AN: Beta Read by Brawn1984 and Starrmastrr.
AN: I do not own Harry Potter or Red Hood.
Disclaimer: Some language, violence, and mentions of Bigotry.
The next morning Jason woke up early like normal and went about his morning routine with a few exceptions. He added several new stretches he'd learned while studying MMA to his warmup. Once he was sure that he was loose and limber he began his exercises.
After his morning exercises he began going through several Kata's he'd been taught.
"Come in." He said when there was a knock on his door.
The door opened revealing Hermione. "It's breakfast." She spoke. "That looks new."
"It is. I'll teach you guys' this, and the other things that I learned."
"What all did you learn?"
"I got refresher courses on Aikido, Krav Maga, and Kickboxing before they taught me Capoeira, Karate, and Tae Kwon Do. That took about a month to get down, mainly the Capoeira because it's not something I'm used to , but Karate and Tae Kwon Do were pretty easy to pick up. Then I spent a month learning Ninjutsu and Savate. I'm definitely going to focus on Ninjutsu this year."
"What's Ninjutsu?"
"The way of the Ninja. It's guerrilla warfare with a little espionage thrown in. It should come in handy with old moldy shorts and his goons running around."
"Okay. How is it different from guerrilla warfare?"
Jason smiled that she'd caught the distinction between the two. "Rather than using the jungle, undergrowth, etc. we will be using the castle to our advantage. Hiding in shadows, using the banisters, chandeliers, moving staircases, everything to our advantage. Think of combining Parkour with the shadow jumping and acrobatics I do, and you've got Ninjutsu."
"Oh. So yesterday when you jumped off the banister, that was Ninjutsu?"
"Yeah, kind of. There's a bit more to it, but pretty much."
"I see. Anyway, it's breakfast."
"All right." Jason said. Grabbing his towel and wiping himself off before following her downstairs.
They were walking when something rushed past them knocking Jason into a wall with curtains on it. The curtains opened up to show an enraged woman who began yelling and shrieking.
"Stains of dishonor, filthy half-breeds, blood traitors, children of filth!" The portrait yelled.
Jason jumped up and pointed one of his pistols at her. "Shut up you old hag."
"YOU DARE POINT A FILTHY MUGGLE WAND AT ME!"
"I dare." Jason said. "Now die."
There was a crack and a House Elf stood in front of the Painting. "DO NOT HURT KREATURE'S MISTRESS!" He shrieked.
"You always were a faithful servant, Kreature."
"Insult my friends again..." Jason said in a tone as smooth and cold as the ice over the black lake in February. "...and I will use you for target practice."
"NO!" Kreature yelled. "Kreature won't let you hurt his mistress!"
"Then take her to your chambers and keep her silent!" Jason said harshly.
"You-you would let Kreature keep his Mistress?"
"So long as she remains silent. If she makes a sound, I will cut her mouth out of the picture and burn it."
"NO!" Kreature snarled. "Kreature will keep her quiet! Don't hurt Kreature's Mistress!"
"Be off with you then." Jason said.
Kreature grabbed the portrait and pulled. The house was filled with the sound of nails on a chalkboard and grinding gears as Kreature pulled on the portrait of Walburga, finally pulling it free with the sound of suction and a pop. With the portrait free from the wall Kreature ran off into the house.
Jason followed Kreature with his eyes only to find Sirius standing at the top of the stairs.
"You've surprised me." He spoke.
"How so?"
"One second you're going to shoot my mums portrait, and the next you're giving it to Kreature."
"Sorry?"
"Don't be. I've been trying to figure out how to get rid of it for years."
"Breakfast!" Molly yelled. "Jason darling, what's that you've got in your hand?"
Jason held up the gun in his hand. "Gun." He spoke. "It's a muggle wand."
"Oh. Does it cast any spells?"
"Yeah." Jason said. "Only a few though."
"Oh, and what are they?"
"They are similar to the unforgivable curses. There is "Protect", "Defend", "Gather food", "Die", "Pain", and "Do what I say".
Hermione looked at Jason in confusion.
"Oh." Mrs. Weasley said. "Please put it away, that's not something to have around the house, dear."
"All right." He said putting the gun in its holster.
"Why did you say that?" Hermione asked.
"Say what?"
"That a Gun is a Muggle wand, and say it knew those spells?"
"How else would you describe it to a Wizard?" He asked.
