Hey guys!
Thanks so much for all the reviews - I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Surprisingly, not many of you commented on the warning Death gave Gabriel - maybe the latter half of the chapter distracted you? In any case, I've been planning this particular plotline for ages, so it's amazing to finally be able to begin it - even if we're only in the building-up stage right now.
[Guess what I got sent for Christmas, by the way? A Japanese copy of the Goblet of Fire - super cool. I can sort of read it, but it's impossible to translate more than the occasional word/phrase unless I have my English copy out too].
And yeah, I don't see Gabriel and Michael getting along that well anytime soon. Someone needs to lock them in a room together or something and force them to work through this stuff.
I'm...not entirely sure where I was going with this chapter. Mostly I'm just trying to kill time in the HPverse until we get to the stuff I already planned out, while simultaneously keeping this interesting enough for you guys. Nothing's worse than waiting for an update and getting a boring chapter where nothing happens.
Problem is, by taking Draco away I pretty much destroyed the entire plot of books 6. *evil laughter while I contemplate Draco's foretold plotline* BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT.
CHAPTER TIME. ENJOY.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Supernatural
"I don't know what he's thinking, making Snape the new Defense teacher."
Hermione rolled her eyes behind her now-usual newspaper, though only Gabriel saw it, since he was sitting next to her. "Honestly, Ron," She said, exasperated, and Gabriel thought she might be regretting her choice to invite Gabriel and Michael to the Gryffindor table instead of sitting with them at Ravenclaw. "I'm sure Dumbledore has his reasons."
"Sure," Ron muttered. "Let's just hope the curse on the position is still there. I'm hoping for another death, personally-"
"Oh, really, Ron!" Hermione slammed the newspaper down. "Didn't you hear Dumbledore last night? We're supposed to be trying to get along!"
"He said that about the Houses," Michael reminded her as Ron snorted.
"With Snape?" The latter said darkly. "Fat chance."
Hermione turned to Gabriel, who answered the unspoken question without prompting.
"Honestly, I think someone who spends his time going between Voldemort and Dumbledore like that isn't the best choice."
"What?" All three of them were looking at him oddly.
"He's a spy," Gabriel elaborated. "Or double agent or whatever you want to call it. Dark Mark and all."
Ron dropped his spoon, Hermione was still staring at Gabriel, and Michael raised nir gaze to the High Table with a thoughtful almost-frown.
"How do you know?" Hermione hissed.
"You don't need to whisper, no one's going to overhear us." Gabriel pointed out, mouth curling in a grin. "And I have my ways."
"He's right," Michael said. "I was wondering what that thing on Snape's arm was, but it must be the mark."
"What thing?" Both Hermione and Ron turned to look as well. "I don't see anything," Ron said doubtfully.
"Probably because your senses are too dull to see magic like that," Gabriel remarked idly.
"Excuse me?" Hermione looked insulted.
"Human and all," Gabriel clarified. The insulted scowl fell, only to be replaced by disappointment.
"Anything in the newspaper?" Michael changed the subject, lowering nir gaze back down to Hermione, whose eyes darted back to the paper.
"No, nothing today, luckily." She folded it up as she spoke. "What about you two?"
Michael glanced at Gabriel, and Gabriel pretended not to notice. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well..." Hermione looked a little more hesitant. "You can...you know, do stuff about Voldemort. To help. Didn't you?"
Michael looked slightly pained. Gabriel shrugged, making a 'so-so' motion with his hand.
Ron looked angry. "But you're - you know! Shouldn't you be helping?"
"Well," Gabriel said dryly, "It's exactly because I'm 'you know' that I've got other stuff to do that's a little more important than some human wizard."
"It's not like that," Michael amended, giving Gabriel a flat look.
"What is it like, then?" Hermione asked nem.
Michael's mouth twisted. "The stuff we were dealing with over the summer was a much more...immediate concern than Voldemort. That doesn't mean we don't care about stopping him."
To Gabriel's eyes, Hermione didn't look like she entirely believed Michael, but she accepted nir explanation without further prying.
