Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Heero Yuy and the... ❯ ...Adventure at Home and Kings' Cross ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AN: I thought this was an adorable chapter. And rather important, there's some personalities that will interfere with the whole plot. The personalities are really obvious. I didn't want to make this so long, but I still enjoyed it! Thanks for telling me if you liked it! If you're lurking out there and reading this, drop a line, please~

Summary: Nothing's weirder than staying in a thirteen-year-old body with your life-long enemies with nothing but sparsely aforementioned magic floating around. Except maybe one enemy is a half-dragon, an ally is incredibly naive, an in-between drifter is terribly irritating, and well, there might be weirder things.

Warnings: If you ever felt like burning Umbridge on a stake... Well, a 'descendant' of hers is going to make trouble for everyone.


...Adventure at Home and King's Cross



The warm bend of August ended, and the first of September started before Sunday, which was finally a week later. There were many arguments, mainly between Duo and Milliardo, which gave the reason for the elves to beg them to keep out of the kitchen- the blonde part-dragon had the habit of burning meals. Dorothy was generally wicked with everyone, not in a necessarily evil way, but more out of mischievous boredom. And Heero and Trowa was so quiet in the house full of people, the rest of them forgot they were there, so the two boys got into the habit of actually greeting a person when they arrived in a room or else risk giving them a minor heart attack. Wufei spent most of his time with Sally, Hilde, and Duo- mostly tedious minor tilts, or berating Dorothy for such and such comment. However, often he could be found, surrounded in dead silence, with Treize and Milliardo.

Only one big incident caused Lillian to come back: it was yet another fight between Duo and his arch-nemesis, over a subject neither could remember, but ended in Relena knocking herself unconscious on the table, whereas Milliardo, in search of Duo, began to light the living room on fire. Now the living room had a nice, black, rainy pattern all around its walls. By that time, as anyone would guess, their minds had receded to, like Lillian predicted,13-year-old mannerisms: Sally actually liked her hair down; Relena had the habit of falling asleep at the window; Treize didn't truly care for manners and thought the different array of spoons and forks was a complete waste of time and complained; Wufei was obsessed with cleanliness; Catherine felt she was fat; Hilde and Dorothy liked to double-team people into embarrassing situations; Quatre talked too much and Trowa listened likewise with a wide blank expression, wider since everyone was still not used to both of his green eyes staring back at them; Heero came to be known as a brick wall; Noin and Une openly admired Treize and Zechs; and Duo and Milliardo obsessed over their hair, a lot, especially the prince because the curls particularly weren't grown to be tamed.

In desperation, Milliardo heated two silver pots and flattened his hair with them; he was vaguely surprised they worked, as was everyone else's opinion, though they laughed at his transparent recklessness. It seemed, without the weight of a nation, or colony, or pride on any of their shoulders, but the simple fact that they should move forward in this strange new land and help those in need, that they had to laugh more easily- even if there were some disagreements. The majority of them never had pets, either, so the animals brightened their day more than ever. They even, because the only interesting thing they could understand on the radio was Quidditch and there was no game today, had a little animal show. Sitting outside in the backyard, sunshine warm on the grass, and the great orange peaches swelling, most of them stood in angle with another person showing what their animal could do.

Quatre had received letters from Lillian, friendly questions on how everything was turning out over at the Winner manor. He sent his own dark-colored owl and was absolutely ecstatic when Jeffrey brought another letter back, a congratulations on his first owled message.

