The Great Hall was mostly full with the students of Hogwarts, minus a few lazy Gryffindors and some Ravenclaws that were probably in the library doing what they're known to do best. Cody, Hermione, and Neville sat in their usual seats, awaiting the presence of the four Japanese students.
"Did you see the boys in the tower Nev?" asked Hermione for the fourth time that morning, looking completely beside herself as she looked often at the entrance. Sometime during the course of a day, she had taken it upon herself to be responsible for them. Cody scoffed while the boy in question smiled a bit.
"Don't worry Hermione, they're probably-"
"Making a scene," cut in Cody, her jaw slightly open as she stared at the doors. Her two friends turned in that direction as well, along with most of the school.
They had arrived.
Just as with the first night, they were all wearing uniformed clothes. Cobalt blue pants with matching tops, and black boots. Each of the tops had long sleeves, and tall collars that reached to just below their chins. On all of their wrists and their lower legs were dark crimson gauntlets that covered all of the respective body parts until they reached the joints, elbows and knees respectively, where they smoothed off into pointed ends. The clothes had no insignia and were all alike, except for the outline which was in different colors of red, yellow, blue and green. The curved part of their left ears glinted in the light off of the silver discs with jewels on top of them. Their hands were of course gloved with only the phalanges showing. Damien was sporting her choker along with earrings, both of which were red and in the lobe of her right ear. Darion had the reverse image, only with green earrings verses red. Darius had a pierced eyebrow with three platinum studs and Darien had his left lobe pierced with a yellow stud. They each had sling bags draped over one shoulder, all of them black.
Darion had a vicious scowl upon his face, at least the part not marked with an exceptionally red and swollen handprint. His bottom lip was also similarly swollen and split. He kept shooting glares at the only female.
Damien was walking with her head held high, completely ignoring the boy. There was a slight cut going diagonally across her face that was still red. It wasn't that deep but it would scar nicely if it weren't healed magically.
Darien and Darius were mostly untouched, though both of them were torn between laughing and keeping the other two away from one another, or at least out of touching distance.
"Bastard," Darion hissed.
"What the hell do you think you are?" she retorted as they sat down with the three stunned Gryffindors. Darien quietly traded seats with Neville from being in between the girls. There was less chance of another fight happening if there was an innocent bystander in the way. A swift glare to the rest of the students had the school focusing their attention back on their breakfasts.
"A young man with a father. At least I know who he is." Damien's fist came crashing down on the table, causing it to rattle. Many people looked over in surprise but were again turned away. Darius got annoyed and quietly murmured, "Muffliato."
"You know who my father is you ignoramus! In fact, I'm pretty sure he left you a little souvenir when you two met." Predictably, Darion's eyes darkened as he slowly stood up. Darien sighed irritably, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out two three inch long white sticks. He threw one to both of the irritate teens.
"Enough already, I'm tired of the whining." Both of them looked at the sticks in their hands, comprehension dawning on their surprised faces.
"Was that all it was?" asked Damien curiously as she leaned over to a nearby candle and lit the stick up. She placed it in her mouth, breathing in deeply before letting loose a contented sigh. The once palpable tension dispersed as Darion mimicked her actions, relaxing himself.
Cody glanced at the others before pulling her hand away from Hermione's mouth, who immediately began shooting off questions.
"What are those? Are you two smoking? What's wrong with your faces? Why were you so late? What-?" Her voice suddenly vanished, Cody smothering a quiet smirk as she placed her wand back in her pocket.
"Thank you all so much for abandoning us to her mercies this morning," she grumbled, her words oozing with sarcasm. Darien shrugged.
"C'est la vie. Now to answer your questions: These are a special blend of calming herbs and spices, a dry calming-draught if you will. The best way to activate the smoke is for it to be breathed in, hence the `smoking', Damien and Darion got into a bit of a fight." Darius snorted into his breakfast.
":If that was a `bit' of a fight, I don't want to see a whole one.:" Darien raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. Darius nodded absently. ":Again,:" he amended.
"We are late because of said fight. Anything else?"
"Are you normally this…violent?" The four looked at each other contemplatively.
"This isn't violent…" muttered Darion darkly.
"Do I even want to know what happened?" asked Cody.
