Chapter 28: Changes and Confusion

Hey everyone I'm back with a new chapter. I'm glad to see all of you liked my new character additions. I got some big fans for them in the future. I hope you like what I have planned. Please Review and Enjoy.

It was a few days before it was time to go back to Hogwarts and since Eric and Cole were allowed to come, they had quite a few things to take care of.

At the orphanage, Newt was holding up two charmed pendants for Eric and Cole.

"Dumbledore sent these to me to give to you both. Keep these on you at all times." Newt said giving them one. "Muggles aren't able to see Hogwarts but these will allow you boys to see through the charms. But whatever you don't lose them. There's no guarantee you'll get replacements."

"We promise Newt." Eric nods as they slipped the pendants around their necks and tucked them under their shirts.

"And Harry." Newt turns to him and smiles. "You and Sam best keep watching out for each other."

"We will sir. Maybe next time we meet I can see inside this famous suitcase of yours." Harry smiles.

"Maybe next time." Newt said.

"Speaking of Sam we better go grab him so we can finally see Diagon Alley." Eric smiles.

"We're actually getting to see all the wizarding stuff. Amazing." Cole smiles.

"Uh the key to not raising heads boys is to not act like you're new to the Wizarding World." Newt advises.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Eric asks.

"Ask your fellow wizards." Newt gestures to Harry. "Good luck boys. Send me letters."

"We will." Both nod as Newt left.

"So Harry besides Sam you got any other friends?" Eric asks.

"Yes, I do. When Ron and Hermione meet you guys I guarantee they'll be surprised." Harry said.

"Think we can meet with them soon?" Eric asks.

"We'll meet them after we go to Diagon Alley and get our stuff." Harry said.

"In that case we better go get Sam from his magic lesson." Cole said.

"We're heading out Martha!" Eric calls out.

On an empty stage, Giovanni had many magic tricks set up and Zanna had a front row seat to watch Sam practice.

In front of her, Sam was wearing a straitjacket with Giovanni next to him.

"Alright Sam go." Giovanni said starting a timer.

Struggling Sam tried to escape it but this was proving to be a challenge.

"The more you pull the tighter it gets." Giovanni said as Sam tried one more time but ended up falling to the ground.

Seeing this Zanna couldn't help but snicker.

Walking over to him, Giovanni unclips it allowing Sam to breathe.

"Perhaps the escape routines are a little to advanced for you at the moment." Giovanni said.

"You make escaping those things look easy." Sam pants.

"One Word; Practice." Giovanni chuckles.

"Maybe you should stick to birthday parties." Zanna teases.

"Zanna, even I didn't get this on the first few tries. And I seem to recall another struggling magician." Giovanni said looking right at her causing her to shut up and twirl her hair nervously.

"Thanks Mr. Bezel. First you're watching over me and my home and now you're teaching me magic. You didn't have to do all this." Sam said.

"If magic is not passed on, it dies. Just like real magic, muggle magic has very similar rules." Giovanni

"How did you get into doing these tricks?" Sam asks.

"When I was about your age I was a student at Hogwarts, but I wasn't very social. Spent most of my time alone, then one day I met someone who opened my eyes to these tricks. And ever since that day I've been grateful. He became my best friend and I even wanted him to be Zanna's godfather." Giovanni said.

"Wait, how come I never met him?" Zanna asks.

"Sadly, he and his wife died a long time ago. You were just a baby." Giovanni frowns.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sam said.

"It's alright, it's thanks to his help I'm in the magician I am today." Giovanni said pulling out a top hat.

When he reached in Sam and Zanna cringed in horror to see the rabbit he pulled out looked like it was about to die of starvation.

"Ew." Sam cringed.

"Uh daddy." Zanna points.

"Uh…Today's lesson. Don't forget to feed your props." Giovanni said before running out hoping he wouldn't have to get another bunny.

In the back Giovanni filled up the food and water bowl and watched as the rabbit chowed down.