Hogwarts was a lot more boring than Gabriel remembered.
Maybe it was because he'd finally spent some time back in the familiar atmosphere of his old Earth - monsters prowling it, demons inhabiting the surface and filling Hell, much closer there than it was to this Earth, especially with Cain.
Back in Heaven.
Either way, it was something Gabriel hadn't experienced in that quantity for fifteen years, which while not that much time to an archangel was enough time that the re-immersion came as a shocking reminder of all that he'd missed out on while trapped on the wizard's Earth.
And now, compared to that? Hogwarts was boring.
Especially since there looked to be nothing more exciting happening than occasional reports of attacks and ominous happenings over wizarding and Muggle England alike.
Honestly. Even another giant snake would have been preferable to this.
Now Gabriel had nothing to do during his new free periods other than tell Michael about Death's warning.
"And you don't know what he meant?"
"If I did, I would have said." Gabriel was halfheartedly reading something in hopes of finding the necessary bit of information for an essay that had been assigned last period. Hermione would have been proud of him for getting on it so quickly, except he was barely paying attention to a single word that his eyes passed over.
Michael was frowning, head propped on nir interlocked hands. "Death doesn't just hand out warnings." It was a good thing Gabriel knew how to make sure no one would overhear them, or else there would have been some awkward questions raised long ago.
"You think I don't know that?"
"Something old..." Michael muttered. "How old, though? There are plenty of things he could be talking about."
"Us," Gabriel suggested sarcastically. He could hear Michael's aggravated huff of breath without even looking to check if he was right.
"I doubt that."
"Well, Death wasn't exactly going out of his way to clarify." Gabriel dropped the book on a nearby table - they were everywhere in the common room, and usually littered with random student's belongings - and swung his legs down from where they were propped on the arm of the chair.
"Why warn you in the first place, though?" Michael asked, sounding frustrated. "He's Death."
"Exactly. Who knows what the fuck he's thinking?" Gabriel stood up. He hadn't meant for telling Michael to turn into hours of brainstorming what Death had meant, and he wasn't going to stick around.
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere." Gabriel swept his books off the table and nearly dropped a couple, but fumbled for a grip and grabbed the last one by the front cover. "I'm just putting these away." He might have said I'll be back, if he were still talking to Michael Corner.
But he wasn't.
There was something buzzing in the pocket of his jacket, which was odd, because Gabriel didn't usually wear it at Hogwarts, and so no one could have slipped something into said pocket this early in the year.
The object, when he drew it out, was a phone.
Gabriel stared at the screen for a moment, as the thing kept buzzing. It must be Sam's - he vaguely remembered not giving it back to Sam when the younger Winchester had lent it to him last summer after summoning him, but how the hell was it working?
Aside from there being zero signal in the Scottish highlands, there was too much magic in Hogwarts. He was fairly sure Hermione had mentioned something like that, but it had been a few years ago and Gabriel didn't remember everything.
"What the hell?" The caller ID said Dean Winchester, which just made him not want to answer it as opposed to what might have been indifference, but Gabriel was still more concerned with how he was being called by someone when he was a galaxy and eight worlds over and in a place where no technology actually worked.
Ambient magic should have broken the phone long ago - or at least as soon as it had passed through the wards. Gabriel didn't know how he'd forgotten about having it in his pocket all summer.
The phone cut off, having reached its limit in how many times it rung or whatever. Setting it down on the table, Gabriel reached out with his Grace. The ambient magic should have-
There wasn't any ambient magic.
Gabriel paused for a moment before looking further. That wasn't right. Hogwarts was full of magic, so why wasn't there any in this dorm?
Probing further revealed that there was plenty of ambient magic on the outside the of the dorm, but it stopped at the door - for the most part, at least. The castle was so old and had been in use so long that magic was practically engrained in the walls, but that wasn't enough to stop the phone working, it seemed.
Curious, Gabriel pushed closer at the walls, wondering what was keeping the magic out, and found faint traces of something that looked like Grace.
It took a moment to realize that they were from him.