"Well you see, what had happened was…"
***
Flashback
An annoyingly loud buzzing suddenly filled the room and a red ball shot out from the darkness to destroy the offending object. Damien turned over, moving closer to the body behind her, and promptly fell back asleep, barely recognizing the sensation of an arm gliding over her bare stomach to pull her even closer.
The scene was something most people would either frown upon (adults) or look on in confusion and shock (everyone else). There was only one bed in the room, a rather large king size, pushed up against a wall in a corner. To the left of the bed was a side table, covered with a pair of familiar glasses. The window that was next to that had been completely covered up and blacked out so no light filtered in. There was a pair of dresser drawers on the other side. A door was on the opposite wall of the bed leading to the bathroom with another leading out of the room. Four trunks were cluttered in the corner between the drawers and the bathroom while various articles of clothing were thrown haphazardly on the red and gold rug. A desk was against the wall parallel to the bed and covered with wrist gauntlets and a few pieces of jewelry. All in all, the room looked exactly like one would expect of a room lived in by a teen, much less four.
Darien had taken up the side of the bed closest to the wall, Damien next to him. Darius was behind her, also the one holding her. Darion was simply thrown over all three, his head resting on Darien's stomach and his feet tangled up in Damien's.
Without any of them noticing, the clock reassembled, multiplied, and began buzzing again. This time however, right in their respective ears and about twice as loud as well. All four bolted up, one pair of eyes glowing red.
"Damn it Damien! Finite!" The clocks instantly merged into one and became quiet. He sighed heavily and glared at the red eyes. "You should know by now not to destroy those!"
"Fuck you Darion!" He should know by now not to mess with her so soon after waking up. Especially in such an annoying way too.
"Any time!" he smirked in reply.
"In your dreams!"
"Yeah, you're probably more feisty that way!"
End Flashback
***
Cody and Neville were clutching their stomachs from laughing so hard while Hermione retained her dignity and settled for a quiet chuckle.
"And then?" asked Cody, wiping away a tear with a wide ass grin.
"Well…after she slapped him, Darion shot a cutting hex which, since we can't see in the dark, missed for the most part. After that it all became a blur."
"You mean I kicked his ass to the curb," inserted Damien with a grin, taking another puff of her calming stick. Darion scowled at her but didn't respond, instead choosing to eye something over her shoulder.
"Well well well, if it isn't the Gryffindor outcasts," drawled the lazy voice of Jonathan, his group in tow. Darien raised an eyebrow at the boy.
"Well well well, if it isn't the Gryffindor jackass," he replied. "And his bitches to boot."
"Do us all a favor and just…go away," added Hermione with a shooing motion. Jonathan looked up, glancing at the teacher's table and smirked. With a clumsy jerk of his head, Ron and the goons moved to block anyone from looking in on whatever he was about to do. The Gryffindors that could see, along with the Hufflepuffs, wisely turned their gazes away and raised their voices. Jonathan slammed one of his hands on Hermione's shoulder and started squeezing it tightly. She gasped in surprise before her face twisted in pain. Pride alone kept her from shouting out. Darien reached over and deftly twisted the boy's hand, a loud pop telling those that could hear it that the wrist was either broken or dislocated. He didn't even get to cry out in pain before Neville silenced his voice.
"I'd suggest that you refrain from placing your grotesque hands on my friend, Potter," Darien sneered, his voice not rising above the normal chatter in the Hall. Cody smirked and jerked her elbow backward, grimacing in a fake pained way at her brother's expression.
"Oh were your balls right there? So sorry."
"Terrible misfortune that," added Damien nonchalantly with a dramatic sigh.
"There go the Potter family jewels," pouted Neville. They all broke into laughter as Ron and Dean each grabbed one of Jonathan's shoulders and pulled him away, lest he embarrass himself more. As the noise died down again, Darien turned towards Hermione, his eyes roving critically over her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" he asked, grabbing everyone's attention. She shrugged, honestly doing her best to hide the grimace of pain at the action. But nevertheless, it was seen.
"Could be better." He hesitated for a moment before reaching out and pulling her robe away to inspect it himself. Hermione would have fought, of course, if Cody hadn't restrained her, and if she honestly did feel like arguing. She waited patiently as he called out, "Ice." Darius nodded, tapping a goblet of water and muttering something, causing it to freeze. Damien grabbed the goblet firmly in her hand, slamming it once on the table so the ice could slide out before tossing it to Darion, who then wrapped it in a napkin and struck it with his fist. He handed it off to Darien who placed it on the slightly bruised area. Carefully he leaned closer and slowly blew on it. Hermione shivered as the cold feeling passed over the region before receding. She twisted, getting a good look at it. There was a handprint, naturally, but it was fading quickly. She smiled up at him.
