I do not own the Harry Potter series or Pokémon.
Some scenes and dialogue are derived from Prisoner of Azkaban.
Chapter Twenty Eight: Rotom Learned Return
Moon's saving grace was that the Easter break made it far easier to avoid any confrontation with Lupin. There was more work than ever to complete, and shutting herself in her room or in the library like everyone else was tempting. However, she chose to work in the Come and Go Room. Mostly due to the fact that it's shifting nature would supply her with the materials she needed to do her work, but also because it was the perfect place in the castle to hide in if someone had a constantly updating map of the place. All she had to do was ask the Room to keep her hidden and she was safe. She doubted that the Room was on the map in the first place.
With the Quidditch final coming up, Harry was mostly unavailable for study sessions, leaving Moon as the mediator for any arguments that were stirred up between Ron and Hermione. They were willing to spend time around each other, as long as Crookshanks wasn't in the same room. Moon thought it was an improvement.
Even with the workload dropped upon them, the break went by in a flash. When Saturday arrived, everyone was ready to watch the match. The excitement was even greater than the last game Moon went to, due to the fact that whoever won the game won the Cup. Both the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws cheered when the Gryffindor Quidditch team walked into the Great Hall for breakfast. The Slytherins, strangely enough, applauded the Hufflepuff team. Probably due to the fact that the lions and the snakes were rivals, and the badgers and the eagles had their own animosity, although theirs was a bit more subtle.
The rush to get a good seat in the stands left Moon sandwiched in between Ron and Seamus Finnigan. Hermione was next to Ron, and Neville was next to Hermione. Other students crowded around them, and if it weren't for the benches, they would've likely been pushed up to the top of the stands.
Half the stadium erupted into cheers when each team was announced. Madame Hooch called for the captains to shake hands, and that was the first time Moon got a good look at the Hufflepuff team. Or rather, the first time she got a good look at their captain.
No wonder so many girls were making comments about Cedric Diggory, the Seeker was beautiful.
Every player mounted their brooms. The second the whistle blew, they were up in the air.
"Gryffindor starts in possession, Angelina Johnson with the Quaffle…"
The Chasers weaved around each other as they tried to grab the Quaffle. A pass was intercepted by the Hufflepuff Chasers, only for Alicia Spinnet to take the Quaffle back a second later and make the first goal of the game. The Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws whooped and cheered.
It was hard to keep up with the game. The Hufflepuffs were fair players when they were against the Gryffindors, and vice versa, so there weren't any fouls. After four goals were made by the Gryffindors, the Hufflepuffs got two in a row, to the apparent distress of the Gryffindor captain.
Suddenly, Diggory went into a dive, and Harry immediately went after him. They must have seen the Snitch. Diggory's small lead didn't last long, as the Firebolt was too fast. Harry was deliberately holding back so his team could score a few more goals to secure the Quidditch Cup, but he had to keep Diggory from catching the Snitch first.
A Bludger did the trick, whizzing past both of the Seekers' faces and startling them enough for them to lose sight of the Snitch.
Hufflepuff scored another goal before Gryffindor got back on track. They managed to get five goals over the next half an hour, bringing the score to 90-30.
Moon wondered if it would be possible to play Quidditch on a pokémon instead of a broomstick. She might have to experiment with that sometime if she brought the concept of the game home with her, although the idea of May insisting on playing with Rayquaza was almost a certainty.
Harry shot off from his position in the air, soon followed by Diggory. It would have been a pointless effort on the part of the Hufflepuff Seeker if the Snitch hadn't suddenly doubled back and flown down. Both Seekers dived towards it, approaching the ground at a dangerously fast pace.
Harry was a second quicker. His hand shot out, grabbing the golden ball and ending the game. The Gryffindors went wild, as well as the Ravenclaws, and even a few good natured Hufflepuffs joined in. The Gryffindor team practically dogpiled on their Seeker. Students started running down onto the field, and Moon sprinted with them to keep herself from being trampled. Hermione and Ron were at her side, and all three of them were grinning wildly. Harry, being carried by the flock of students, spotted them and grinned back at them.
It was ultimately just a school event, but one would have thought the team had won the World Cup with the euphoria they were showing.
The celebrations lasted for what felt like an eternity, but was at most a few weeks. Moon had missed the House party due to her unaffiliated status. She wasn't offended by any means—the additional security meant that no one, not even teachers other than McGonagall and Dumbledore were allowed in—and had spent the evening in her room smiling like an idiot.
She hadn't even been this happy when she won the championship. It wasn't even her victory that she was celebrating, for Eons' sake! Perhaps it was just the collective joy on top of her own that was making her feel so ecstatic.
In a short amount of time, her happiness wore off as other things were brought to her attention. Namely, Lupin's behaviour.
It was almost exactly as she predicted it to be; Lupin pretended like she was just any other student, even when he very well knew she was not. After being told that she was welcome to speak to him at any time, and after the conversation they held, it was as though she were shoved into a mental corner in the man's mind. There was a subtle but deliberate attempt to ignore her completely.
