Chapter 1
[Gregory Goyle]
"Come on, quick!" the whispering voice said.
He felt groggy and heavy, he couldn't move. A sharp tug on his scalp made him want to yelp, but his mouth didn't respond to him. He could only feel cold.
His mind felt slow, but that was par for the course, especially early in the morning… 'Is it morning?' he wondered, as he blinked blearily. The bed felt really hard though and he was very uncomfortable. Granted, Hogwarts' beds weren't as good as home's but…
He was in a small room, much smaller than the Slytherin dorm, that was for sure. The smell of cleaning products and filth assaulted his nose. It wasn't the worst that he had to wake up to, at least. There was no Malfoy demanding for him and Crabbe to get up already, so there was that.
Something was going on. He felt very cold. The room was too dark.
"Ron, come on!" the whispering voice said once more and Gregory grunted once more. "Can you hurry up already?" the voice hissed then.
"I'm trying, ok?" another one replied a little louder, annoyed.
They sounded familiar.
'Potter? Weasley?' he recognized, still feeling a little out of it. The recognition made him confused. 'Where was Malfoy? Where was Crabbe?' They wouldn't leave him alone with them, right?
His mind worked to remember what had happened. He remembered spending Christmas with Crabbe. He remembered the tasty food at the Hall and the muffins, even the floating one. Then, he was here, inside a tiny room with Potter and Weasley. Did they knock him out? Why would they-
For a moment, Gregory froze. What if he was being attacked like Ms. Norris? What if Potter wanted to get rid of him too? He saw how he commanded that snake. Was he going to get eaten by them too? Draco told him he wasn't the Heir of Slytherin and he didn't believe that Potter was it either, but maybe he was wrong. Everyone saw how he talked to the snake, and how he was always alone when someone got attacked.
Goyle tried desperately to move, to scream in fear. But he couldn't, no matter how much he forced himself, not a finger moved. He didn't want to die.
The room got darker.
He felt even colder.
"Okay, let's go already," Potter said. The dark blob opened the door and left the small cramped room. The red one soon followed, closing it behind him and leaving him in, alone.
'Oh, he wasn't going to be eaten then?' a part of him realized in relief. His body calmed down, even though not a single muscle had tensed. The darkness seeped into his vision, the cold chilling his bones through his skin as he idly noted that he was naked.
He was scared. He didn't know what was happening.
It was so cold and dark.
And as his eyelids slowly closed and the chill reached the deepest part of his body.
Gregory knew no more.
[}-o-{]
[Vincent Crabbe]
"You two have been acting really weird," Malfoy said as he walked ahead of them.
Vincent's response to him was to yawn loudly, not even bothering to cover his mouth. His brain was still playing catch up after the previous day's late-night activities, honestly. On top of that, he'd never been a morning person to begin with, so that didn't really help much.
"Or maybe not," the blonde commented with a sneer directed at Vincent. He didn't care though. He had bigger problems than the opinion of the spoiled ponce, that was for sure. As Malfoy continued walking slightly ahead of them, he chanced a glance towards Gregory, next to him.
The boy turned in tandem, likely noticing his gaze from the corner of his eyes.
Bigger problems indeed.
One such problem was that he'd woken up in the body of Vincent fucking Crabbe of all people. The silver lining there was that he wasn't alone, at least. Someone else had been dragged into Gregory Goyle too, so… Misery loves company and all that. Not a huge reassurance, but it made the whole shitshow more bearable.
He didn't know what the fuck had happened, but the two of them had woken up half-naked in a broom cupboard. When they'd opened the door, they'd found a bundle of clothes that were very obviously theirs and then… Pieces had started falling into place in a picture that neither of them liked much.
They were in Hogwarts, in the Harry Potter world and they were the lackeys of a minor antagonist of a series that was just… a mess. They were part of the enemy faction that got their asses kicked by teenagers and they weren't even ranked all that high, which majorly sucked when you considered that everyone seemed to be very trigger happy with the curses in the Death Eater side. Even with their own comrades… Maybe especially with their own comrades.
