Michael Brown

The days following my refusal to take part in a duel were both entertaining and nerve wracking.

My Ravenclaw housemates, seeing that their original plan to humiliate me didn't work, started resorting to what charitably could be called pranking. Charitably is the right word, as I wasn't sure their actions were sophisticated enough to be even called pranks. To be fair, it wasn't exactly their fault, as they were literally eleven years old, even if magically gifted. Technically first year students weren't the only ones taking part in this, as some of the more angry upperclassmen participated too, but most of the older students either didn't want to be seen bullying a firstie or were just too busy with studying/dating/partying to actually care about something as insignificant as house points.

Because of that, so far my house's attempts to prank/bully me into submission were more amusing than threatening. I mean, why would I care about some random child putting a note with the word 'idiot' on my back or shooting wet paper spitballs at the back of my head during the class? In the same vein I didn't really care about other children calling me a coward (or craven in case of smug, literate purebloods) for declining the duel. I just couldn't bring myself to treat their childish attempts seriously. My dismissive attitude seemed to only motivate them though, as I could feel their pranks becoming more advanced every passing day.

At first I found it entertaining, as it was quite interesting to watch these small children improve and upgrade their repertoire of pranks, but after giving it some thought I realized that my situation was becoming quite dangerous.

While their pranks were fairly harmless so far, I had no doubt they would soon escalate into something serious, most likely due to outside interference. While Ravenclaw students were certainly not threatening, escalating conflict was a great opportunity for the Ministry. I wouldn't put it past them to send one of their metamorphmagus, like Nymphadora Tonks, to blend in with the students and manipulate them into coming up with more and more dangerous pranks. Soon I would probably find myself getting hit with a balloon full of acid or poisonous dart, dying in pain with Tonks grinning in the background. Not a pleasant picture.

The only rational way to avoid that fate was to disappear for a while and wait for the heat to die down. Unfortunately it was impossible for me to completely vanish yet, as I still had to attend classes, but I would do my best to stay out of the spotlight outside of them. It wouldn't be easy though, as I would have to avoid any predictable patterns, no matter how beneficial for me they were. Like contacting my friends on a regular basis.

With a heavy heart I decided to stop interacting with Luna outside of the class for a few days, as well as carrying Tom with me. Spending time with them would make it easier for other Ravenclaw to find me, which was something I couldn't risk.

I was sure Luna would understand my decision just fine and Tom would probably be able to bear being left behind in my school trunk for a while. It was a shame though, as I could feel that Tom was finally starting to trust me. I didn't know what happened, but since the start of October he became much more talkative, constantly asking me about Voldemort's ideology and philosophy. Much to my shame I wasn't able to tell him much, as all information about his future self was heavily suppressed by the Ministry, so I was only able to give Tom some basics, like 'liberty, equality, fraternity' or 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs', which were sentences I assumed Voldemort agreed with. Maybe after the future crisis ended I would be able to find more.

For now I had to concentrate on surviving against the horde of angry first years.

Marcus Fawley

"Come on, people! Brown lost us another ten points today by asking professor Lockhart to teach him how to make 'a convincing fake smile'!" Marcus shouted, enraged. "We've been pranking him for two weeks! Why didn't he stop provoking teachers?!"

The group, consisting of the majority of Ravenclaw first years, was currently sitting in Ravenclaw common room, holding another one of their 'Pranking Michael Brown' meetings. They've been gathering regularly for about two weeks, spending time planning how to force their black sheep into behaving properly. However, despite the number of these meetings, there was no sign of improvement, as Brown was as chaotic as he had been before the pranking started!

"It's hard to prank someone you can't find" responded Diana Jenkins defensively. After she was hit by the spiky bush because of Brown's erratic actions, she was holding a big grudge against him, just waiting to get even "We can't really do anything serious during classes and we can't really locate him outside of them. I even had a plan to spike his food with chilli peppers during dinner, but he hasn't shown up in the great hall for almost a week!"

"He won't come. He hasn't been in the Great Hall since the sorting feast" replied Kevin Wright, making everyone look at him in disbelief. It was impossible for his words to be true after all. Even Brown had to eat sometimes. Seeing others' doubtful gazes, Kevin decided to explain, his tone irritated "That loon actually forages castle grounds in search of food! And he fishes in the great lake! That's how he lost thirty points before, he stole a fishing rod from Hagrid!"