Lu the lion knew how to jump through hoops when Trowa waved one over her head and roared for a treat after she had done it a few times. Scyther, Duo's panther, hated everyone except his master and took to angry jealousy whenever said master took his attention away from him. So Duo could never take his eyes off from Scyther whenever he was out of his cage or else risk losing another one of his ribbons. Zero, Heero's majestic black owl, didn't do much socializing nor liked to be coddled, which was great, since Heero didn't like to coddle. Treize's white owl, Tallgeese, was the opposite of Zero. He preened and bothered the other pets. When the girls went around Quatre's adorable chick-looking owl, Tallgeese would swoop down, nearly blasting Jeffrey away. He also hated the cats, which always sat in the laps of Une and Catherine being petted and kissed and variously loved. He didn't expect his master Treize to do the same, but the girls he wanted to wheedle their affection. But Elly and Saber were just as possessive of their masters as Scyther was and fought together against Tallgeese. Whenever this happened, he would nag Dorothy's Redneck, the toad, until she called Treize to get the damned owl before she broke its wings.

Most of the owls, especially Relena's curious long-eared owl, took a liking to the dragon Epyon, except Zero, who could care less, and Tallgeese, who got jealous on regular occasion and spurred on fights between them. He would butt and poke even after a few of his feathers cindered and Epyon, taking the faux fights in playful jest, would wisely rally down his strength so as not to let the game end too quickly.

"It's really odd, you know?" Relena said that evening, feeding Flyleaf, since the owl was the bright orange-red color of the flying autumn leaves, "It's like Tallgeese embodies Zechs while Epyon is almost like Treize."

"Sometimes, Relena, there are things you just don't say." Milliardo said, embarrassed, and also referred to the day before when his sister commented how he and Treize spent more time with each other than with their respective lady friends.

"What's wrong with what I said?"

Dorothy smiled; she was an instigator, it was decided, and one couldn't trust her to let any opportunity to poke fun at someone, especially Milliardo, to pass. "Oh, it just vaguely means that Milliardo and Treize have each other." She calmly stomped out the flames that erupted on her dress. They had gone back to more comfortable clothes rather than staying in the billowing robes.

"That's simply adorable, though," Relena said, missing the point completely. Milliardo groaned.

Unfortunately, Treize was in just a playful mood as his cousin. "Then, Relena, should I rename my little firebrand Milliardo or some such?"

"That would be odd when you went to school. However, it would be a fine idea if you think so." Dorothy nodded in agreement, chuckling.

Milliardo snapped his fingers so that Epyon concluded the one-sided fight between Tallgeese and him, who flew onto his shoulders. "I'm just going to burn all three of you and be done with it."

"I doubt any of the teachers," Heero interrupted formally, after awhile, one of the many reprimands given to Zechs when he made such threats, "or students would appreciate you breathing fire all over the place. That would really give you unwanted attention."

The other boy kicked the grass, disliking the feeling of being lectured, which he was sure Heero was doing to him. That disinclination led to the deep feeling of guilt, punching him in the gut whenever someone such as Treize, or Relena, or, mostly likely, Heero would say something advisory towards him. An ambiguous feeling of defiance and self-reproach would swell up inside him. Unwanted attention Heero had said, and he felt a perpetual feeling that their eyes were on him, as he was the sole reason billions of lives would have been lost if the Wing pilot hadn't saved them all. Now, Milliardo couldn't look up, so he chanced to turn back towards the mansion.

"You know, we forgive you, Milliardo." Treize always knew the exact time to do some persuasive talk, and Milliardo stopped but didn't turn around. There was probably thirteen pairs of eyes looking at him and he didn't want to meet any of them.

"Well, I do. You haven't stabbed me in our bed,"-this was a slip of the tongue which they did not notice, except Dorothy, of course-"but seemed to have been wallowing in your own living nightmare. You only did what you thought was right, and so had we. No one should judge whatever good intentions you had in mind, no matter how you done it. If that was the way we should be then, why, I would also be at the mercy of the human race."

Painful, highly complex emotions prodded his tear ducts. It might've been just one emotion, but if it was, he didn't want to name it. This had to come from, not Noin, who he would've expected all of what from her, not Relena, a similarity to Noin in his opinion, but Treize, whose fluid, rather true, rather honest words had him close to crying. He swallowed and turned around, choking, and muttered once, then loudly, "Thank you, Treize. I guess I've wanted to hear something like that from yo- someone." He saw nods of acknowledgment.