Vincent could already feel a headache coming his way.
It might have been because of the previous night's reading. Gregory and him had shared some quick conversations as they struggled to get their feet under them. Getting to the common room had been complicated, and so had been acting the part of their characters when they didn't even know who they were supposed to be just yet. Once they'd figured things out… things hadn't really improved.
Fortunately, the original Crabbe and Goyle were mini-trolls, as far as everyone was concerned. Their brains were empty and they barely did anything other than follow Malfoy around. That simplified their acting job a whole lot… even if it was terribly frustrating.
"-Rabbe! Are you listening?!" Draco's voice pulled him out of his musings with a startle. "I know you can't think with food in front of you, but… Oh, why do I bother?" he said then, rolling his eyes. Crabbe sighed – internally, that is – before continuing to eat breakfast. At some point during his musings, they'd reached the Great Hall and started eating their first meal in the Potterverse…
'Joy,' he thought dryly.
"Sorry. You were saying?" he asked, deliberately speaking with his mouth full. He wasn't sure how to exactly act like the absolute idiot original Crabbe was, so… He tried not to speak much, really.
"I was saying," the blonde stressed the last word through his teeth as he gave him a disgusted look and leaned back. "That the trio isn't here yet. You think my wishes came true?"
"Might have," Vincent replied after swallowing, giving a shrug as if he barely knew what the boy was talking about. It wasn't particularly hard, considering he really didn't know. He could guess though. If his theories were right, they were in second year, from the mutterings they'd heard in the Common Room the previous night and the books he had available. On top of that, it seemed to be Christmas or around that time so…
'Harry and Ron probably got into the common room already? Not sure if that was the first time Malfoy wished Hermione would get petrified. He probably commented on wishing the three of them got petrified too at some point though… right?' he thought to himself, half listening as the blonde continued speaking. 'I wouldn't be surprised one way or another.'
"Here's hoping, Crabbe, here's hoping," Malfoy said as he continued eating, occasionally sending a weird glance towards either Gregory or Vincent. 'Are we eating differently?... We probably are,' he thought with an internal grimace. Thankfully the blonde didn't say anything. He didn't try to change how he was acting though, because that probably would be weirder, right?
'God, this is harder than I thought.'
"Here come Harry and Ron," Gregory added with a nod in the direction of the entrance to the Mess Hall. Sure enough, he could see both of them entering the room at a fast pace, murmuring quietly to each other.
"Harry and Ron?" Malfoy asked and Vincent froze for a moment. 'Fuck, that was a mistake there, man!' he exclaimed in his head. 'You had one job!'
"Uh- I mean-."
"They look weird, don't they?" he asked, trying desperately to draw attention to something else. Sure enough, Malfoy jumped at the chance of… Whatever. Maybe he thought they could go mock the two? Vincent really didn't care. He was just happy they hadn't screwed up already. He elbowed his fellow body snatcher with a harsh look, earning an apologetic one back.
"They do look strange." The blonde kid scratched his chin for a second as if he was contemplating something. It wasn't long before a malicious grin grew on his face as he rose from his seat. "Come on," he said – ordered, more like – with a wave of his hands.
Without the option to actually refuse, both of them rose and walked right behind the Malfoy like a good pair of bodyguards. Fast and long strides were measured carefully to not go past or get in the way of their boss.Swiftly, they made their way towards the protagonist of the world they were now part of and his red-headed friend.
"Weasley, Potter. Good morning to you two," Draco said with a mocking sneer on his face.
"Malfoy," the boy who lived answered with animosity. His face changed into something far more hostile as he directed his gaze towards their "leader", eyes not even glancing in either his or Goyle's direction. "What do you want now?"
"I just couldn't help but notice that you don't have your mudblood tagalong today," Malfoy commented, making a show of looking around for Hermione. Crabbe immediately saw the already hostile look on both Harry and Ron's faces grow even more aggressive. He had to wonder if he'd actually have to step in for the stupid ponce. Because he'd really rather not. Blonde idiot was very lucky he didn't have much of a choice if he didn't want to make his situation even more complicated than it already was. "It was about time, I gotta say."