Hermione shook her head. "You know it's illegal to carry a gun in England, right?"
"So is 90% of the stuff on my belt." He countered. "And this one is technically illegal in the states too."
"Let's just eat." Hermione said.
They went into the dining room and sat down.
"Just so you know..." Mrs. Weasley began. "...Alastor found three Boggarts in the house. So, while we're cleaning today, be careful."
"Did he say where the Boggarts were?" Jason asked. "I could take care of them."
"Oh no." Mrs. Weasley said. "You needn't worry yourself, dear."
"Boggarts run away from Jason, mum." Ron said.
"I wouldn't say they 'run' away." Jason said. "More like they Just crawl back into their hiding spot."
"That's what running away is, Jason." Hermione said.
"You did surprise Lupin on your exam." Harry said. "He said that he'd never seen anything like it before."
"I don't know." Mrs. Weasley said rubbing the edge of her apron between her fingers. "I don't like the idea of putting you into any danger."
"More dangerous than Hogwarts in general?" Ron asked.
"Or the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Jason added. "Speaking of which. Fred, George. How much will it cost to open your shop?"
"We're good mate." Fred said.
"Yeah mate." George continued. "We've got it..."
"...figured out." Fred finished.
"Well then how much to buy into your stock?"
"What?" The two asked in unison.
"If I wanted to buy a portion of your store. How much? I have 1,000 galleons that I have no intention of using. So how much would it cost to..." he was cut off as the twins appeared on either side of him and each took a hand.
"If you have nowhere to put 1,000 galleons then we would gladly take it for our... Research and development division." They said in perfect unison, even the pause was perfect.
"I have one request." Jason said.
"Yes?" The twins asked.
"I want access to products."
"For pranking purposes?" Fred asked.
"For Chaos?" George asked.
"And everything in between." Jason said.
The twins rubbed their hands together. "Deal." They said taking one of his hands and shaking them before shaking each other's hands making a circle as if they were staring a game of ring around the Rosie.
"Boys." Mrs. Weasley said.
"Yes, mother?" George said.
"Yes, mummy dearest?" Fred asked.
"Jason dear. If you are really sure that you can take care of the Boggarts, then you may, but take help."
"Don't worry Molly." Remus said. "Jason can take one, Sirius can take one, and I'll take one."
"Oh. Thank you, Remus. That makes me feel much better."
"You're welcome, Molly."
Jason finished his breakfast before he asked. "So, where is the Boggart?"
"Alastor said that there was one in the attic." Molly said.
"Well. I'm off to the attic." Jason said getting up. "Where is the attic?"
The twins promptly pointed up. "Up there mate." They said in unison.
"That ones on me." Jason said in exasperated amusement.
"I'll show you." Sirius said. "There is a Boggart under the bed in the Master Bedroom. I'll get that one."
"I'll get the one in the Lavatory." Remus said.
"WHAT!" Ron yelled. "There's a Boggart in the Loo!"
"In the second floor Loo. You sleep on the third floor."
"Is that why everyone uses the third-floor loo?"
"Yes."
"Why don't they just take care of it?" Hermione asked.
"Don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone when they're in the loo?" Fred asked in faux exasperation.
"Honestly." George huffed dramatically. "Haven't you lot any manners?!"
"Oh. Hush." Molly scolded.
"You know I'm not sure." Remus said. "You'd think it was easy enough to get rid of."
"Well then." Molly said. "Pop off."
With that, Remus left the kitchen for the second-floor lavatory.
"Now." Molly said looking at the others. "It's about time for chores. We'll split up and with any luck the house will be clean by the end of the week."
"Can we use magic mum?" Ginny asked.
"We are under the Fidelius Charm." Hermione said. "We should be able to use magic without the Ministry finding out."
Molly worked her lower lip for a second. "Do you promise to only use magic while in the house?"
"Yes." Everyone but the twins said.
"I suppose it's all right. So long as you stop when the Order is here for meetings, and when the others get off work."
"ALL RIGHT!" They all cheered.
"But only spells to help with the cleaning!" Molly said sternly. "If I see you using magic for anything other than cleaning, I'll make you clean the house from scratch with only the basics." She made eye contact with each of them. "Am I understood?!"
"Yes." They spoke.
"Good. Now. Let's..." she was cut off as Jason levitated an armoire through the air.