"Easy don't want you choking." Giovanni said.

Sitting down, he chuckles to himself.

"If you were here you'd call me a scatterbrain again." Giovanni said.

Flashback:

At Hogwarts, we see a young Giovanni in Ravenclaw robes sitting in the library reading.

As his nose was deep in a book he heard a snickering nearby.

"Come on Leonard show me one more time." A voice said.

"Alright alright." Looking up Giovanni saw a young Leonard and James snickering nearby.

"I saw this on my way to the train, this guy called himself a magician and was doing crazy stuff with these." Leonard said taking out a deck of cards.

Putting his book down, Giovanni saw Leonard shuffle it and hold it out to James.

When James picks one he puts it back in the deck and shuffles.

"Hmm is this your card?" Leonard asks holding out a jack of clubs.

"Nope." James shook his head.

"What? Oh man. Again? I thought I did this right." Leonard groans when Giovanni chuckles getting their attention. "Something funny?"

"Sorry I couldn't resist." Giovanni chuckles.

"You think you can do better?" Leonard asks.

"What? No I-I was just watching." Giovanni stutters as Leonard and James walked over.

"Here if you think you can do this, try your luck." Leonard said putting the deck down.

Looking at it curiously, Giovanni picks it up.

"So uh how do I do this?" Giovanni asks.

Slowly, Leonard leans in and whispers the trick to him.

Hearing this Giovanni shuffles the deck and holds them out.

"Pick a card." Giovanni said as Leonard picked one and looked at it.

Putting it back in Giovanni shuffled before pulling out the Ace of Spades.

"Is this your card?" Giovanni asks.

"That is my card." Leonard smiles surprising him.

"Really?" Giovanni asks looking at it.

"Wow Leonard looks like he's the better magician." James laughs.

"That was pretty cool uh…" Leonard pauses realizing he never got his name.

"Oh I'm Giovanni, Giovanni Bezel." Giovanni said.

"Well Gio, I'm Leonard Parker and this is James Potter. You're pretty good." Leonard said.

"It was pretty simple to figure out." Giovanni said.

"Well if you want to try more tricks I know a magic shop near King's Cross." Leonard said getting up.

As he walked out Giovanni realized he forgot his deck.

"Hey you forgot your cards!" Giovanni calls out.

"Keep'em. You're better with them than I ever was." Leonard smiles.

Slowly Giovanni looked down at the deck of cards and smiles softly.

Flashback End:

Reaching into his pocket, Giovanni took out a deck of cards, the same ones Leonard gave to him all those years ago.

"Think of this as my way of repaying you for everything, old friend." Giovanni smiles.

Out by the stage, Sam and Zanna were cleaning up.

"So I guess we'll be going off to school again." Sam said.

"Yep gotta get back to studies." Zanna said.

"Shame you don't come to Hogwarts." Sam said.

"Well if you ask me nicely, I might consider transferring." Zanna teases causing Sam to roll his eyes.

"I'm not gonna beg but if you do change your mind I bet you would have a great time at Hogwarts and I'd really like to have another magician there as well." Sam said as Zanna picked up a deck of cards and started shuffling.

"Think you can handle sharing the spotlight? Here pick a card and I'll tell you your future." Zanna said holding out a deck.

Reaching out Sam picked one and Zanna puts a hand to her head and leans with her back facing him.

"Hmm, let's see. I see adventure, emotion, ooh romance. Two of Hearts." Zanna guesses.

"Right suit. Wrong number." Sam said revealing it to be the 10 of Hearts.

"Oh it's a dumb trick anyway." Zanna said taking the card frustrated.

"Hmm looks like I'm not the only magician with ways to go." Sam mocks.

"Oh you wanna go?" Zanna snaps.

Yelping Sam made a run for it with Zanna hot on his tail.

"Yeah that's right you better run!" Zanna yells chasing after him.