Relena, moved, said, "I just had the funniest thought-"

"Please, sister, keep it to yourself," Milliardo begged, but she had already finished:

"If brother was a girl, this would have been so romantic." It was already known that Milliardo couldn't get mad enough at his sister to burn her, but he looked pretty close.

"Well," Dorothy cackled at the opportunity to joke about Treize's misstatement, "he's already been in his bed."

"What do you mean?" Treize asked, alarmed, and Tallgeese hooted.

"Ya' said," Duo was smiling, not quite feeling the atmosphere just yet, " 'you haven't stabbed me in our bed' so..."

"I meant room! Surely, you are only making it more-"

"Maybe he was thinking about him in his bed," Dorothy kept on ruthlessly.

"Please, my dear cousin..." but the former colonel trailed off, covering his blush with his hands.

Winslow, running from the back doors and onto the patio where out of season geraniums grew in large pots, saved him from certain mortification with another letter from Lillian and a newspaper. The elf, wearing a clean sack and dingy rubber boots after much prodding, read the letter out loud as they walked inside, which read that they would be waking up rather late and hoped that they had become great friends.

"Daily Prophet," Catherine read. After finishing their supper of rabbit stew, stuffed cheese potatoes, and goblets of butterbeer- a drink they have gotten much addicted to- and rereading Lillian's letter, the Wizarding newspaper was spread in the center of their usual circle in the branded living room.

" 'Hogwarts Opens Again With Arrival of Familiar Heero Yuy'. Look at this." She pointed a red-painted fingernail at the captioned picture with their people full of motility. It was a photo shoot of the staff at Hogwarts. Underneath read the names of all the teachers and the article had the school's statistics and whatnot, but what interested them most was the part about Headmaster Undeley that poked at the disappearance of Doradius and then sported line after line of what good Undeley has been doing for the school. Comments from the students added to her success, however...

"Well, it's just natural that a bunch of Slytherins would like her," Catherine huffed to her new best friend, Hilde, and she sniffed accordingly.

Relena peered at the picture of Undeley, the big bow hanging down Undeley's cascading jet-black hair, the heap of make-up on her face that made her look extraordinarily young, and her slim hourglass figure. "I can't begin to understand how she would be jealous of anyone!"

"Then you have yet to learn the true nature of people, Relena," Treize said. "I can tell by all that damn make-up that she has some serious issues."

"That big-ass bow is just wrong!" Duo added, shaking his own hair. "But what's even worse is how she is saying that Heero will come to school 'spreading the awful news that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is alive just like that Harry Potter has said.' " He read on, " 'That is just completely wrong. We all know that after his reign of terror, where he used the Muggle war to his advantage and killed numerous great families, wizards and Muggles alike, has been done for a long time. There is nothing for us to fear and neither do the students of Hogwarts.' Sounds like denial or lying to me."

Trowa nodded. "She didn't say he was dead, that is what bothers me."

"It is time for bed, Master Winner!" Winslow called, scaring some of them. "Miss Lillian wants everyone quite awake tomorrow!"

So they got ready for bed; their luggage already was arranged in trunks and carts, big wallets of money sat fat on certain carriers while other bags weren't so big. Baths were taken and good-nights were said. Dorothy watched Treize and Milliardo shuffle awkwardly into their room, as did Duo. They had a pact to make the two as uncomfortable as possible. Soon, they crept back to their own beds and tried, mostly, to sleep.

Heero's eyes were bothering him again, as they have been all week, and he had been trying to hide it but was caught once by his joking roommate who noticed his fingers ready to claw out the sharp pains. The pain wasn't the worse of it; he couldn't see for a good half-hour afterwards. Before he had blurry shaking visions, but now it seemed he lay in another crowded room watching another boy with wild red hair. A hand was rubbing at his forehead, and Heero instantly realized that he was looking through the eyes of Harry Potter. He was tired as that other legendary wizard was tired and worried just as he was. Sharp lightning shock ran through his optical nerves and he was forced to see a large silver snake.