"I'm just going to send this to Cornelius Fudge." Jason said as he walked the Armoire outside.
"He'll make one hell of a Marauder one day." Sirius said levitating a trunk. "This one is going to Lucy." He also left the house.
Molly shook her head in bewilderment before continuing. "As I was saying. We will split into five different groups, and each take a floor..." she was cut off again as Remus levitated a toilet through the air. "I know why no one used the second floor Lavatory." He spoke. "The Boggart was hiding in the toilet."
"Who are you sending that to?" Fred asked.
"Sending it to? What do you mean?"
"Well Jason is sending a Boggart in an armoire to Fudge..."
"Sirius is sending one in a trunk to Lucy, whoever she is." George continued.
"So, who are you sending the Boggart in the toilet to?" They finished in unison."
"Send it to Snape!" Ron yelled.
Everyone besides Molly and Remus broke into bouts of laughter.
"I think I'll just dispose of this like a responsible adult." Remus said floating the toilet out of the house.
"Now." Mrs. Weasley said. "If that's all for the interruptions we will split up and start cleaning. If anyone else should show up, we will tell them to get started. Now, hop to it."
Fred and George apparated to the fifth floor to begin cleaning. Harry, Hermione, and Ron went to the third floor. The fireplace roared to life with green light and Luna stepped through it followed by Neville, Parvati, Padma, and Mary.
"Good morning, dears." Mrs. Weasley said.
"Good morning Mrs. Weasley." Mary, Neville, Parvati, and Padma said.
"Hello Mrs. Weasley." Luna said. "It would appear that you found the Boggarts."
"You knew about them, dear?"
"Not really. I guessed that they were here, but no. I didn't actually know that they were here."
"How did you know?"
"The Abyssal Fairies are gone." She spoke.
"Abyssal Fairies?" Molly asked.
"Yes. Invisible To the naked eye, they feed on your fear. They tend to live around Boggarts and feed on the fear they create. The only other explanation would be that they ran away when they saw Jason. He's really quite terrifying you know."
"Only if you piss him off." Neville and Parvati said in unison.
Molly just chalked this up to Luna being Luna and went back to work. "Right. We have three more floors that need to be cleaned. So, pick a floor and get to it. You are allowed to use magic so long as it's used for cleaning. Anything else and I'll rescind the offer."
"All right." They spoke.
"Where's Jason working." Parvati asked.
"The attic, dear." Mrs. Weasley said. "Make sure that it's clean before you two get carried away."
Parvati changed into a Peregrine Falcon and flew to the fifth floor before she changed back and walked up the spiral staircase to the attic.
"Which floors are taken?" Padma asked.
"Ginny and I will be working down here." Molly said. "Harry, Ron, and Hermione are working on the third floor, Fred and George are working on the fifth floor, and it looks like Jason and Parvati will be working in the attic."
"I want to work with Luna and Jason." Mary said.
"Well." Luna said. "I'll be working in the basement with Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. How about you work with me until Jason gets back."
"Okay."
"How did you know Jason was gone, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I hadn't said anything yet."
"You said that Jason and Parvati WILL be working in the attic meaning that one of them is gone. We saw Parvati head up to the attic meaning that Jason is gone."
Molly's jaw dropped at how intuitive Luna was. She figured out that Jason was gone just by one word. How was that possible?
"I'll start on the second floor." Neville said.
"And I'll work on the fourth floor." Padma said.
"That leaves the first floor for Sirius and Remus." Molly said.
"That attic shouldn't take too long." Luna said. "So that means that Jason, Parvati, and Mary can move down to another floor when their done, and with three or four of us working in the basement we should be done soon, and we can move to another floor too."
Everyone looked at Luna as if her hair had sprouted daisies.
"What?" She asked.
"Nothing." Padma said. "It's just weird hearing you talk like that when you're normally so... so..."
"Flighty?" Luna asked. "Dreamy?"
"Let's go with that."
"Just because I'm flighty and dreamy doesn't mean that I'm oblivious."
"We know." Neville said. "We're just used to flighty and dreamy Luna."
The door opened and Jason and Sirius ran in. "Harry!" Sirius yelled. "Harry, where are you!"
"What's wrong!" Harry yelled as he came running down the stairs.
"We need you to let someone into the house!" Jason yelled.
The trio ran outside and came in a few moments later with a couple. They sat them down at the table.
"Chocolate!" Jason yelled. "Where's the chocolate!"