"Thank you. What was that?" Darion grinned at her.
"Secret Chinese healing method."
"If we told you that-"
"We'd have to kill you."
***
"Welcome to what I hope will be your last year in potions," said Professor Snape, glaring pointedly at the Gryffindor Dream Team. Jonathan stared right back with a cocky grin on his face, completely unfazed. He knew better than anyone that Snape would never lay a finger on him for fear of his mother's retribution. Lily Potter may have been the more benevolent of the two but was definitely the most vindictive. Darius rolled his eyes at the boy's antics.
:He is such a child…if I find out he's the one I'm killing him myself. Consequences and repercussions be damned.:
Get in line …grumbled Damien across the mental line they all shared. The four of them stood to one side of the room, waiting to be acknowledged. Unlike their British counterparts, the rest of the world respected the title Snape carried, even if he was just a schoolteacher.
"This will be your OWL year and I accept nothing less than an `O' for your final grade to be accepted into my NEWT class. Such grades must seem like fantasies for most of you. But thankfully, for my own sanity, we have not one, not two, but four competent potions apprentices. I am happy to have other brains in here besides my own Slytherins and Ms. Potter's crew." Athena threw him a cheeky grin and waved, but he, surprisingly enough, didn't respond with anything more than a simple raised eyebrow. "Come here you four." They stood before him, bowing their heads respectfully, giving their necks to him.
"Master Snape," they intoned together. A pleased grin settled on his face as they stood up again.
"Finally. Students who might actually be worthy of teaching. POTTER!" he roared, causing the poor boy to jump in his seat as his head snapped to the front, his face obviously betraying his guilt.
"Y-yes Professor?" he stuttered anxiously.
"What part of the jobberknoll is generally used in potions?" Jonathan began to sweat nervously, a usual sign that he didn't know. Hermione rolled her eyes and raised her hand. Snape graced her with a brief nod.
"Sir, the feathers of the jobberknoll are generally used, although the talons have proven to be a nice catalyst to a particularly volatile potion."
"Also, the feathers are most often found in memory potions and truth serums, albeit the less potent ones," added Athena with a smirk in her brother's direction. Snape kept his beady eyes directly on Jonathan, a pleased sneer on his face.
"Fortunately for you, Mr. Potter, your sister and Miss Granger have kept you from losing Gryffindor points barely five minutes into the start of the first class. Ms. Tsubasa. In what book would such information be found?"
"Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger. I do believe that's a first year tome for potions is it not Master Snape?" At that moment, Jonathan would have done anything to get that look off his professor's face.
"Correct Ms. Tsubasa. Five points to Gryffindor. Mr. Weasley! Wormwood infused with asphodel is a key ingredient in what?" The boy's ears grew red but not faster than his face. He too did not know. "Mr. Longbottom. Please educate your classmate."
"The Draught of Living Death sir. You spoke of it in our very first potions lesson and specifically told us to write it down."
"Correct. Another five points to Gryffindor with an extra two for remembering what your housemate could not. Oh well. Maybe you'll actually learn something today Potter. The potion you will be making today is another draught, this one of Peace. Most commonly used to calm anxiety and sooth agitation. Just to let you all know, you will eventually be taking one of these this year, I can guarantee it. Now, too much of the ingredients will cause the drinker to what Mr. Thomas?" The black haired boy stuttered uselessly, his eyes darting between Jonathan and Ron, obviously looking for instruction that would never come.
"Apprentices?"
"It generally causes the drinker to go into a deep and often irreversible sleep, Master Snape," said Darion in a bored tone.
"Ten points to Slytherin. Your instructions and your ingredients," he waved his wand twice, once at the board and again at the cupboard. "It takes barely an hour and a half to complete. Begin." The students shuffled around toward the cupboard to retrieve their ingredients as Darien and Darion crowded the board, dissecting the instructions piece by piece. The other two just stood to their right, neither one being masters at potions.
It would be easier if there was a dash more powered moonstone, noted Darion. Darien shook his head.