"There are sssssso many waysss, sssso many wayssss," was all it said before he snapped back, sweaty, panting and Duo hovering over him. Heero couldn't see him, but the smell of his shampoo was fresh in his nostrils, and his hand patted a shoulder.

"You alright, Heero?"

"Yes."

"Thanks for not saying 'Hn' because nobody really understands what that means." Duo chuckled shakily, and Heero granted him a small grin. "Are you smiling? Oh, you're not alright then. Let me see a doctor!" He paused, and Heero guessed he made some gesture in front of his face. "You can't see me, can you?"

"I'm fine, Duo."

"Just answer the question!"

He closed his temporarily blind eyes for a moment and answered, "Yes. It's not permanent."

"But it's hella' dangerous, Heero. What if someone..."

"Shoots me?" It was his turn for jokes, and he heard the smile in Duo's voice.

"Yea, like with Hexes or something!"

"Are you so worried about me?"

"Relena would be!" Duo deliberately avoided the question, and he frowned at the silence that came.

"Don't tell anyone."

"What?" Duo asked, completely flabbergasted. "This is important for everyone to know!"

"But they can't do anything about it, so I don't want them worrying over something they can't control."

"Yea... What use is it to damn the rain, huh[1]? Well... 'Night, Heero." The bed squeaked when he lied down.

"Thanks."

"Whatever, whatev-Ah," he yawned. Soon, his soft snores were heard and Heero went to sleep. He hardly felt like he slept when the alarm croaked- it was a frog alarm Duo traded with Relena, who wanted his kitten. The Japanese wizard, eyesight restored, glared at the clock that revealed he had slept a good many hours and had less than an hour to get ready. His roommate had finished brushing his teeth and doing his hair.

"I just realized," he said, slipping on his uniform, "brooms are by themselves, aren't they? Flying definitely will be a nightmare."

Knocking interrupted Heero's walk to the bathroom and he answered the door to see Relena already dressed. "You slept awfully late today, Heero," she said, worry seeping into her voice though her face looked strong. "Are you all right?"

"Hn."

She took the familiar grunt to be something along the lines of 'I'm fine' but the anxiety etched on her features bore witness to her dubiety. There was something troubling him and, as always, he kept it to himself. "If there's something wrong with you, I would rather know than guess. It might make you feel better to share your feelings."

"I'll keep that in mind."

She huffed indignantly. Behind her, Sally came, tying her long hair into her trademark double plaits, somehow it was a nervous habit more than a style. "You're speaking to a brick wall, Relena." Then she looked over Relena's and Heero's shoulders and spoke to Duo. "Please say you have some extra ribbons, Duo. I have to tie my hair."

"I hear ya'," he sympathized, handing over two black silk ribbons. "I don't see how you can stand it, Princess." He had gotten into the habit of calling her the blue-blooded name just for the heck of it. The 'Princess' flipped her hair self-consciously.

"Professor Lillian!" Quatre called down the hall. "How are you doing?"

"To be honest, I'm rather nervous! Because after ya'll go through Platform nine and three-quarters, you're all alone!" Purple polka dots blotted her tall witch hat. Mark stomped from the living room carrying their brooms and wands in a big heap in his arms. He dropped them carefully on the floor.

"Nine and three-quarters? Must be another magic thing." Trowa said, wheeling both his and Quatre's heavily ladened carts.

"Thank you, Trowa, but, truly, you didn't have to." Lu the lion merely growled for his master, and Quatre smiled, staring down at the pile of their prohibited things. "I don't know which one is mine. I know that's my Comet Express, though," he said pointing to his broom.

"Oh, why don't you just say 'Accio Comet Express', and it'll come to you. Somehow that spell doesn't really go against the no-magic rule anymore," Lillian expressed, "or you can just say broom, the spell would know which one you're talking about."