"We don't have any!" Molly said. "I didn't buy any last time I went out."
"Hot chocolate? Chocolate milk?" Sirius asked.
"No. I didn't think about it."
"Accio chocolate frogs!" Harry cast the summoning charm.
A bag of chocolate frogs, followed by Ron, who had his hand outstretched to grab the fleeing sweets, and Hermione, came downstairs and into the kitchen.
Harry dumped the bag out in front of the couple and opened one up while Jason opened another. "Eat!" He said as he urgently handed a chocolate frog to Clara Carter.
"Eat this!" Jason said as he pushed a chocolate frog into Draco Malfoy's mouth.
The couple ate the chocolate frogs in silence, and Jason handed the responsibility of getting Malfoy to eat the chocolate frogs to Neville and Luna. When Luna took over, he ran outside and apparated away.
"What happened?" Molly asked.
"Dementors happened!" Sirius snarled.
"Again!" Neville yelled.
"Yeah. Jason and I were leaving the post masters when we saw a Dementor chasing them down.
"Can you imagine the look on Fudges face when he opens the armoire only to find a Boggart in it?" Jason asked Sirius with a hint of a cruel smile.
"Even better." Sirius said nudging him. "Can you imagine the look on li'l ol' Lucy's face when he opens that trunk to find a Boggart?" Sirius laughed.
There was a rush of cold, and Jason spun around while reaching behind his back and grabbing the basilisk blade from his belt.
Sirius turned around and spotted the problem. "Dementor!" He shouted before changing into a Grim.
Jason tuned in the direction Sirius was looking at and saw the Dementor. It looked like it was leaning over something. "Not on my watch!" He snarled before running at the Dementor. He jumped in the air and brought his basilisk blade down on the back of the head and twisted before the Dementor fell limply onto its victim.
Sirius bit down on the cloak and pulled. Jason helped and they pulled the dementor off of its victims.
"Damn it!" Jason roared when he saw who the Dementor had been feeding on. "It's Draco and Clara!"
"What!" Sirius snarled changing back into his human form.
"Yeah. Draco said that his dad was trying to get rid of him or Clara. If I had to guess then I'd say that Draco refused to leave Clara alone with it, and so it fed on him too."
"Damn it, Lucius!" Sirius yelled. "Let's get them back to headquarters."
Jason grabbed Draco and apparated him away to 12 Grimmauld Place while Sirius picked up Clara and apparated to 12 Grimmauld place.
When they got there Sirius ran in and came back out a minute later with Harry. Harry whispered where they were, and Jason and Sirius pulled Clara and Draco into the house.
"And now we're here." Sirius said.
"Why are there so many Dementors out?" Neville asked.
"Why are we asking about Dementors?" Remus asked walking into the kitchen.
"Because Malfoy and Clara were attacked by a Dementor." Neville said.
"Well. That seems like an unfortunate accident."
"Except that it wasn't." Jason said rushing into the kitchen and putting the kettle on to boil before putting two tablespoons of hot cocoa powder into two mugs. "Draco told me yesterday that his father has been trying to break him and Clara up since the summer holidays began. This attack wasn't a coincidence. It couldn't have been a coincidence."
"Let's hear the story from him." Molly said.
Jason let the water come to a boil before he poured it into the mugs. He placed the mug into Clara's and Draco's hands and told them to let it cool.
Draco and Clara were less pale and were able to feed themselves the chocolate frogs now, though they were still shaking.
"Draco." Mrs. Weasley said. "Can you tell us what happened?"
Draco looked up at them. "M-my f-father..." Draco took a sip of cocoa, and that seemed to help. "My father. He told me when I came home this summer that if I didn't stop seeing Clara that he would make my life difficult."
"Wanker." Sirius said. "Now I wish I'd sent him something dangerous. Like a Honey badger."
"Better yet send Jason." Ron said. "Jason is probably the most dangerous thing on the planet."
"I wish I were, Ron." Jason said. "But Harry can attest that there is at least one person stronger and more dangerous than I am."
Harry nodded and shook his head to free himself of the memory of Jason trying to get away from the monster in the purple trench coat. "It's true." Harry said. "There was someone in the graveyard. He's the one who did that to Jason."
Everyone looked at Jason causing him to look away.
"Please continue, Draco." Molly said.