"Huh." Gabriel sat down on the bed, chin propped on one hand. "So this is what happens when an archangel spends six years more or less in the same place." He had no doubt that the fact that he'd spent so much time here was the reason for this, but how?
He'd been at such low power, it was a miracle there had been any to seep out...
Gabriel smacked himself in the forehead as the realization hit. "Of course!" The reason he hadn't been able to access his power was because he hadn't gotten permission from the vessel, but what if he'd mistaken low power for it not coming back at all? If it had been coming back but not being used and forced to stay so low, then some of it would have seeped out and now doubt settled into almost every facet of the room.
When he looked, it was so obvious that Gabriel couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before.
Gabriel snorted. "What a find." If the Grace was keeping magic out, though, then that meant they repelled each other, which could come in handy later.
It would also explain why spells had always been slow to work for him, despite the grip on 'his' magic that Gabriel doubted any of the other students had - he was used to, and still mostly made up of, Grace - even in first year. Previously he hadn't paid it any attention and put it down to not really caring about the schoolwork, but now Gabriel wished he'd questioned it earlier.
Ah, well. Hindsight is 20/20, but Gabriel didn't care for looking back, and besides the phone was ringing again.
This time it was Castiel. Gabriel answered it.
"Yo! Bro. What can I do for you?"
There was a pause before anyone answered.
"...Gabriel?" There was an indignant sputter in the background and low voices. Castiel sounded confused. "Um...what are you doing with Sam's phone?"
"Must have forgotten to give it back," Gabriel replied cheerfully, and then raised his voice. "Lucky those Winchesters have multiple phones, huh? They heard that, right?" He asked, lowering his voice again.
"Yes," Castiel replied, and Gabriel distinctly heard someone swearing in the background. "One second."
There was another pause, and then someone else spoke.
"How the hell did you get your hands on my phone?" Sam sounded partly confused and partly like he was ready to break out the holy oil to get it back.
"Ah, you remember that time after you summoned me? When you were on the phone talking to Castiel in that horrendous truck you were driving?"
There was a short inhalation. "Shit. You never gave that back!"
"And it only took you three months this time." Gabriel pointed out, grinning [even though Sam couldn't see it]. "You guys are getting better at this!"
"Are you going to give it back?"
"Mmmmmmaybe." Gabriel rolled out the syllable and let it drag itself out of his mouth. "I'd hate to keep getting summoned whenever you need something. A phone would be a lot more convenient." He didn't mention that most of the time, it was doubtful the phone would work at all.
"Usually we'd just pray."
"That's sweet of you, Sam, but I don't usually take personal prayers. And either way it's only a fifty-fifty chance that I'll actually show up. I've got other stuff to do."
Sam snorted, the sound distinct even over a phone connection that was millions of light-years long. "What stuff?"
"Archangel stuff. That is absolutely none of your business."
"Sure." Fortunately, Sam didn't press the issue. "Could you at least have the decency to send me a replacement? Phones are expensive."
Gabriel grinned, thinking of the possibilities. "Give me some time. I'll find one."
"Just don't send us anything-" Beep. Gabriel ended the call, grinning. Now where could he find the most outrageous cell phone?
"I think I might need to take a little trip."
He could do that now, after all.
Gabriel settled on a fairly normal phone [with some fairly inappropriate and tricked-out wallpaper that would be impossible to get rid of, as well as every version of that bird and pipe app that he could find] and them found the weirdest and most unwieldy case possible and permanently attached it to the sleek pink phone.
He wondered if Sam would even keep it around long enough to discover that all the data and contacts from the phone Gabriel had 'borrowed' were also on it.
The Winchesters, Gabriel decided, really were very entertaining to screw with. Maybe he could ask Castiel to film their reaction to the...well, 'phone' didn't really describe it anymore. 'Disaster' might have been a better word. In any case, he might just stick around after he left it to see what happened.
Sam's face had been well worth the wasted time.
The first Hogsmeade weekend was halfway into October, and despite the bad weather Gabriel had been roped into accompanying Hermione down to the village.
This might not have been so bad, except Hermione seemed determined to keep putting him and Michael in close quarters, obviously convinced that it would help repair their relationship.