"Man, just imagine how easy it would be to find your remote!" Duo cried, pushing his cart. "Accio broom!" His broom, the last Lightning Star, flew directly into his open palm. "Alright! Accio wand- sweet!" He tucked his wand into his robes and put his broom between two trunks on the cart, which all three made way with theirs into the living room as the others began to come out of their rooms. Then the new arrivals rearranged themselves when Devin came into the room.

"Winslow!" Relena called; he Apparated beside her, giving her a small fright. "I just wanted to say goodbye to you elves. You have been a great help and the dinners were just fantastic."

"Winslow having had a wonderful time with Miss Peacecraft and her friends," he answered with a small bow. "Master Winner, we would not be bashing our heads in when Master Winner is gone. If Master Winner shall be needing anything Winslow will answer!"

"That's wonderful Winslow," Quatre said, shaking his favorite elf's hand. "I heard that Hogwarts has elves. Why don't you work there?"

"Winslow will be doing that. Winslow... forgot to tell you."

"It's alright! Please, it's fine." The blonde was happy to see Winslow merely nod. The poor thing had hurt his foot and couldn't serve them tea and got really close to scarring himself with the fireplace poker if Duo hadn't stopped him.

"Alright!" Lillian cried happily, seeing Heero finally come ready to go, "To King's Cross." They automatically went into their groups and outside the manor gates where they Apparated to yet another street which led to a brick wall of a l.

"They have a brick wall to a bank, a popular street, and to a train station. I bet they would have one to a, heh, cathouse," Duo said languidly.

"You really do like cats, Duo." Relena obviously didn't know what the term meant, and Duo couldn't help snickering.

"I really love you, Princess."

"Well, guys, I gotta go. Take these-" She handed them large golden tickets. "Be safe and just do what those kids are doing. Ta-ta!" Lillian, Mark and Devin went back through the wall where they mounted their brooms towards Hogwarts.

Going through the wall to the station, they found numerous cart-wielding Hogwarts students coming to a brick pillar then, much to their amazement, go through it. The surrounding Muggles seemed unable to see the spectacular feat and went on their merry way. They stood roughly in a ragged line where, somehow, Muggles watched them with peculiar looks.

"This is rich," Hilde muttered sarcastically. "I hope nobody here becomes an OZ soldier and sees me."

"Now that would be rich." Duo smacked her on the rump; she punched his arm. They had that friendly feeling towards each other and never were shy about displaying their affection.

"My, these are all new faces," said a girl their age with bushy brown hair longer than Duo's. Her cart was filled with large trunks and a cat in its cage slept. "Oh, excuse my rudeness, my name is Hermione Granger." She smiled intelligently shaking Duo's hand and nodded at his introduction. Beside him she set her eyes on Heero. "Merlin, hello, you must have had it rough, haven't you? Harry could never walk down the street without a standing ovation!"

"Hermione Granger?" Heero, mind whirling, remembered his vision. "Were you with Weasley?"

She blinked, amazed, then she nodded in understanding. "Your mind must be linked to Harry's just like his is linked to him," she said tactfully.

"I'm connected to his as well. Do you know why?"

Hermione shook her head sadly. "I honestly don't. I've been researching but there is no book, despite the hundreds postulating Harry's life, that explains it. You know what? I think we should be friends." And they shook hands.

A family of red-heads came trooping around, the mother figure fussing over three of her boys and two of her girls; one other girl, small and crying about wanting to go to Hogwarts, clutched her robes. Harry Potter stood next to her, laughing.

"Please, Ron, stay out of trouble this year. I swear if that Undeley puts you in detention one more time, I'm going to lose it!" she warned her youngest son. "And, Harry, you make sure to watch your back."

"Hermione, blimey, help!" Ron said, evading the clutches of his mother only to be hugged by Hermione. She shifted and hugged Harry, who seemed happy to see her, the scar, actually a birthmark, evident even through his messy bangs.

"Ginny, you be good in school. No fighting with boys or any other unladylike conduct," the mother turned on the next victim, who rolled her eyes. Her two older brothers, twins, trailed towards the third year students, less they had a turn for their mother's tongue.