"Paying a lot of attention to Hermione, huh, Malfoy?" Harry asked, and Crabbe almost laughed. It was a really close thing though. The words reminded him of all those Hermione and Draco shippers back home. He wondered how the Malfoy next to him would react to that. He was really curious about that, even if he'd never risk actually bringing that up.
"She wishes," the blonde hissed, eyes narrowed. From the expression on Potter's face, he knew he'd won that one. "Or maybe you are worried? Don't be. I wouldn't touch that mudblood even if you gave me a love potion."
"You wish, Malfoy," Weasley replied, glaring at Draco in a way that had Crabbe wondering if he might have an accidental magic incident. "Now, bugger off, would you? We have better things to do than put up with you." His broken wand clutched tightly, but he didn't point it at them. It seemed that throwing up slugs was enough of a lesson for him to not try anything stupid.
"Or maybe you couldn't stand the stench anymore?" Malfoy continued, ignoring the redhead entirely. A sardonic laugh that grated on Crabbe's ears escaped the blonde kid's lips as he looked down on the other two. "I can't say I blame you. Maybe you finally went for her, eh, Heir of Slytherin? Did she scream when-"
Malfoy's taunt was stopped and transformed into a high-pitched squeak when Harry took out his wand and pointed it straight at his face before he could even react. A look that promised pure violence was plastered on the Boy-Who-Lived's face. It was not a face you expected any twelve-year-old to be capable of. 'I wonder if that is what Avada Kedavra green actually looks like,' Crabbe thought as he looked at those Harry Potter's eyes and gulped. He could even hear his fellow transmigrator whimper slightly and give half a step back.
Neither Gregory nor him knew the first thing about magic, after all, so any kind of magic fight would be… unfortunate. Whatever entity or twist of fate that had dropped both of them here, didn't see fit to give them any kind of cheat abilities, like in some of the stories he had read. Not even the memories of the previous owners of these bodies had been provided, something that would have helped massively even if they were both dumb as rocks.
At least it was just second year, so maybe they could do something the muggle way? They were certainly big enough, but… He didn't want to give that a try, if he could avoid it.
"One more word, Malfoy. I dare you," Potter hissed.
"... Don't worry. I'll keep your secret, Heir," Malfoy replied, very obviously trying to save face… and failing miserably. "Let's go, Crabbe, Goyle." The blonde hair turned and went past both of them at a brisk pace, scared enough to get as far as he could, but too prideful to do something as unsightly as run away.
Crabbe just sighed, his shoulders dropping before he turned and did as Malfoy said, Goyle following suit just after him. The last thing he wanted was to get on the boy's bad side. There had to be a reason why the original Crabbe had been a lackey, he was sure, besides being dim. He didn't want to risk annoying the other boy for the moment.
Maybe once he was a little more confident in his position.
As he went, he glanced towards Potter and Weasley. He'd hoped that maybe Potter would notice that they weren't particularly enthusiastic, but he was too busy glaring at Malfoy. 'Because of course, I would be surprised if he even noticed we were standing there,' Crabbe thought with a sigh. Things were going to be tough for a while, it seemed.
[}-o-{]
[Gregory Goyle]
"You two can go do whatever," Malfoy told them, waving his hand over his shoulder in a dismissive manner as he looked at the wizard's chess set in front of him. Nott across the board didn't so much as look at them, which… might have been worse, Gregory thought.
A familiar feeling churned his stomach as he balled his fists in distress and anger.
"Ok," Vincent replied simply, his voice flat, but there was a barely hidden glare there on his face.
"Right," Gregory added, quickly vacating the room with his companion as Malfoy just grunted in acknowledgment. Soon, both of them were alone in the room they seemed to share with the other boys in their year. They stood there in silence for a long moment before Crabbe took a deep breath in and then let it out in an explosive sigh.