As Giovanni led, Harry, Eric and Cole in they step back as a stool was thrown to the ground.

"What in the?" Eric yelps.

Looking on stage they saw Zanna chasing Sam all over it.

"Get back here! Oh you think you can make fun of me and get away with it?!" Zanna yells as Sam ran behind a box.

"Why not? You do that to me all the time. Not so fun when you look like the dumb one is it?" Sam said.

Growling Zanna ran to the other side but saw Sam was gone.

"Huh?" Zanna said looking around confused.

Slowly the box opens on the other side allowing Sam to slowly sneak out.

Bending down, Sam took out some handkerchiefs and looped them around her legs.

"Should we stop this?" Harry whispers.

"No, I think it's cute my Zanna has finally found a worthy opponent." Giovanni chuckles.

"Oh Zanna." Sam calls out.

Turning around Zanna was about to get him but trips and falls but before Sam could get away Zanna grabbed his leg causing Sam to fall down.

Bursting into laughter the four of them were really enjoying themselves.

"This is better than any magic show." Cole laughs.

"Come on Sam you can take her!" Eric laughs.

"I don't know, Zanna looks much scarier than the basilisk." Harry chuckles.

'Those two are gonna make quite the magicians someday.' Giovanni chuckles.

After pulling the two of them away from each other, the four boys made their way to Diagon Alley.

Entering, Eric and Cole were totally blown away.

"This is amazing." Eric said looking at all the stores.

"I can't believe you guys get to come here." Cole said checking out the animals in cages.

"Stay close guys. Muggles may be allowed in here but usually that's only in the case of parents." Harry whispers.

"Sorry Harry, this is just so exciting. Soon we'll be getting on the train with you guys to Hogwarts." Cole said.

"Well first Harry and I need to get our supplies." Sam said.

As they made their way through they noticed quite a few people looking at them as they passed by.

"Hey guys, we seem to be turning some heads." Eric whispers.

"Oh yeah Harry is famous." Sam points out.

"Uh I don't think they're looking only at me." Harry said realizing they were looking at both Harry and Sam.

"The Boy who Lived and Slytherin's Champion. Together in one place."

"They're so famous and so young."

"I can't believe they're walking down the street like regular people."

"Sam, you're famous?" Eric and Cole said surprised.

"Apparently." Sam cringed not liking all this attention.

"Not so fun is it?" Harry asks speaking from experience.

"It's kind of creepy. It's like I'm some art exhibit." Sam said when they heard some chatter that for once wasn't about them.

"Just came out—prototype." A wizard said.

"It's the fastest broom in the world." A little boy said.

"Irish International just put in an order for 7 of these beauties." The shop owner said.

Looking at the window, the four of them saw a fancy new broom called, The Firebolt.

"Whoa, that looks cooler than the Nimbus series." Harry said.

"It says here this broom can reach 150 miles per hour in 10 seconds." Eric read.

"Blimey." Cole said blown away.

"Wait, look at that." Sam points and they saw it said Price on request.

"That must mean it's really expenisve." Harry cringed. "Guess you and I will be sticking with our Nimbus 2000s."

"I don't need a fancy broom to beat you Harry. This year I got the Seeker position so that means no Malfoy and no Rogue Bludgers to stop you and me from facing off." Sam declares.

"I'm looking forward to it Sam." Harry grins.

After getting all their books, supplies and robes. The four of them made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron when they heard a squeaking.

Looking down they saw an orange cat chasing a rat down the hall.

Entering the room, they heard voices.

"I'm warning you, Hermione! Keep that bloody beast of yours away from Scabbers or I'll turn it into a tea cozy." Ron said.

Inside they saw Ron holding Scabbers and Hermione holding the orange cat.

"He's a cat, Ronald! What do you expect? It's in his nature." Hermione said.

"A cat? Is that what they told you? Looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me." Ron mocks.

"That's rich coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush. It's all right, Crookshanks. You just ignore the mean little boy." Hermione said.