"Well, isn't it the other Harry Potter!" said the one of the left. He wrapped an arm around Heero's shoulders. "Guess what? We're going to show you the ropes around at 'ogwarts, alright mate?"

"Please don't listen to anything Fred or George says." Ron pushed his other brother. "Gosh, I'm glad we met you before someone like that prat Malfoy. He would have tarnished your view of wizards." Again, Heero was subjected to shaking hands, but he wasn't as uncomfortable with it that he had been before the wizard world. He felt.. He wanted to make friends who didn't know he killed people.

"Oh, we met that little prat," spat Milliardo. "Calling me Mudblood."

"Shoulda' punched the stupid bloke," Ron advised. "Like Hermione did."

"That must have felt nice."

Hermione nodded with a mischievous grin. "It did!" Then she looked at his cart and gasped.

But Fred or George was the one to say, "Blimey, mate! A bloody dragon, would you imagine that! Must be swimming in gold."

"...Not exactly."

"Undeley... She has the only albino Siamese cat at Hogwarts," Harry said. "She's going to hate you."

"She hates everyone, including her reflection," Fred grinned. He was tall, about two years older than them, and his red hair was slightly long and spazzing out. "Well, bye, Mum! See you at Christmas," and he vanished through the brick wall. George had to kiss his mother with a grimace and then went.

Harry and Heero now stood face to face, the former blinking behind his glasses.

"I'll tell you this, Yuy-"

"You can call me Heero," came the automatic response.

"Well, Heero, I don't know any more than you do. Hermione probably knows more than what I should know, but if anything comes up, I think we would know at the same time. Can you..." He searched for the right words because he somehow felt the need not to let his friends know directly. "Can you 'see' him?"

"See who?" Relena asked, up next for the brick wall, eying the arched pillar with distrust as if it would solidify if she took her chance.

"Yea, I can see him. He was unclear before but now... I can certainly do without it."

Harry smiled, angling himself for the platform, the others had gone ahead. "Though I would agree, I had some interesting visions of my past life, and most of them showed good effects of this... uhm... connection." He went through; Heero followed, holding his breath, elated that he came out the other side and in one piece.

"We could know where he is," Harry continued, "what's he doing, or who's he with."

"But can't he do the same to us?"

"Actually, it's harder for him to see into our minds than the other way around. He probably doesn't know he can right now." Harry looked around. "It's odd though. I can see my past, but I can only remember so far, like a little past when my son Albus finished school. Something big happened..."

"Hn." Annoying habit of his, when he felt like he wanted to say something but couldn't figure what he should say.

A startlingly huge red train hooted and smoke puffed onto the sign hanging overhead reading Platform nine and three-quarters, and only witches and wizards shuffled around, saying goodbyes and hugging. It was also a rather crowded place, and people bumped into his cart. Heero, a professional bodyguard for Sanc Representative Relena Peacecraft, deemed the place extremely hazardous.

"We should get on the train and find the others." Before going completely inside, Heero saw the brick wall that had now turned into a raised platform, gold numbers Nine and Three-fourths nailed at its top. "Just put your stuff in any the luggage rack. Your stuff will just be sent by magic to the dorm you're going to be in."

"Hn." Heero went into a compartment and put his luggage, choosing to carry Zero, in the carrier above- he somehow lost his golden ticket somewhere but couldn't bother to look for it. He closed and opened the luggage holders. Everything had disappeared. His fellow Specials were finding other compartments to settle down in but, finding that many were filled, some went to the long seating area instead, where a witch was selling magical treats. He saw Milliardo buy a chocolate frog, carefully open it, and bite off the head.

"You need to stop spending so much money, brother! It's not unlimited like back in Sanc."

Milliardo swiped his teeth with his tongue, looking only a bit remorseful before chomping again into his chocolate.

Ron grinned. "I bet you have more money than my family."