Draco took another sip of his cocoa. "When I told my father that I had no intention to stop seeing Clara, he told me that I would change my mind soon enough. After the first week I began leaving the house so that I wasn't home with my father."
"What about Cissy?" Sirius asked.
"Who?"
"Narcissa Malfoy, née Black. Your mom."
"Oh. She doesn't let my dad do anything while she's in the house, but whenever she leaves or she's not in the immediate vicinity he shows his displeasure."
"What does he do?" Sirius asked.
"He's told the house elves not to listen to me when I ask them for anything. Everything around the manor is done by the house elves."
Hermione's face darkened, but she didn't say anything.
"I started leaving the house in the morning, and coming home when it got dark, but my father began locking the door. I haven't been home in a week."
"Wait..." Clara said. "...What? Your dad locked you out of your house?"
"Yes."
"Does that mean that you've been wearing the same clothes for the last week?" Molly asked.
"Yes. I've been using the 'Scourgify' charm to keep them clean."
"Take a bath." Sirius said. "We'll go shopping later."
"Um. Where is the..."
"Follow me." Jason said leading Draco up the stairs.
The others just looked at each other.
"Why would Lucius do that?" Molly asked.
"Because he's a tosser." Sirius said. "He thinks that he is Merlin's gift to earth, and that his word is law."
"He's a horrible, terrible man." Clara said with tears burning the corners of her eye's. Luna walked over to Clara and hugged her, which was enough for the dam to burst, and Clara burst into tears.
The others watched in sympathy.
Jason led Draco up to the fourth floor in silence.
"How do you do it Todd?" Draco asked.
"How do I do what?"
"How do you not care what happens to you?"
"It's not that I don't care." Jason said. "I just care about others more than I do myself. My friends hate me for it."
"Oh."
Jason led Draco to the fourth-floor bathroom. "Give me your clothes, and I'll clean them."
"You'll, clean them?" Malfoy asked.
"Um, yeah. Who else would?"
"The house elves." Draco said as if he were talking to a child.
"Trust me. You do not want Kreature cleaning your clothes. I've only me him once, and I can already tell you that you don't want him cleaning anything."
"Why don't you make him punish himself?"
"Because I'm not an ass hole. Normal people don't punish their house elves. Only ass holes and pieces of shit punish their house elves."
"Oh." Draco said disappearing into the bathroom. "Where are the robes?" He asked.
"What robes?" Jason asked back.
"Don't you guys have robes to wear while waiting for the bath to fill?"
"No. You can pick some up while you're out."
"What do you wear while you wait?"
"A towel." Jason said. "Or just wait au natural."
"What?"
"Buck ass nude."
"How uncultured."
"Only to the elite, and as far as I can tell... you aren't a member of the elite anymore."
Draco opened the door a minute later with a towel wrapped around his waist, and a towel wrapped around his torso. He handed Jason his clothes and asked. "How do you live like this?"
"Because I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I didn't live a privileged life."
Draco nodded and shut the door.
Jason walked downstairs. "Where's the washroom?" He asked Sirius.
"It's down at the end of the hall." He pointed to a room at the end of the hall.
"Great. Thanks." He walked to the end of the hall and found the wash basin with a washboard. He set Draco's clothes in the basin and filled it with water and detergent. He found a second basin and filled it with water. "Lauacro delicata." He cast, and magic took over washing the outfit. Jason watched as the outfit was lifted into the air and dunked into the soapy water before being scrubbed against the washboard. This happened several times before the outfit was lifted into the air and dunked in the clean water and wrung out several times. He hung it on the clothesline and cast "Arida Vestimenta Sua." The water was pulled from the clothes, and he threw it into the water basin. Finally, he cast "Ferreis Vestibus". The clothes were ironed out, leaving the clothes wrinkle free.
"Jason dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked coming into the wash room. "What are you doing in here?"
"Just cleaning Draco's outfit for him so that he can go out."
"Why didn't you tell me dear? I would have done it."
"Because I can do it."
"Well, alright dear, if you're sure."
"I am."
"All right dear. How is Draco?"
"Well. He asked me how I'm able to just not care about anything."
"Did you tell him that he was wrong?"
"Yeah. I told him that the problem isn't that I don't care. It's that I care too much."
"And we still love you for it, even though it drives us around the bend."
"I know." Jason snarked. "I'm off to give this to Draco."
"All right, dear."