Filch was scanning everyone who was lined up to leave with the same thin gold stick that he'd performed the same check with at the start-of-term feast, and Gabriel eyed the stick and weighed the merits of distracting Filch so that he wouldn't realize if he skipped Gabriel.
He got to the end of the line and Filch mysteriously missed the group of three students waiting to leave.
Snow was falling thickly, which might have been pleasant to walk through had it not been incredibly wet and blown into their faces by a strong wind that did its best to knock the three of them over.
"I can't believe I agreed to this," Gabriel muttered, and Hermione was probably frowning but it was impossible to tell with the scarf she'd yanked over her face.
"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks," Michael suggested, nir words coming out muffled due to the fact that, to maintain appearances, ne were also wearing a scarf over nir face. "It'll be warmer in there."
It was difficult to make their way down High street, even empty as it was, save for a few other people hurrying to other destinations. The Three Broomsticks was [apparently] a restaurant slash bar - Gabriel had almost never been in it, having mostly lost interest in Hogsmeade after his initial visit in third year.
Hermione tugged her scarf down with a sigh and slid into the nearest booth, which happened to be by the door. "This is much better."
"I'm surprised you wanted to come out in this weather," Gabriel commented, sliding into the booth next to her. Michael sat opposite them, glancing around at the crowded main room.
"Seems like a lot of other people had the same idea." Ne commented. "I've never seen it this crowded in here."
"It's not that bad," Hermione replied, shivering as the door opened and sent a wash of cold air towards them. "Ugh, we shouldn't have sat near the door."
Gabriel wordlessly held out his own scarf, but Hermione shook her head, neglecting to ask how it had gone from around his neck to in his hand. "No, I'll be fine. The weather's really a mess, though!"
"No kidding." A gust of snow blew in with the next group, who almost slammed the door behind them. They were decked out in Slytherin green-and-silver scarves, which meant that most of the guests started eyeing them warily, but the barmaid coming over to ask what they wanted occupied Gabriel so that he didn't see where they disappeared off to.
"Harry, do you want anything?"
"I'm good."
"Let's just go back up to the castle, there's nothing to do here and it's freezing."
"Agreed," Gabriel said. "Well, the first part at least."
Hermione huffed and smacked his shoulder, which was mostly ineffective through the layers. "Don't rub it in that you're fine, I feel like my fingers are about to fall off."
"You're fine." Of course, Hermione would never be anything less than fine, especially with two archangels as friends, but Gabriel never liked making it obvious when he liked someone enough to do things like that for them.
"Who's that?" Hermione was peering up ahead of them, where two figures were visible - if inaudible - through the still thickly falling snow.
"Dunno." Michael peered as well. "One of them's wearing a Gryffindor scarf."
It was barely visible, like the girl who wore it, but as the three of them approached flashes of red and gold became more apparent, and so did the two figure's words.
"Katie, I don't think you should-"
"I know what I'm doing, Leanne," Katie said crossly, seizing the stray end of her scarf and wrapping it more firmly around her. "It's just a message - oh, hello, Hermione."
"Hello, Katie." Hermione said, waving and then stuffing her hand back in her pocket, despite the thick gloves she was wearing. "Is something wrong?"
"It's nothing." Katie said, but she wasn't looking at Hermione when she said it.
Leanne sniffed. "It's not nothing, Katie," She said angrily. "Just because someone told you that you should-"
"I told you, it wasn't just someone!"
"But you won't tell me who it is!"
"I think I need some explanation," Gabriel said, raising one hand in a 'hold it' motion. "Who are you talking about?"
Katie's mouth stayed shut, but Leanne turned towards Gabriel with teary eyes. "She said someone told her to take a message to Dumbledore, but she won't tell me what it is or who told her!"
"Leanne!" Katie looked mad. "It's none of his business!"
"Well, maybe he'll help!" Leanne shouted back. "You're acting really weird, Katie!"
Gabriel looked at Katie - really Looked, past the pure physical appearance - and narrowed his eyes.