"Well, of course, you have such a large family. We have a thousand Galleons for the two of us."

"Nevermind," Ron said, eyes wide, "you're pretty poor."

"Has the Ministry of Magic contacted you?" Hermione asked, concerned. "With that little money there is no way you could support yourselves for long."

"When that happens, I'll be there," Quatre said, stroking his Jeffrey, another who had decided not to put his animal away. He added, to the Peacecraft's troubled demeanors, "Whether they like it or not."

"Oi, Harry, there you are." Ron patted the seat next to him where his friend sat. Heero went across from them, next to Trowa, who was surrounded by girls, younger and older, in a sense, who ogled his 'adorable', 'cute', and 'feisty' mini-lion. Lu growled, uncomfortable with the stares, and kept at it until they went away. They went through the door of the car and Draco rudely bumped through them, accompanied by two large dumb-looking twins.

Tension suddenly estranged the compartment but it bothered the three intruders none. Draco, nose wrinkled in distaste, faced Relena, who smiled pleasantly despite the cold airs.

"Who are you?" came his icy drawl that haven't changed in Harry's three-century ago memories.

Milliardo clutched his fists, eyes hardening in the way that it made his scarcely straightened hair more noticeable; the blonde tendrils had decided to twist up the night before.

"I'm Relena Peacecraft. I heard you met my brother?" She proudly pressed her gentle hands on her brother's stiff, angry shoulders. Concerned, the princess watched him. "What's wrong?"

"He's mad because he's a Mu-"

"Say it, Malfoy, and as Merlin as my witness," Milliardo immediately deterred to the term Hermione used, "you can count the point-two seconds until you hit this damn floor."

"Or," Harry added, "if he's so unlucky to miss, you can count another point-two seconds it will take me to hex you."

Trowa, much to everyone's surprisiment, joked, "I would add to that, but I think you got the point."

Ron laughed, giving him a high-five.

The miffed gray-eyed wizard ran his fingers through his hair, then snapped his fingers. His two friends turned around and went out the car. Before the sliding door closed, Malfoy said, "I wouldn't bother myself with such filth, anyway."

Milliardo still looked upset. "I'm sensing a deep hatred towards that boy."

"Was he about to call me a Mudblood?" Relena asked.

"Yes, I don't mind him calling me that, but he will not bother you with his nonsense!"

Hermione, an only child, watched the angry affection with a smile. "You have a wonderful brother, Relena."

"I know. He's the best." She kissed him on the cheek; her brother smiled warmly.

"I would never let Ginny nor Ginger kiss me like that in public. What kind of brother are you?" Ron gagged, earning a reproachful look from his friend. And the Specials, Ron, Harry, and Hermione laughed the first laugh together on their long ride to Hogwarts. It was such a lengthy travel that the Specials learned all about Quidditch, for both Ron and Harry were on the Gryffindor team; Hermione taught them a few easy spells, now that they were on school property they were allowed to do small magic, and she explained some classes; topics diverged from one to the next, hastily changing when the subject of their livelihoods on the colonies came up. Ron and Harry chatted vehemently about a man named Serverus Snape, Headmaster Undeley, the disasters in Mark and Devin's class, and the weirdness that ensued in Professor Trelawney's Divinations. When Halloween was discussed, they talked about the seventh year student pranks. Though Undeley was here last year, and the school was not helped by the Slytherins, the other Houses managed to fill the halls, and only the halls, three-feet-deep in clean river water, fish included. Their first year they had Doradius, who the three all commended dutifully, and the Hogwarts' students got away with covering all the walls in pictures of owls, mini-lions, cats, and other pets. When Undeley and the other teachers had cleaned the halls, the Headmaster reduced all points of the Houses, except Slytherin, down to zero. The Slytherins had won the House Cup that year.