Jason found Sirius waiting for him at the base of the stairs, and they walked up to the fourth floor.
"So." Jason said. "How are you doing?"
"Good, and yourself?"
"Meh, and you're lying."
"So are you."
"Fair point. I'll tell you what's bugging me if you tell me what's bugging you."
"Fine. You're really the only one who could understand it anyway."
Jason just waited patiently.
"It's the Dementors. Last summer I had some issues, but I hid them from Harry and Remus, so they didn't worry. I also had the job at Hogwarts to keep me distracted but seeing these Dementors has brought back memories from Azkaban."
"Oh. So, you're still recovering from your time there. It took me about a month to get over my stint, and I still wake up in a cold sweat from time to time."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry to say that it will likely take you twelve years to get over your time in Azkaban if not longer."
"That's not very comforting."
"Sorry, but hey. Spend time with Harry, Remus, and the twins and I'm sure twelve years will fly by before you know it."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
They stayed like that for a while until Sirius spoke up again. "All right. I went, now it's your turn."
Jason stayed quiet for a moment before he looked at Sirius. "I killed someone. Like, seriously killed someone."
"What? Why?"
"He deserved it, but I just feel so... so..."
"Conflicted?"
"Yes. I mean I've been telling Bruce and Dick to shove their no killing rule up their asses, but I killed someone, and I feel... I don't know. I don't really feel guilty because he was a grade A bastard who needed to die, but I feel..."
"Tainted?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah." The part that worried Jason the most was that in his previous life he killed criminals all the time. Granted he'd push them over the edge of buildings, but he'd never actually walked into a place and killed someone. It was eerie how different the two were.
"I'm not sure what to say Jason. It doesn't make you a bad person. If it does make you a bad person, then you aren't a BAD person. Not like Moldy Voldy at least."
"I know. If anything, I'm a monster who hunts monsters."
"You're not a monster. There are real monsters in the world, and you aren't one of them."
They arrived at the fourth floor in silence and Jason knocked on the door.
"Leave it on the door." Draco called through the door.
Jason opened the door a crack and hung the outfit on the hook on the door.
"We're heading out when you're done." Sirius said. "When do you think you'll be done?"
"I just got in." Draco said exasperatedly. "Give me a few hours will you!"
Jason and Sirius looked at each other before they sighed.
"Fine." Sirius said.
"Well, I'm going to head up to the attic. Anything you want me to save while I'm up there?"
"No. You can keep anything that catches your interest so long as it's not important."
"What's classified as not important?"
"Old wands, potion sets, old robes, weapons that aren't cursed, books that aren't cursed, dark, and aren't in the library, trunks. Basically, so long as it's not nailed to the wall, or part of the house, go for it."
"Cool. Thanks, I will keep an eye out. Is there anything specifically that you want me to look for, for you?"
"If I think of anything I'll let you know."
"Cool. I'm off then." He said as he apparated to the fifth floor.
Sirius walked downstairs to help Moony with the first floor.
Jason walked up the stairs to the attic and was caught off guard when someone pulled him into the attic. He spun out of the way and spun his attacker before realizing who it was. "Parvati!" He called out. "Why would you do that?"
"Keeping you on your toes boy wonder." She spoke.
"How did you hear that name?" He asked.
"Dick and Barbara have a lot of interesting stories about you when you were younger."
"Did they tell you that it was Dick's nickname that he tried pawning off on me?"
"No, but there is always one way to find out if you truly are a "Boy Wonder"." She said making air quotes.
"Oh. Why don't you enlighten me?" He spoke.
Parvati grabbed Jason and pulled him into what promised to be a long and passionate kiss when they heard Mary from the stairs.
"Jason?" Mary asked. "Are you in there?"
"Yes." Jason said. "We're in here."
"Okay. I'm coming in, so you better be decent, whatever that means."
"Damn it, Luna." He whispered.
Parvati looked at him sympathetically.
Mary came in and saw the attic. "Wow. This place is dusty." She said as she looked around.
Jason looked around and saw that while not filthy, it was rather dusty. "Well. Let's get to work. Go slowly because you don't know what's in here. If you find something that looks dangerous then we will levitate it down the steps and let Sirius, Remus, or Mrs. Weasley make it safe, but first. Accio Dust." He cast summoning all of the dust to him. He walked to a window on the fifth floor and cast the dust into the wind. Next, he looked at Parvati and Mary. "Go down to the fifth floor and if anything scurries down the stairs, blast it."