"Leanne, right?" He said. "Why don't we just go up to the castle? I'm sure someone can deliver the message there."
"No!" All four of them looked over at the explosive shout. "I've got to deliver it myself!" Katie's fists were clenched tight at her sides, and Gabriel felt the niggling in his mind that meant Michael was trying to talk to him privately.
He tried not to sigh. It would be too obvious in this cold weather.
What do you want?
She's under a spell, isn't she?
Brilliant deduction, Michael. Gabriel was struck by an idea. He snapped off the connection, noticing a brief spasm of discomfort cross Michael's face, and turned towards Katie, raising his hands placatingly.
"You said it was for Dumbledore, right?" He asked her, getting a sharp nod in return. "D'you know where his office is?" Gabriel gave himself a slightly condescending tone.
Katie blinked, posture loosening. "Um..."
"That's what I thought." Gabriel put his hands down. "I've been up there before. I could take you, if you like."
Katie eyed him warily. "It's meant to be a private message."
"So I won't listen in."
Katie was silent for a moment, probably considering Gabriel's proposal, and then a cloud of breath huffed out through her scarf. "Fine." She stomped past him, ignoring Leanne, and Gabriel turned around to give Hermione a thumbs-up before following.
In the current conditions, it didn't take long to get out of sight of Leanne - no doubt Michael would have tried to help and keep her from following, though Gabriel steamed at the idea that he depended on Michael to get stuff done.
The whirling snow obscured everything around them only a few moments later, and Katie squinted. "Where's the castle?"
"It's that dark shape up there," Gabriel said, pausing and standing still. "You can't see it?" He made himself sound mocking on purpose.
Katie didn't turn around, trudging on with a single-minded intensity. Frowning, Gabriel took a few large steps to catch up and caught her shoulder. "Hey-"
Katie whirled around, shoving him back, even though she succeeded more in pushing herself backwards while Gabriel didn't move in the least.
"Rude," Gabriel commented. "I'm showing you the way, after all."
"I can do it myself!" Katie shouted. "Go away!"
"You think you can find one office in that castle?"
Katie tried to punch him.
Fist blurring, Gabriel saw trails of the spell behind the motion - it was tricky to see, so someone must have tried to cover it up - and reached up even quicker, catching the fist. Katie's inertia took her forward and Gabriel saw a flash of fear on her face before he brought up his other hand and two fingers touched her forehead.
Katie slumped immediately and Gabriel barely caught her, enjoying the fact that he was able to use his Grace so freely. He'd hated having to restrict it.
Now where to go?
The headmaster's office, when Gabriel thought about it, was as good a place as any.
Or it would have been if Dumbledore were there.
"Huh." Gabriel let Katie slump in the unoccupied guest chair that was still sitting out and frowned at the just as empty one behind the desk, winter gear melting off because why not? It's not like anyone was watching except Fawkes.
"So..." Gabriel thought out loud, sitting backwards on the desk itself and staring up at the ceiling. "Someone curses a girl and makes her deliver a message to Dumbledore...but why?"
Lowering his gaze, Gabriel scrutinized Katie. Whatever enchantment she had been cursed on was wound around her - one part partially obscuring her head in a haze. It felt very similar to the Imperius, but the burst of Grace he'd used to knock her out had weakened the enchantment and it was already fading.
"Hm." Gabriel snapped one more time and the offending magic dissipated. Katie sagged slightly in the chair, relaxing even more and head lolling to the side. There was another secondary enchantment under the Imperius, but it was much weaker and was almost gone by the time Gabriel had noticed it was there at all, and so it was impossible to tell what it had been meant to do.
Another snap and Katie was gone, off to the hospital wing, where a mysterious visitor would alert Madam Pomfrey and vanish before anyone had time to ask them where they'd found Katie.
Gabriel leaned back on the desk. "Someone is up to something," He said aloud, talking to no one in particular [even if Fawkes did look like they were listening a little unnervingly closely, for a bird]. "But what?"
This chapter's just over 4k and you guys have been waiting a while, so I'll end it here and post it.
Read and review, please!