The House Cup explanation led to the dive into the secrets and traditions of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry, checking for others, took out what he called the Marauder's Map which he found after reading a small message in a dilapidated and utterly useless wizard restroom the year before. He had heard his father was the one to destroy the place with a prank gone wrong. The messy writing was so similar to his he had read it first. The message was for those who 'solemnly swore [he or she was] up to no good at the smiling gargoyle'. The words 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good' opened its mouth, and was also the password that activated the map that showed nearly every room, passage, and person in Hogwarts.

Finally, they arrived to a large forest station where two roads, one that led straight to a lake that had a road that led to the gigantic, obviously much bigger than even Quatre's manors combined in the Muggle territories, Hogwarts Castle precariously set atop a large green hill, majestic mountains stood stately and dark beyond the school.

"You guys," Hermione said as thousands of students exited the train, "go with Professor Vela over by the trail to the lake. Boats are going to take you to a side chamber, through the Entrance Hall, to the dining hall in Hogwarts where you'll wait to be Sorted. Don't be scared when they say something about a test. It's bogus." She was still angry about the anxiety attack she had two years ago.

Seventh year students, seventeen-year-olds, flew by on brooms. A lengthy trip some of them had been planning with their friends since their first and second years. Second-to-sixth years walked to carriages pulled by black, skeletal horses. Their wings were as bare and meatless as their bodies.

"What are those things pulling the carriages?" Trowa asked, watching them longingly. Other four-wheeled vehicles held luggage that students piled their animals and other things on, and he did the same.

"What are you talking about, mate?" Ron said, squinting, as did Hermione. "The carriages are run by magic... I think."

But Quatre whispered in his ear, "I see them too." Together they walked, albeit nervously, towards the tall woman called Vela. She escorted them wordlessly to large boats capable of holding twenty children at the time. Though most of them were tiny, frightened eleven year olds, a good bit of them were Specials, older and younger than they were.

Trowa didn't see anything pushing the boat, much to his disappointment.

It was another walk along the trail to the drawbridge over a river, where the castle looked frighteningly larger up close, and the abysmal entrance to the Special and first year chamber swallowed them. They were cramped, nervous, and scared enclosed in the room, some even screamed as ghosts, bright phantasmas smiling and waving, soared across the room. Their feelings were none the better when Professor Vela went to a door, were combinations of noises came through but none they could make out, and said, "Now, you should all prepare yourselves for the test." No one noticed her slight quirk of the lips as she slipped through a crack in the door.

"Were we supposed to read our books?"

"My mother's been hiding that she was a witch all this time. I don't know anything about this place."

"I'm scared!"

"What will happen if we fail?"

Relena pressed her hands to her mouth. "How can they do this to these poor children?"

"I think it's hilarious," said Duo and Dorothy simultaneously.

Quatre and Hilde, both wildly intrigued by the flying ghosts, touched a flying woman, and they snapped their hands back at the biting cold. The female ghost, a beautiful young lady with a wonderful brooch settled on her bosom, laughed shrilly.

Then the doors opened and the thousands of lights from thousands of candles shone brightly into the Entrance Hall that led to the Great Hall. Not a single person moved, but the urging of students inside spurred some of the bravest into the enormous dining area.

"Please stop there, children," came a gentle woman's voice at the podium raised high above the tables seating the Hogwarts staff.

While some of them stared at the gorgeous Undeley and her weird, yet exotic cat by her feet, others memorized the banners of the Houses. The animals and coat of arms were emblems over long columns of tables. The snake waved next to the eagle, who was parallel to the Gryffindor banner, and the badgers were at the end. Heero saw Harry Potter on the bench, while the teachers had chairs of red upholstery, under the lions. Draco Malfoy, no surprise, sat between his twin goons at the Slytherin table, seemingly glaring past him at Milliardo.

Undeley, carrying a medium-sized, heavily folded hat and a large rolled parchment, came forward to a single stool by itself in a great empty expanse between the tables of students and the tables of the staff, which included Lillian, Devin, and Mark.

"Now, the test begins!" said Undeley, her voice magnified magically so that it carried all over the halls. "And I just hope I get to see a good many Slytherins this year!"