"Wait, is he still doing that?" asked Marcus, a little worried. He really didn't want Ravenclaw to lose more points because of Brown's thievery. Actually, he didn't want Ravenclaw to lose more points, period.

"No, of course not! Now he uses a bloody spear to fish! He crafted it himself!" Screamed Kevin hysterically, apparently unable to believe what he was saying himself. "And he is quite proficient too! I once saw him catch almost five fish that way!"

"…Isn't it actually kind of cool?" Robert Danvers asked hesitantly. Seeing that everyone was glaring at him, he tried to explain his reasoning "It can't be easy to hunt like that! Don't you think it's quite impressive he was able to learn how to do that?"

"No! Don't be impressed by this kind of behaviour! He is catching bloody fish with a spear, instead of just eating with the rest of the students! He is a loon!" Shouted Marcus enraged, before taking a deep breath to calm himself down. Damn it, even absent Brown was somehow able to make him mad. He had to get the discussion back on track "There are other places where we can prank him. Can't we just prank him while he is going to the classroom?"

"Not really, he is always using a different route. He doesn't even travel with his friend Looney anymore. We would waste a lot of time with no guarantee of finding him" responded Isabella Cruz.

"Can't we just pour some cold water on him while he is showering?" Marcus asked, desperate. At this rate Ravenclaw would end on the fourth place, even behind Hufflepuff!

"No, we can't" responded David Hutson with a tired voice, giving a long-suffering sigh "That madman doesn't even take showers anymore, not since he learned Scourgify. He just casts it on himself after waking up and goes on his way"

What was wrong with that boy?! Why did he…

…waking up?

"…Wait. He is sleeping in the dorm with us, isn't he?" Marcus asked slowly, a grin forming on his face. The rest of the group seemed to understand what he was implying, as they started grinning too.

Michael Brown

I suddenly woke up, feeling a cold wind on my face.

It was quite a puzzling sensation, as I was sure the heater was working when I went to sleep. Did someone turn it off?

After opening my eyes I completely forgot about the heater, as I noticed something very out of place. For some reason, instead of the room's ceiling, I was currently looking at the cloudy, morning sky. Grey clouds were covering it almost completely, but there was no doubt I was outside. What?

"Hey, you! I don't want to rush you, but we are supposed to train here! Can you leave?" I heard the voice coming from the side.

I quickly got up from my bed, confused and more than a little worried by the unexpected development. After a few seconds of scanning my surroundings I learned that, yes, I was currently in the middle of the quidditch pitch, with the entire Gryffindor team looking at me with puzzlement in their eyes. Also, I was still in my blue pyjamas.

What?

When I finally returned to Ravenclaw common room, forced to walk through the entire castle in just my pyjamas and a robe one of Gryffindors mercifully lent to me, the first thing I noticed upon entering the room was almost all of my housemates looking at me with shit-eating grins on their faces, waiting for my reaction.

I was honestly quite impressed by their creativity, so I gave them a nod of approval and went towards the dorm, hoping to change into some normal clothes. It didn't seem to be the reaction they were hoping for, as their smiles faded, replaced by the confused frowns, but it didn't matter to me. Their actions showed me that I wasn't careful enough. Complacent, I was only focusing on protecting myself during the day, not even thinking about my situation at night. I was fortunate that the Ministry saboteurs didn't start riling my housemates up, as in that situation I would probably wake up in the middle of the forbidden forest of Hogwarts lake. Assuming I would wake up at all. I was quite grateful for my housemates, as they showed me I had to be more vigilant.

After a quick climb down the stairs, I entered my dorm room. I however went still after looking inside.

My part of the room was almost completely empty. My bed, my school trunk, even my clothes were just gone, with only Kenny and Owlfred, still in his cage, remaining. They were carefully placed in the middle of the room, as if just waiting for me.

Where was the rest of my stuff?

While moving my bed was admittedly quite funny and educational, the fact that my belongings were missing was quite a big problem. I mean, even just my trunk…

…wait

Oh fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

WHERE THE FUCK WAS TOM?!

"Hello, my name is Tom Riddle. What's your name?"