Two dashes less, actually. That way the hellebore would have more room to react potently.
:Damn potion fanatic…:
For the rest of the period, they just stood around the room, helping students that were having trouble, even Potter and his gang.
"I'm telling you, you're adding too much spine of lionfish," said Damien in a singsong voice as she hovered a foot away from his cauldron. He sneered at her, still adding the ground up spine.
"Kiss my arse. I'm doing the potion just fine thank you." She shrugged and took another step away. While she may not have been the best with potions, she was very intimate with the way in which certain chemicals reacted to one another. If he kept adding the lionfish then added the newt's claw as the recipe called for, his potion would most likely blow up in his face.
"As you wish. Master Snape, how much time is left?"
"Ten minutes."
"Then that means around now all properly prepared potions should have a slight silver vapor rising from their cauldrons," announced Darien loudly.
Looking about the room, he noticed that there were only about five potions that would be safe for human consumption. Seamus and Dean's potions were actually popping out black colored blobs that singed the ground where they landed and gave off a putrid smell as they popped. Parvati and Lavender's were emitting odd noises. Neville's vapor was a bit thicker than what would be considered normal but it was still usable although it might not work as long as a regular potion. Hermione, Athena, and two Slytherins named Greengrass and Zabini were the only other ones to get it anywhere close to right.
"Tell me, Potter. Can you read?" asked Damien haughtily. Jonathan growled at her.
"Of course I can!" he snarled out.
"Then please read for me the fifth line of instruction." He squinted at the board, reread the words and blanched. "Ah, so what didn't you do?"
"Add the seven pinches of moonstone," he grumbled reluctantly.
"Exactly. Evanesco," said Snape, pointing his wands at each of the Gryffindor's cauldrons before they became too volatile. Their contents were instantly magiked away. "I want five feet, you six, on what you did wrong, what you should have done to correct it and when, along with what would have happened if you had continued with the potion. ALL IN EXPLICIT DETAIL. For the rest of you, bottle a sample of your potion and place it on my desk. Apprentices, if you would please gather the rest of the correctly made potions." Cody hid a snigger by covering her mouth as she passed her brother, potion in hand.
"And here I thought you could read. What ever will mum think?" she asked with mock concern. Jonathan only glared at her.
"Bugger off!" he shouted.
"Another five off for Gryffindor. Really now Potter, when will you ever learn? I want a foot of parchment on how you might make the potion more effective from all of you. Since we have a few decent potions today, I'll collect the assignment a week from today. Class dismissed." The Dream Team literally bolted from the room, lest they make more fools of themselves than they had already done. Darien and the others walked out a little more sedately, obviously not in a rush to get anywhere.
"What class have you all got next? I remember seeing a difference on our schedules," mentioned Darion, cracking his neck to the side.
"I've got Ancient Runes," replied Damien, stretching her arms over her head with a pleased rumble erupting from her chest.
"Sa duu," said Darius. Damien threw an arm around his shoulders and brought him close to her side.
"Great!" she exclaimed. "At least I'll have one friend in there!"
Hermione cleared her throat loudly. "Excuse me but I have that class as well."
"Damn it. Why must you torture me everywhere you go Mione?" shouted Cody woefully. Her friend only slapped her lightly on her arm in response.
"Hey! I take offense to that!"
"And?" she replied, ducking around to hide behind Neville, who merely laughed at their antics.
"Calm down Hermione. You know she didn't mean it." She didn't reply and simply turned her nose to the air, throwing out a `Hmph!' as she walked before everyone else.
"Stop pouting over nothing Hermione. If you can't take the heat from your friends, who can you take it from?" Darien called out to her. She turned back with a thoughtful look and nodded at him.
"You're right…I guess," she added with a playful smile as she elbowed him lightly in his side when they caught up with her.
"Well, I've got this next period free, thankfully. I'm going back to bed since someone thought it wise to blow up the alarm, thus waking us all earlier than expected," snipped Darion, tossing a glance at Damien. The girl in question slowly raised an eyebrow.
"You know, I can always add a matching hand-print on the other side of your face," she said conversationally, already cracking the knuckles of her left hand.
"Enough. Darion and I will meet you all after this period for our DADA lesson. Later," said Darien, grabbing the other boy tightly and pulling him away before more could be said.
