he doesn't lift a finger is an awful lot to assume! And don't forget that you were…" Ulrich trailed off.

"We were what?" asked Delmas.

"You were once adolescents."

Sector five

"Ulrich's reached the room that holds the core of Lyoko. Can you see a way in?"

"No but I do have an idea," said Harry. The wall faded away and they ran through. "Haven't had to use this in a while."

Random room

"Remember how much your emotions affected your work at school? Who in this room could say that they have never felt lost? Never had problems with their parents…never had girl or boy problems…Stern is going to straighten out! He promised me! So seriously now, don't you all think he deserves a second chance?" asked Ulrich.

"Well, if you look at it from that point of view," said Delmas. "Then we might want to reconsider his case. I'm sure Harry would help him out."

The teachers murmured in agreement.

"I disagree completely," said Ms Hertz as she stood up furiously. "And as the senior teacher I feel absolutely bound to impose my veto! Stern should be transferred to ninth grade remedial and that's all!"

Sector Five

"Hurry up. The shield took a thirty point energy hit."

They continued down the passage.

Random room

"Come now Susanne. You were a teenager once."

"Of course I was but I still stand by my decision."

"Susanne, can I have a word with you?" asked Ulrich. He took Ms Hertz away from the table. "Listen Susanne, if you give Stern a second chance, then uh, you have my word that I'll teach you the tango, the rumba, the cha cha cha, and any other stupi…uh…ballroom dance you want! I swear!"

Ms Hertz looked thoughtful. "Well then…alright. Since everyone is against me, we will leave that thumb-twiddling mister Stern in his current class."

"YEAH!"

"But if he doesn't shape up, I'll ship him out!" continued Ms Hertz.

"Can I please go to the bathroom?" asked Odd.

"Uh, me too, sir! It's the uh…the emotion! You know what I mean…" said Ulrich.

Sector five

The four looked up to see Ulrich's body sending a green laser at the shield.

"Ulrich!" yelled Harry as they climbed up.

Aelita sent and energy field at him and it connected. She tried to send another one but a manta hit it. Harry hit the manta and Sissi took out another one. Aelita tried to hit Ulrich again but he dodged. Mantas hit everyone except Harry and Ulrich attacked the shield again. The shield blew. Harry ran up and grabbed him.

Lab

"Jeremy, we're here."

"About time. Ulrich, you have to leave Jim's body first."

"I hope he doesn't flip out on us…!" said Ulrich as he left Jim's body. Jim fell to the floor, unconscious.

"I bet this'll be something he'd rather not talk about," said Odd.

"Odd, I'm sending you over know. Ulrich, wait in a scanner. The minute your body devirtualises, I'll refuse it with your mind. Be patient."

"Just don't mess it up again."

"Transfer Odd. Scanner Odd. Virtualisation."

Mountains

Odd landed and scarpered off to the edge of the sector.

Sector Five

Ulrich's body elbowed Harry who fell back winded. He pressed his foot to Harry's chest. Sissi destroyed another manta as the other two struggled. A Scyphozoa started to rise.

"How did that thing get in here?"

Aelita devirtualised. Yumi tried to hit a manta but it hit her and she devirtualised as well. Her fan hit the manta and it disappeared. Sissi flew down and attacked Ulrich. Harry slipped out from under his foot.

"Who went and left our gym teacher on the floor asleep?" asked Yumi as she saw the unconscious Jim.

Ulrich stabbed Sissi.

"Hurry up Odd. There's only one shield layer left and the Scyphozoa is nearly at Harry's level."

"Easy for you to say. I only have two legs."

Odd flew in and hit Ulrich. Harry stabbed him and he devirtualised.

"We're ok Jeremy."

"Alright Ulrich. Now's the time."

"Oh, it's a great feeling to have my body back," said Ulrich as he appeared in the scanner.

Later

Jim left his room grinning but Ulrich stopped him

"Stop! There, under your foot!" Just under Jim's foot is Nicolas' bar of soap which was supposed to make the teacher slip over. Ulrich picked it up.

"Well thank you, Stern! You saved me on that one! But uh…why did you do that?" asked Jim.

"Let's just say that…I've been in your shoes!"

"Well done, m'boy! I can see that something positive's gotten into that head of yours!"

"Jim! I'm ready to dance! What should we start with? Tango? Paso doble? Rumba?" asked Ms Hertz.

"Personally I'm starting with a hot cup of coffee and six donuts! After that, I've got jogging with the eighth graders."

"But…what about my ballroom dance lesson?" asked Ms Hertz in confusion. "You promised me!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Susanne! I think you had one too many herbal teas last night! They do weird things to your head!"

A mega slap from Ms Hertz sent Jim flying down the hallway.