"What do you mean, 'if anything scurries down the stairs.'?" Parvati asked.
"I'm pretty sure that there are a few things that call this place home. So go down to the fifth floor and be ready to blast whatever I don't get."
Parvati and Mary walked down the stairs and waited.
"Lumos Solem." Jason cast sending Sunlight throughout the attic causing something to rush him. He pulled his Basilisk blade and slashed at whatever was charging him and heard something shriek as he cut whatever it was, breaking the skin. "Lumos Maxima." He cast so he could see. There were other creatures he'd caused to come out of their hiding places. "Immobulus!" He cast freezing everything in place. With that done he went about killing everything in the attic with a cut of his blade. Then he looked down at the corpses of the dark creatures that plagued 12 Grimmauld Place. There was a ghoul, several Doxy's, and a half dozen Cornish Pixies. "Fred! George!" He called. "Get up here!"
It took them two minutes to get up to the attic. When they got up there, they saw the carnage on the floor.
"Well, well, well." Fred said.
"You've been busy." George said.
"What do you need mate?" They finished in unison.
"Take all of the boxes, chests, crates, trunks, anything that's not dead, out to the hallway." Jason said casting the levitating charm on a trunk and bringing it out to the hallway.
They pulled all of the stuff out of the attic and laid it in the hallway.
"Great." Jason said. "Now we need to take care of the mess and Scourgify the place. Then Sirius said that we can look through the stuff from the attic and see if there is anything we want. If so, we can take it."
"Cool." The twins said. "How do you plan on getting rid of the corpses?"
Jason looked at them and smiled. "How about we leave them for Snape?" He asked.
"I like the way you think." Fred said.
"A true genius you are sir." George said.
"Now. Let's start looking into the storage." They said in unison.
They went to the hallway. "Sirius said that we can look through the storage." Jason told Parvati and Mary. "Take one or two items at first, and let the others have a go, later."
"All right." Mary and Parvati said.
The twins looked mischievous.
"You guys already get four items." Jason said. "Don't make me rescind that offer and let you guys have one item each."
"Right oh mate." Fred said.
They began looking in the storage and Jason immediately found a bundle. He unraveled it and a wand clattered to the floor. He picked it up and examined it. A feeling came over him. He felt like he wanted to run a marathon. He felt that he could run a full marathon with how pumped he felt.
"Easy mate." Fred said from his side.
"Why don't you sit down mate." George said.
They lowered him to the floor, and he sat down.
"What happened?" Mary asked.
"I feel like this wand wants me to take it." Jason said. "I wanted to run. I felt like I could have run forever."
"Take it easy mate." Fred Said.
Jason looked at the wand and felt like the wand wanted to be used. "Lumos." He cast. Brilliant green-white light erupted from the tip of the wand and Jason could feel it intertwining with his magic. When it stopped, he looked at the intricate designs carved into the wood. Grooves had been carved all the way up the handle. The pommel looked like a fang and was very sharp near the point. There were grooves placed an inch apart up the shaft with the tip hollowed out like the barrel to a gun. The wood itself was a red wood and felt dense in his hand.
He felt better now and stood up. He put the wand on his utility belt and looked at the robes. He unfurled them and looked at them. They looked like any other set of robes with a few exceptions. The arms and legs had extra padding, thick padding. He felt the padding and realized that it was used to make the wearer look bigger than they were. So, a smaller person wore them. Smaller than him, but bigger than Mary. He noticed that the robes had a cape with a hood, a deep hood. The hood probably went down past the wearers nose, and a mask that went up over the wearers nose. So, the person didn't want to be noticed. He turned the robes inside out and saw rounded indents in the padding. The wearer was female. That made him remember the story of when Barbara dressed as Batman to support her father when he was accused of some bullshit crime.
With his investigation done he turned the robes inside out and cast, "Scourgify." The robes were cleaned to almost new. He set them to the side. "This is for Luna." He said patting the robes.
"Why Luna?" Parvati asked curiously.
Jason tossed her the robes. "Try them on."
Parvati tried the robes on only to find them too small for her. She took them off and tossed them back to Jason.
Jason went about looking through the storage when something caught his eye.