Or maybe Moon was just paranoid.
She did wonder if she had done the right thing in withholding the truth from him. She didn't like having news sprung on her or secrets kept from her. Her reasons for not telling Lupin about them being siblings were less altruistic and far more selfish in hindsight. Moon could not reverse time, however, and had to live with those choices even if she didn't enjoy the results.
With the month of May came extreme pressure to do well on their exams. The teachers were starting to double down on the work to give as many students as possible a shot at passing the class. The exams wouldn't be as complicated as O.W.L. or N.E.W. , but third year was an important turning point when students started taking extra classes, meaning extra exams.
In the meantime, Fawley had sent her another letter, detailing how they had finally gotten the last piece of paperwork through, and that the cure—officially, though rather lamely, titled Nihilego Draught—would be put on the shelves of St Mungo's at the start of June. The Ministry's werewolf-related departments (such as the capture unit or support services) were all collaborating to track down every registered werewolf to inform them of the cure and 'recommend' that they sign up for a spot soon. With only twenty four available beds, and a twenty four hour turnover period, it would take at the very minimum two months to get through everyone on the registry. Not to mention unregistered werewolves.
It wasn't long after Moon got the news that she noticed yet another change in Lupin's behaviour. He was lighter, happier, and more cheerful than she had ever seen. She asked Fawley to send her a list for everyone who had signed up for the month of June. Sure enough, she spotted her brother's name, slotted for the last day of finals. He'd be able to finish all of his exams, pack up and leave the school all before taking the draught at precisely 6 o'clock, the same time as the other 23 patients that day.
Finals were almost upon them when Moon spotted something floating outside one of the Transfiguration classroom windows.
A very orange something.
The young champion stared out the window, her quill frozen above her parchment. She was supposed to summarize one of the topics they had covered over the year in one roll of parchment or less. Her topic was a relatively simple one; Animagi. The work was more or less completed, all she needed was a few closing sentences before she handed it in. Whatever was floating outside must have stolen all of her brain power, because nothing was coming to mind.
The floating object turned mid-air, going from an orange blur to a pentagonal shape with arms attached. A dark screen took up most of the space, and two electric blue eyes sat on top of the screen.
It was Rotom.
The pokédex caught sight of her immediately, and drifted closer to the window. Moon heard a faint buzzing noise, as though Rotom was trying to speak to her. She shook her head, completely confused as to why Rotom was there.
"Miss Blakesley? Is there a problem?"
Moon looked at Professor McGonagall, who was waiting for a reply. She couldn't say that there was an alien device hovering outside the castle. She couldn't even begin to explain Rotom, not in the middle of class.
"No, ma'am."
The champion looked down at her essay, dipping her quill in the ink pot before adding the last sentences.
The complexity involved in becoming an Animagus makes registration and Ministry aid a far more appealing option for those wishing to acquire their form. However, there will always be people who forgo registration for the sake of keeping their ability secret. Therefore, the true number of Animagi will always be unknown.
She set her quill to the side and cast a Drying Charm on the paper rather than waiting the extra minute. Moon went up to the front to hand the summary in. McGonagall scanned the parchment before nodding.
"That will be all, Miss Blakesley. You're dismissed."
She gathered her things in record time before heading out the classroom door. Rotom was floating by the next window she saw. Making sure no one else was watching, she undid the latch and pushed the window open to allow Rotom in.
"You will not believe the trip I've had," was the first thing the machine said to her. "It'zz been hours since I left, but it feelzzz like a week."
"Why are you here?" she asked.
"Not happy to see me?" Rotom buzzed.
"Of course I'm happy. I'm just confused as a Spinda. You said you would be staying at the Ministry."
"That was only until we got a method of getting back home finished, and not a second longer. I couldn't stand all the poking and prodding. It was terrible, Moon."
She rolled her eyes at the dramatic tone, but then her mind caught up with what was being said. "There's a way for me to get home?"
Rotom's eyes brightened. "Yeah, Dawn really went all-out. There's this huge arch of metal and wires—they had to consult a muggle expert to get the right stuff and then modify it, gave him a huge raise in return—and the last bit of testing worked out well. We'll be able to travel back and forth once someone from the other side goes through."
"Other side?"
"Dawn'zzz planning on coming through to get you. She wants to explore a little bit before heading back."
"Of course she does," Moon said lowly. Dawn was a brilliant, elegant, noble lady, but that didn't stop her from getting as much hands-on experience as she could manage. The blue-haired woman wouldn't be able to resist learning everything she could about the magical world when she arrived. There would be no telling how long Dawn would insist on staying.
Despite that knowledge, she had to smile. She would be going home soon.
"Glad to have you back, Rotom."
"Glad to be back, Moon. What'zzz happened while I was away?"
A chuckle escaped from her lips. "Oh, there's been a few things."
"This ought to be good."
A bit of fun before exams begin.