"Did we come in at a bad time?" Harry calls out getting their attention.

"Harry, Sam." Ron smiles happy to see them as Hermione turns around just as happy when she noticed Eric and Cole.

"Oh hello there. Who are you?" Hermione asks.

"Hermione, Ron I want you to meet Eric and Cole, my best friends in the whole world." Sam said.

"Hi there, pleasure to meet you both." Eric said.

"Eric and Cole will actually be joining us at Hogwarts this year." Harry said.

"Really? Transfer students?" Ron asks.

"No, we'll be working at Hogwarts. We're assistant teachers." Cole smiles surprising them.

Sitting down the four of them explained everything to them.

"Blimey, Muggle instructors at our school." Ron said blown away.

"If Newt Scamander himself actually trained them, they're more than qualified." Hermione said.

"So you two mind helping us fit in?" Eric asks.

"Any friend of Sam's is a friend of ours." Hermione said.

"But if anyone asks you two should say you're Squibs." Ron said.

"Squibs?" Both said confused.

"It means you're a wizard but you can't do any magic." Hermione said.

"We'll keep that in mind." Cole said.

"So how was Egypt?" Harry asks.

"Brilliant, got loads of stuff. Mummies, tombs. Fred and George tried to lock Percy in one." Ron chuckles.

"You know the Egyptians used to worship cats." Hermione points.

"Along with the dungbeetle." Ron glares.

"I heard you finally got a new wand." Sam said.

"Yep." Ron said pulling out a new one. "Most of it went to the trip but Mom let me get a new one."

"That's good, no more Spellotape." Harry said when the rest of Ron's family came in.

"Hey there they are." Fred said.

"Hey guys!" George said.

"Hello." Sam and Harry smiled when Mrs. Weasley walks in.

"Boys it's so good to see you again." She smiles.

"Good to see you again." Harry smiles.

"You boys get all your books?" She asks.

"Yep." Sam said holding them up.

"All your clothes?" She asks.

"Right here." Harry said holding up the robes.

"Good boys." She smiles.

"Boys." Mr. Weasley smiles walking over.

"Mr. Weasley." They acknowledge.

"Can I have a word with you two for a moment?" He asks.

"Sure." They nodded walking away with him.

Walking into an empty hallway, Mr. Weasley looks to see if the coast was clear.

"Harry, Sam. There are some within the Ministry who would strongly discourage me from divulging what I'm about to tell you. But I think you need to know the facts. Because you're in danger. Grave danger." He warns getting their attention.

"Again?" Sam groans getting really tired of hearing that.

"Does it have anything to do with Sirus Black?" Harry asks.

"How much do you two know?" Mr. Weasley asks.

"We know he escaped from prison." Sam said.

"And he killed someone." Harry adds.

"Harry, 13 years ago when you stopped…" He pauses not liking the name.

"Voldemort." Harry assumes.

"Yes him. When you stopped You-Know-Who, Black lost everything. But he remains a loyal servant to this day. In his mind, only you stand in the way... You-Know-Who returning to power. That's why he's broken. That's why he's broken out of Azkaban. To find you." Mr. Weasley warns.

"And kill me?" Harry guesses.

"Yes." Mr. Weasley nods.

"But why does he want me dead?" Sam asks.

"Sam, you may not realize it yet but your new fame has rattled a lot of people. Former servants to You-Know-Who are furious. Your huge discover revealed to all of them the master they worshipped is the Disgrace's Heir. While some are humiliated, the most loyal of his servants would be very eager to come after you. Like Black." Mr. Weasley said.

"So you think while Black is after Harry he might come after for a bonus revenge?" Sam guesses.

"I fear so but I hope not." Mr. Weasley nods causing Sam to sigh.

"I really hoped after that chaos with the Chamber this next year would be easier." Sam whines.

"You and me both Sam." Harry sighs.