We'll go inspect the Slytherins and start weeding them down. Damien, start with the Ravenclaws in your runes class.
Gotcha.
***
:We can cross out Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein. I didn't get a chance to look at the girls.:
I did, don't worry. Lisa Turpin can go as well.
Good, Darion and I took out Sally-Anne Perkes and Tracey Davis.
So that leaves sixteen then.
:I thought that there were twenty-two?:
No, Darien here forgot to take off one of the Hufflepuffs. It's sixteen.
Darion, I'd suggest if you'd like to keep living and breathing that you shut the fuck up. Now is not a good time.
And from his point of view, it probably wasn't. For now it was time for their very first Defense Against the Dark Arts class, proudly taught by Defense Master James Godric Potter. Darien had become very moody and sullen the closer they got to the door that would force him into close quarters with his father for the first time since his selection into the Gekko, their nickname for Tatakai no Maho Gakko, when he was seven. Damien placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly in a show of support.
"It's going to be okay." Do everything you can to draw out whatever Potter's going to do. We mustn't let him pay attention to Darien, got it?
No problem.
:I understand.:
She turned to her brother with a bright smile. "See? We got your back."
"Got his back for what?" asked Hermione, coming up behind them.
"Nothing too important," replied Darion dismissively with a wave of his hand. "How was Ancient Runes?"
"A bother. Hermione kept asking so many questions…I swear half of that shit just went right over my head. And they were only talking about the stuff we would be learning later in the week!" moaned Cody.
"It wasn't that hard to follow…actually, I didn't even try so I'm right there with you!" The two girls gave each other high-fives. "Partners in failing?"
Cody shook the outstretched hand. "Partners in failing," she proclaimed. Hermione threw her hands up into the air with an exasperated sigh.
"I give up!" she declared to Neville. He laughed.
"Don't worry Hermione. I doubt they're going to fail."
"Of course they won't," said Darion as they took their seats in the very back, much to a certain female Gryffindor's annoyance. "That would just mean they'd have to take the same class over again." This idea seemed to rattle the girls for they shivered in horror.
"On second thought…"
"Let's just pass."
"Welcome class! For those of you who don't know, my name is Professor Potter and I'm your practical defense teacher. For the rest of the year, classes will begin since this is a double period, with the first half being the theory behind what you're going to be doing for the other half of the class. Homework will always be, from me anyway, to practice whatever you've learned. I have no sway over what your theoretical professor does as far as homework. So just keep that in mind." He clapped his hands together with an eager smile upon his face. He looked for all the world like a little boy about to go into a toy shop for a shopping spree. "Now since I'm pretty sure all of your other professors are boring you with the `O.W.L.s being the most important thing this year, blah-blah-blah, etc., etc., etc.' speech, I thought we'd have a little dueling demonstration, if our new students don't mind being picked on?" The whole class, Slytherins included, turned to see their reactions. Damien smirked.
"As long as you don't mind your students ending up in the hospital wing," she replied boldly. For the first time in many, many, many years, the Gryffindors and the Slytherins were united in one thing, taking down that uppity Japanese girl.
"Well then, Ms. Tsubaba-"
"Tsubasa," corrected Darion with a sneer. James colored for a moment, scratching the back of his neck. It wasn't his fault that his wife was the better one when it came to foreign languages.
"My apologies. Ms. Tsubasa. If you don't mind being the first demonstration?"
"As long as I get to pick my opponent."
"That's fine."
"Patil." Heads swiveled around to look at the girl sporting an arrogant smirk as she stood up, her boyfriend giving her a kiss on the cheek for luck.
"If you wish to get hurt then fine by me." The students cheered their approval as the girl walked down to stand next to her professor. Damien smiled, something that sent chills down some of their backs.
"Oh this is going to be fun," she murmured, standing up herself. "Keiko." As she walked down towards Potter and his student, her clothes began to change. The whole thing turned into a blood red gi as her shoes disappeared, leaving her feet bare beyond bandages wrapped around the ankle but left the balls of the feet and her heels bare. The gi became loose, not restricting her movements in the slightest. Her gloves vanished, turning into bandages that forced her hands to curve into more natural fists. Her glasses changed into goggles with a strap going all the way around so they couldn't be summoned or knocked off. There was a wicked smirk on her face as she stood toe to toe with Parvati.