A green figure stepped out of a crate and looked curiously up at Jason. It stood maybe seven inches, maybe eight, with three legs, or two legs and a dexterous tail, with two spindly arms that ended in two fingers on one hand, and four on the other. It looked up at Jason with brown eyes and was green with hints of brown on its legs. From its head it sprouted leaves instead of hair.
"Hey little guy." Jason said.
The being walked to the edge of the crate and reached for Jason. Jason held his hand out and let the being walk into his hand. The being stepped onto Jason's hand and seemed to smile at Jason.
"Whoa!" Fred said excitedly.
"That's a Bowtruckle mate." George said.
"They're incredibly valuable."
"They are natural lock picks."
"Meaning that you two shouldn't have them." Parvati said.
"You wound us madam." Fred said in mock horror.
"We'll have you know that we are cleverly disguised as responsible adults." George said.
"Literally no one is falling for that." Parvati said.
Mary walked up to Jason and waved at the Bowtruckle. "Hi." She spoke.
The Bowtruckle waved back.
"What are you going to name it?" Mary asked.
"That all depends on if it wants to stay around."
"Too bad you can't talk to it mate." Fred said.
"Talk to what?" Luna asked coming up the stairs.
"Luna!" Mary yelled running to her and hugging her.
Luna returned the hug.
"Jason's new Bowtruckle." Fred and George said in unison.
"You found a Bowtruckle?" She asked. "They are truly remarkable creatures. They have amazing grip strength despite their size."
"How do you know that?" Mary asked.
"I read it in Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them by Newt Scamander, his special edition. The one he made only ten copies of and charmed so that only those truly interested in Fantastic Beast for the intent of admiring them can read. To everyone else it's just a copy of the regular text, just more expensive. I suspect that Hagrid has a copy. Daddy and I do."
"Does the book say how to communicate with them?"
"Yes." Luna said before clearing her throat. She began trilling a tone, and the Bowtruckle recognized it.
The Bowtruckle called back in a higher pitch tone.
"He says 'hello'." Luna said.
"Hello." The group said back.
Luna made the trill again and the Bowtruckle said something back. "Oh. Thank you." Luna said. "Speaking Bowtruckle is rather difficult for Witches and Wizards." She turned to the group. "He says that he can understand us, I just need to translate."
"Works for us." The twins said.
"Do you have a name?" Jason asked.
The Bowtruckle made a long trilling noise.
"He says that he doesn't have one. He says that he is the last of his kind. The Doxy's and Pixies killed everyone else. He also thanks you for killing them."
"You're welcome." Jason nodded.
The Bowtruckle trilled again.
"He says that he wants to go with you so that he can one day repay the debt."
"You can come with me, but it will be because you want to, and not because of some life debt. Understood?"
The Bowtruckle trilled.
"He says that he will accept that. He doesn't have anyone else."
"Do you want a name?" Jason asked.
The Bowtruckle trilled and nodded.
"How about Alfred?" Jason suggested.
"Why Alfred?" Mary asked.
Jason just smirked.
The Bowtruckle made a show of thinking about this before nodding.
"He needs a middle name." Fred said.
"I reckon that he'll get up to a lot of trouble with you." George said.
"And he'll need a last name." Luna insisted. "How about giving him your last name?"
"Do you want a full name?" Jason asked. "Or will Alfred do?"
The Bowtruckle trilled and pointed at Jason.
"He says that he wants a full name, and that he wants your last name."
"Okay. What's a good middle name for you then?" Jason wondered. Then he got an idea. "How does Alfred Trouble Todd sound?" He smiled a mischievous smile.
The Bowtruckle trilled and clapped.
"I guess he likes it." Luna said.
"Cool. Can you teach me how to understand Bowtruckle?" Jason asked Luna.
"I suppose so. It will be difficult to learn, but you're stubborn enough to learn it."
"Maybe we should all learn it. That way we can have a secret language all to ourselves."
"That's not a bad idea mate." Fred said.
"Yeah." George said. "You have a good idea every once in a while."
Jason made a rude hand gesture.
"Why I never!" George said mock offended. "Parvati are you going to let him talk to us like that?"
"Hey." Parvati said to Jason. "Not in front of Mary."
"Sorry." He spoke.
"It's all right. Just don't do it again."
"Okay. Let's clean this floor and move down. At the end of the day, we can tell everyone about the storage, and they can look through it."
"All right." They said as they began to move about the fifth floor, cleaning.
AN: Some cleaning, pranks, and a mystery. Enjoy.