"Boys, promise me whatever you might hear you won't go looking for Black." Mr. Weasley begs.

"Mr. Weasley, why would we go looking for someone who wants to kill us?" Harry asks.

"Just promise me you two will look out for each other." Mr. Weasley said putting a hand on each boy's shoulder.

"We will." Harry nods.

"Good boys." Mr. Weasley smiles.

Soon the day finally came when it was time to go back to Hogwarts.

Making their way to King's Cross, Martha helped Harry, Sam, Eric and Cole with their trunks.

"All right boys, this is it." Martha said tearing. "I can't believe you all are leaving."

"Martha." Eric and Cole tear up as she pulls them and Sam into one last hug.

"Promise me you'll write." She said.

"We will." They said as they let go.

"Martha, thank you for taking me in." Harry smiles as she turns to him.

"Harry if you ever come back our door is always open to you." Martha said.

Touched by this, Harry gives Martha a big hug goodbye.

As they made their way inside, they saw Newt and Giovanni had come to say goodbye.

"Well Newt. We're off." Eric said as he and Cole walked to their mentor.

"You boys are going to do great." Newt smiles before reaching into his suitcase. "And before you leave I have some gifts for you."

Reaching inside, Newt pulls out two Bowtruckles. "These are for you two. You never know when you might need a little hand. Their names are Titus and Finn."

Smiling Eric took his Bowtruckle and petted it. "Hey Finn. Good to see you."

"Newt, thank you so much." Cole smiles as Titus climbs on his shoulder.

"And I know you boys might not need it but I always keep one of these on me in case of emergencies." Newt said handing them a Swooping Evil Pod. "However I ask that you only use it in case of emergencies."

Nodding Cole took it and slipped it into his pocket.

"Where's Zanna?" Sam asks as they made their way to the platform.

"She's getting ready to go back to school. But you'll hear from her again soon." Giovanni said.

"Hopefully not too soon." Sam mumbles.

"You know you and Zanna might make a great team if you ever stop fighting." Giovanni said.

"Assuming she ever stops making fun of me." Sam said.

"You make fun of her too." Giovanni points.

"She started it." Sam points out.

"And you continue it." Giovanni said causing Sam to groan annoyed.

"What about you?" Sam asks.

"I'm stationed here, so while I perform my shows I'll be keeping an eye on your home." Giovanni said.

"And make sure everyone is safe?" Sam asks.

"I'll guard that orphanage with my life." Giovanni said.

"Thank you for everything." Sam smiles as they approached the train.

"My pleasure. Mr. Parker." Giovanni said leaning in for that last part causing Sam to freeze in shock.

"Wha-What?" Sam said speechless.

"Don't worry, this will be our little secret." Giovanni smiles holding a finger to his lips. "Leonard and Lucy would be very proud of you."

Sam was about to say something when he heard the train whistle.

"Sam hurry up!" Harry calls out.

Looking to Giovanni, he gestures for him to go and Sam quickly ran to the train before climbing on.

"Sam wait!" Turning around he saw Mrs. Weasley holding Scabbers. "Give this to Ron!"

Reaching out Sam grabs him just before the doors shut. "Thanks Mrs. Weasley!" Sam calls out as the train departed King's cross.

"Well Scabbers, looks like we made it just in time." Sam said when he noticed Penny with a blank look on her face.

"Penny." Sam calls out getting her attention.

"Oh Sam." Penny said acknowledging him.

"How have you been? I haven't heard from you all summer?" Sam asks walking over.

"Sorry I had some stuff to deal with." Penny said looking away.

"You would not believe the crazy things that have happened to me this summer." Sam said.

"Oh that's nice." Penny said confusing him.

"Hey is everything all right?" Sam asks.

"I'm sorry Sam, I'm not really in the mood to talk. Good seeing you again." Penny said walking away leaving him all alone with Scabbers.

"Wha-What just happened?" Sam asks totally confused.