"So far… I hate being here," he muttered, bringing both his hands to massage his face. "Didn't think being dropped in a fantasy world would suck this bad but… grass is always greener and all that…"
"...They are treating us like-" Goyle couldn't even think of how to continue that phrase. It was just jarring how nobody seemed to even look at them, eyes skipping over them like someone would at the furniture of a room. "-Like we are not even people."
"To be fair… I didn't give these two much of a thought myself," Crabbe admitted with a bitter smile. "If they were as dumb as I remember them being… Can't fault the kids for not caring much. Guess that's the steep climb we have ahead of us… Don't know about you, but I don't feel like being Malfoy's lackey forever."
He just shook his head. The idea of being stuck like this for the rest of this strange new life didn't please him either. Especially since he was fairly sure Malfoy would one day join the bad guys. Knowing how those things go in most fiction, that would mean that mooks like him would end up beaten by the good guys in the long run, or at least that was what he suspected.
And wasn't that the crux of the matter? He suspected. He wasn't sure of what was going on for the most part or what would happen later on.
After all, he didn't know much about this whole fictional world. He had watched the first few movies when he was a kid more than a decade ago and barely remembered the basics of the plot. Beyond that, all he had was the occasional snippets of knowledge he had come across on the internet over the years.
How he regretted having played hard to get and not having consumed every bit of trivia about the series now. It would have certainly been incredibly helpful in his current situation. Crabbe had tried to help him last night, but given that they were bodyguards of one pompous blonde kid, and shared a room with half a dozen more children like him, it wasn't like he had the time or privacy to give Goyle a full crash course.
Even now, as they rested alone in the dormitory, they both stayed quiet about any kind of out-of-context knowledge if they could help it. Neither of them had the slightest idea about how to do or detect magic. Who knew who or what could barge in and listen to something they truly shouldn't? For all Gregory knew, the bricks could listen and talk. The art collections at the stairs and some of the hallways certainly could after all.
"Might as well study a bit?" Crabbe asked, looking at the door of the dormitory as if checking there was no one to listen. "I kind of want to try magic," he added, his voice low, probably afraid someone else would hear him.
"To the library, then?" Goyle proceeded to grab his robes to ward off the cold of winter that managed to reach the hallways. One would think that a school for wizards would have some kind spell or something to keep them warm, but that wasn't the case.
With his other hand, he grabbed the strange light brown stick that even he recognized as a wand. A feeling of not quite rejection, but clear discomfort seemed to reach through his arm. It left him feeling strange almost as if he had been found wanting. It wasn't bad, but his companion seemed to disagree as he winced slightly as he clutched his own stick.
"Someone's gonna find it weird if they find us there… but we kind of need to do something or we are screwed. Maybe not more than… before, but that's not saying much," Vincent answered, still grimacing as he placed his wand in his own jacket's pocket.
"I guess, that makes sense." It didn't take a genius to realize that whoever's bodies they had snatched weren't that high on the totem pole. Even without remembering them or their lives at all, Gregory could put that much together. He guessed they hadn't frequented the library often, but as his new friend had stated, it wasn't like they had a choice. "I tried reading the ones we had here early in the morning, but I couldn't make heads or tails of what any of it meant."
Sure enough, he had tried to read through his current material, but most of it made absolutely no sense to him. Some magical theories and concepts that seemed to disregard all common logic were plastered across every page of the books. He had even tried to mimic the little images that depicted wand movements and repeat the name of the spells, but all he had managed was to feel like a fool when nothing happened.
"Second-year material," Vincent said as a form of explanation.
"I guess we will have to catch up then, at least it shouldn't take that much time… right?" he asked the new Crabbe. He was fairly sure Harry didn't have any knowledge when he went to his first years, so there was most likely no pre-school level stuff they would also have to go through. Besides, everyone here was like twelve, so he assumed that they couldn't have been learning for that long.
"... I like your optimism," the other boy – 'Man?' – told him with a half smile. Then he seemed to catch sight of his reflection. "Fuck, man. I thought I was done with this God awful bowl cut when I was 8. Really hope we find some hair cut charm or whatever and soon."