"Alright now girls, you're fifth years so I'll trust you to keep this duel away from the Unforgivables and crippling spells. Sound fair?" Parvati nodded tightly while Damien shrugged in a careless manner. Most of the class bristled up with barely contained irritation. It was obvious that she wasn't taking this duel seriously.
"Fine with me."
"Good, now let's just change the room a bit…" he murmured as he waved his wand around, enlarging the room while placing a duel arena in the center and arranging the desks in a rising circle so everyone could see clearly. "Take your places." The two girls spun away from each other, stalking in opposite directions.
"Batto," said Damien, causing a bright red baseball bat to appear out of thin air and in her hands. She spun it around a few times, getting a feel for it. The muggle-borns in the class looked at the bat in confusion, wondering how that could be helpful in a magical duel. "Yeah this is good. Go ahead Patil, I'll even give you first attack."
"Professor?" she questioned, staring at the bat in slight fear. As a magical child, she did not know anything about the weapon, besides the fact that it was a blunt object that could be used in some painful way.
"It's allowed. Ready? Begin!" The Gryffindor wasted no time and snapped her wand up from where it had been resting at her side.
"Stupefy!" she cried loudly, the red bolt of magical energy crossing the distance between the two quickly. Damien kept right on smirking, standing still with her left side turned towards the spell while the bat stayed ready over her right shoulder. At the last second, she swung it forward and connected solidly with the energy. There was a moment of pause before the spell shifted direction and shot back towards its caster almost twice as fast as before. The girl screamed in surprise and only just managed to duck underneath it by throwing herself to the floor while the spell kept going and slammed into the wall, blasting off a part of it. The whole class stared at the new renovation to the stone, turning to watch Damien as she rolled her shoulders with a pout.
"That was too slow Patil! Can't you make anything faster or was that your best shot? Actually give me something to hit damn it!"
"Accio!"
"Oh please, can't we get out of second year bullshit sometime this class period?" replied Damien, keeping a firm grip on her bat as she allowed the spell to connect. The weapon gave a small twitch but other than that stayed unmoving in her hand.
"Mordax!" Damien took careful aim and swung her weapon again, this time hitting the girl in her left shoulder with the rebounded spell. The stinging hex caused her to cry out in pain, subconsciously forcing her to release her wand to grip the hurt area. Damien sighed and stalked forward, catching Parvati off guard as she swung her fist deep into the already pain ridden girl's gut, doubling the sting and crippling the Gryffindor completely. She picked up the wand and waved it at Professor Potter.
"Doesn't this mean I win?" she questioned. He only nodded, his mouth open in shock. "Great," she replied, turning around to stare at Parvati, who laid curled in a ball at her feet, awkwardly trying to stem the blood flow while clutching her stomach as she struggled to breathe. With a disgusted sneer, Damien rolled the girl over with her foot so that her face was to the floor. "Breathe in slowly and exhale deeply, you'll live. Onken." She made her way back to her seat, her training gi changing back into her previous outfit.
The whole class was absolutely silent, staring at Parvati and Damien in turn. It was obviously a blow to their school pride that a newcomer who hadn't even thrown a single spell the entire duel crippled one of their better witches with only two moves and a single spell that was actually originally cast against her.
"Cocky bitch," growled out Lavender as she leveled a fierce glare at the offending girl who had hurt her best friend. A single eyebrow rose from underneath Damien's glasses.
"There is a fine line between cocky and just plain confident. If anyone is a cocky bitch, then that would be the sniveling little weakling curled up on the floor. Don't hate me just cuz I'm better than you." The tension that followed was almost palpable enough to cut with a knife. James snapped out of his stupor when it became obvious that there was going to be another fight.
"Ms. Brown, could you please escort Ms. Patil to the infirmary? Tell Madame Pomfrey to yell at me later and possibly prepare for more arrivals?" The girl nodded and left the room quickly, her wand out and levitating her partner.
"Dad!" shouted Jonathan in protest, unbelieving that his own father thought them so weak that before they fought he already expected them to lose and be bodily harmed while doing it. But true to mischievous form, James Potter smirked at his son, almost reading his mind.
"No, not for us. For them." There were a few dark chuckles following this, along with a few pointed glares. Darion sighed deeply, his gray eyes narrowing in annoyance.
":See what you've caused Damien?:" The girl shrugged and leaned back carelessly, completely at ease even with all the animosity being directed solely at her.