"We will make sure to look for something like that in the library… if you have any idea how to find it." Remembering the path from their rooms to the Great Hall had been hell with all those moving stairs, but he had managed. As both of them left the Common Room behind to brave the ever changing halls of Hogwarts, Gregory pondered on the words Vincent had just told him.
'What the hell is a charm?'
[}-o-{]
"This is gonna suck," Vincent grumbled across from him, a book lying on the library desk out of the way they'd picked and a piece of parchment to the side where he was taking notes… or trying to. Neither of them had any idea how to use a quill, so that was also part of the learning experience, really. "Stupid ass castle, stupid ass books, stupid ass quill," he continued then.
Gregory got it, honestly. It had taken them a while to even find the library. From there, it took them longer than he'd have liked to find the books they were looking for, some of which flew away from them when they tried to grab them. And then there was the actual studying and writing notes which… wasn't going better, sadly.
He turned his head to look at his surroundings. All he could see were rows and rows of shelves filled with books that reached as high as the ceiling. Each of them filled to the brim as those same books that seemed to fly all over the place. Sometimes they collected themselves in groups and zoomed into the distance, but others went towards tables with quills that moved on their own. They furiously scribbled in the pages at high speeds before closing themselves and continuing their path toward…wherever they were supposed to go.
He glanced back towards the big pile of study material they had amassed over an eclectic collection of subjects meant for first years. Inwardly he could only feel dread at the thought of an eleven-year-old him having to read through all of this. Some of these books were thicker than both of his hands put one on top of the other.
"We are never going to catch up," Gregory stated in despair as he looked at the books in confusion. It was… more legible than the second year material, but most of it still didn't make any sense. It was like there wasn't any explanation about the logic behind most of it, it just told you to flick or twist your wrist without any rhyme or reason. Some parts even skipped chunks of the explanation as if it should be obvious what to do next, only to be recalled several paragraphs later as an afterthought.
It only made the pit that was forming in his stomach grow. Doubts and questions filled his mind as his current circumstances came crashing down on him yet again. This was supposed to be the most basic of basics, but he couldn't make sense of it at all. If things continued this way then…
"It's… not that bad," Vincent commented, unknowingly bringing him back from his dark spiraling thoughts. The shorter man-kid leaned back and massaged his eyelids. "The quills suck, but at least magic is sort of… easy, I guess."
'Easy?' Gregory wondered as he directed his attention back to his own reading material.
"-for the next part one needs to make sure to follow a smooth, flowing motion. Sharp wand movements will have the wrong result for the Wand-Lighting Charm. It is as simple as lighting the end part of your wand with it. It is worth noting that the 'L' in Lumos must be pronounced clearly, but never pronounce it too firmly if you don't want the spell to fail-"
'What even is the difference between clearly and firmly?' Gregory wondered, confused.
"Struggling?" Vincent asked, clearly having noticed that he was… a little lost.
"I- have no idea what I am reading here."
"SHHH." Both of them cringed at the librarian's shush from their side.
"Sorry," Vincent muttered quickly. "What are you having a difficult time with?"
"Well… this spell, the 'Wand-Lightning Charm', it says that I should-," Gregory inwardly let out a sigh of relief. While he was still completely at his wit's ends, the thought of the second man who found himself in the same circumstances as him helped calm his frying nerves. He guessed it was wrong to think like that, but he couldn't help it. He sure wouldn't even know what to do if he were on his own. Even in this strange and confusing new world, he had found himself in, he could at least rely on someone here to help out.
At the end of the day, he just hoped it was enough.
[} Chapter End {]
Adrian: Well, these two sure are lucky, aren't they?
Arc: Some people sure get it easy in life, huh?
Adrian: Indeed. I'm sure their journey will be full of power and big harems. Nothing bad is going to happen here and no struggles to be had.
Arc: Anyway, we hope you guys enjoy this total power wank fantasy in the world of Harry Potter.
Adrian: Don't forget to leave a review. See you guys next time.
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