":Sure, I've done what I set out to do before class even began.: I'm content and ready to beat the shit out of any little uppity Gryffindork. The Slytherin's are too smart to fuck with me." Of course, this simply pissed them off even more which was probably the effect she wanted to have.
"Unfortunately for you all, Ms. Tsubaba won't be dueling anymore till we go through the other three. And this time I'll pick. Mr. er…Tsubaba." Three different pairs of eyes ripped holes through their professor and in unison they all stood up, anger in their eyes and menace oozing off their bodies.
"So it's a three way duel then is it?" asked Darion, cracking his knuckles, for once seeming to be interested in what they were doing.
"Um no…just you two, you can sit down er…what do I call you?" he asked humbly. Darien smirked viciously as he sat down.
He curtly replied, "Mr. Tsubasa."
"And them two?"
"Mr. Tsubasa and Mr. Tsubasa."
"But how will I tell the difference?" tersely asked the senior Potter. Darion shrugged from Darien's left side, Darius on his right. With Damien seated next to her brother they looked like king and queen with their most loyal knights at their sides. Some of the class was rather shocked at the image of Hermione on Darion's left with her own `knights' around her.
This was quickly turning into a group not to mess with.
"That's your problem to solve," sneered Damien.
":Are we going to duel now or simply talk some more shit?:" interrupted Darius, causing those that couldn't understand, basically the whole class, to tilt their heads slightly to the side, their eyes glossing over. Darien sighed irritably.
"I agree with him. Are we going to duel or bullshit some more?" Bristling with hidden fury, Potter barked out, "Weasley! Zabini! Front and center!" Ron jumped up eagerly, nearly bouncing with impatience and overconfidence.
"Yes sir!" He strutted down to stand at his professor's side.
"No thanks prof. I'd rather not get my ass beat today," replied Zabini with an easy shrug and a hand brushing a black lock out of his brown, slightly Oriental face. Slanted blue eyes dared their professor to contradict him.
"Fine! Twenty points from Slytherin! Nott! Get down here!" The weedy looking boy rose up proudly and graced the Gryffindors with his presence, patent Slytherin sneer ever present on his face. "Alright you two, you're double dueling Tsubasa squared over there. Come on down boys." Darion clenched one of his fists but didn't reply, only led the way and stood opposite his opponent, the annoying Nott. Darius calmly watched the overconfident red head.
"Let's do this shall we Darius? Keiko," he commanded. Their clothes shifted much in the way of Damien's only Darius had a deep blue gi while Darion wore forest green. "Genkotsu." His fists were covered in a firm brown coating that reflected off the light streaming in through the windows, almost as if it was metallic. He punched forward once or twice, nodding his acceptance. Darius sighed deeply, visibly relaxing his body.
"Kakuhan," he muttered, causing a blue whip to appear in his hand. He cracked it in the air a few times, a satisfied smile settling across his face. Potter Senior stared at the weapons in mute shock, his jaw hanging open slightly. However, he soon recovered and stepped away from the duelers before he got caught in the middle of their fight.
"Begin."
"Diffindo!" shouted Nott, intelligently moving to one side after he cast the spell not at Darion but at Darius. It would have been a good opening attack, had the victim not expected it. The quiet boy merely closed his eyes and snapped up his arm, effectively slicing the spell in half with a wet sounding crack. Darion used the shock and confusion to bulldoze into Ron before the boy could open his mouth to cast a spell. The feeling of air fled the Gryffindor's body quickly so it could depress with the added force applied to the abdominals to better protect the internal organs. He didn't pause for a moment and continued with his attack, landing a solid blow to the side of Ron's face that launched him clear across the room. He rolled for a moment before colliding with the wall and falling still, a small trickle of blood slowly flowing down from underneath that shock of red hair. Darion turned around just in time to see Darius crack his whip once more, this time catching Nott's wand in hand and tugging it free of the boy's slippery hands. Untouched and obviously bored, the pair stared hard at their teacher, wordlessly changing their clothes back and banishing their weapons.
"We win no?" asked Darion, moving back to his seat. Darius twirled the wand in his hand a few times before tossing it to the professor, not trusting the devious Nott with his wand in hand and an easy target.
Meanwhile, Professor Potter had Dean and Seamus take Ron to the Infirmary. He was getting more and more worried. None of the Japanese students had even thrown a single spell and yet they seemed to take down each student with little to no effort on their part. And now he was about to test what would probably be the strongest of them all. He cleared his suddenly constricted throat.
"M-Mr. Tsubasa. If you please?" he gestured to the dueling ring. Darien slowly stood up and walked down, passing by Darion and Darius on the way there. It struck everyone just then that excluding Damien, Darien was the shortest one there but at the same time was obviously the most dangerous if the way that the two parted to let him pass was anything to go by. A whispered Keiko later, and he too was in a deep yellow gi. His footsteps were deceptively soft as he walked on the ring, barely making any sound.
"Is there anyone you wish to challenge?" asked the professor tentatively. Darien's emerald eyes flared up with hidden fury as they turned towards Jonathan. The boy snorted but stood nonetheless, accepting the challenge with his action. Their eyes remained firmly connected until they were level with one another, hands twitching with anticipation as they waited for the signal. "A clean fight boys, for the love of Merlin. Begin."
The two remained still, simply daring the other to attack first. In his first sign of weakness, Jonathan cracked and fired out, "Incarcerous!" The deep brown ropes flew across the ring only to be turned to the side with a wave of Darien's gloved hand. Jonathan's jaw dropped in his stupor but he recovered after a heartbeat, crying, "Flamen!" Again, the neon yellow light streamed towards its target and again was turned away with a simple wave. Jonathan's face became red in his anger while everyone else remained confused. Just how was he turning away the spells?
"Sagitto!" A set of ten arrows launched forward one after another, spaced by half a heartbeat. Darien smirked at the stupid boy and caught them one at a time as they passed by easily.
"My turn." Tossing an arrow in the air carelessly, he caught it and with surprising quickness, hurled it accurately at Jonathan, catching the boy's robes at the very bottom, sinking the material underneath the point as it burrowed into the wooden ring. He tugged on the cloth and in his frustration, ripped it. Too busy was he with his robes that he did not remember that he was fighting Darien until it was too late. Before he realized what was going on, he was disarmed and nailed to the wall. When he finally came back to the world of the conscious, he noticed Darien tossing the last arrow into the air. Closing his eyes, he threw the arrow blindly, nicking the side of Jonathan's face as it imbedded itself in the wall.
"I win," proclaimed Darien, crossing his arms in satisfaction, smirk firmly in place.
***
And so ends another chapter. I am so sorry for taking so long but no one ever told me senior year was such a bitch. But anyway, I'm back now AND finally with a beta reader! Everyone please thank melissa a.k.a. acoustics1220 for being crazy enough to take on this story as my beta reader! This really wouldn't have gone anywhere without you. Thanks so much!
And it's time for AUTHOR'S NOTES!!!!
I said Godric because I don't know his real middle name and since his family is so Gryffindor orientated, I thought it fit.
Plus for all of you that were a bit lost with all the new words, here's my mini glossary.
Keiko-training, or in this case training outfit
Mordax- Latin for stinging, the stinging hex. No incantation was ever given
Onken-school uniform
Genkotsu-fist
Kakuhan-whip
Flamen- Latin for blast, the blasting curse. No incantation was ever given
Sagitto- Latin for to shoot arrows, I'm dubbing it the arrow hex since no official spell name was given. No incantation was ever given
If anyone wants to, they can borrow my spells, just say where you got them from. I didn't just think of them out of the blue ya know.
On another note, I've been having a few complaints involving their names. TRUST: They are important to a future plot point. The names are not their real ones but are a mark of their ranks, a way of them shedding their past lives for the new ones.
REMEMBER:
DARIEN-Harry
DARION-Draco
DAMIEN-the ONLY GIRL
DARIUS-guy who can't speak English
The words that they keep saying are also an important plot point. I'd go back and reread everything with the idea in mind that all of what they say, specifically their arguments, are hints to their pasts. The names are in place to CONFUSE you so that it's more fun for me when I start revealing stuff because I've been saying it all along.
Darius said something in Al Bhed that is really easy to understand but I want people to take the time and think for more than a moment. Note, in Al Bhed, there are no new words or anything like that; it's really simple letter substitution. So `I began reading' would look like `X xxxxx xxxxxxx'. The number count is still the same.
And thanks so much to my reviewers!
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