Arrival at Hogwarts!
Harry didn’t know what to think when just as Moody sat down at the table and Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak again, the doors burst open again and two people came sprinting in. Everyone watched in interest as one of them, with clothes that put flowers to shame, bent over gasping for breath before Dumbledore. The other merely straightened his tie and looked around the hall with a nonchalant look about him. Said Headmaster looked amused.
”Ah, Skull, I was wondering when you’d be here,” he said in amusement. The male dressed in purple was on the ground, chest heaving, and he held up a hand in a thumbs up.
”Sorry,” he wheezed. “Sorry for being late. We missed the train because the car popped a tire. Then my motorbike broke down as we were arriving and we had to run all the way.”
Dumbledore smiled, but the other person who’d come in gave the purple man’s leg a swift kick; who gave a loud yell of indignation, but not pain.
”Get up, Lackey,” he said in irritation.
The man on the ground, Skull- Dumbledore had said, gave a huff and got up, taking off his helmet in one fluid move. That’s when Harry realised- that no, he was not a man, but a teenager.
Wild, unkempt purple hair that rivalled even Harry’s hair emerged. Eyes like uncut amethysts and purple painted lips quirked up into a grin. He wore make up, and Harry wondered if those eyes were the result of contact lenses.
His eyes wandered to the other. He was a little older, perhaps in his early twenties. He wore a black fedora, with a yellow-orange band wrapped around the base. A small green... chameleon... perched atop the hat. He wore an expensive looking suit, with a yellow button up shirt. Then Harry noticed the small red octopus on the purple teen’s arm.
...ok. Why not. Not the weirdest thing he’s ever seen. Then Dumbledore turned to the school and Harry snapped back to attention.
”Ah, may I introduce Professor Moody’s teaching assistant; Mr. Skull de Mort.”
An uneasy murder rippled through the school and de Mort grimaced.
”Ah, just call me Skull. I, uh, sort of changed my name to mock Vol- I mean, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”
Harry’s eyes widened, as did several others. This purple haired person who looked like he’d jumped out of a cartoon had taken up Voldemort’s name to mock him? Dumbledore coughed, regaining the attention.
”Yes, and next to him is... ah,” Dumbledore trailed off, glancing at Skull in a silent inquiry.
”Reborn,” the man said before Skull could answer. “I’m... acting as Lackey’s... caretaker for the year.”
”I’m not a kid,” Skull mumbled. Dumbledore smiled knowingly.
”I see then, well, I do hope you enjoy your stay.”
Later...
”Blimey, that was one crazy dinner, wasn’t it Harry? Muggles, the Triwizard Tournament, and some guy who’s making fun of You-Know-Who,” Ron asked as he climbed into bed.
”Yup,” Harry said, nodding.
”And did you see Malfoy’s face when it turned out that Reborn bloke was a muggle?” Ron snorted. “All those protests and then- bam! That chameleon just turns into a... a what did you call it?”
”Gun,” Harry supplied.
”Right, that, and suddenly there’s a hole next to Malfoy’s hand! And it’s smoking!”
Ron was practically dying with laughter. “Then, the muggle just goes- ‘I’ve only been told not to kill anyone. No one said anything about injuring. The next person to complain gets a bullet in their tongue. I’ve killed people younger for lesser things, don’t test me’- it was bloody wicked!”
Neville looked nervous.
”But that was rather scary, wasn’t it?” he asked nervously. Dean seemed to agree with Neville.
”And the muggle has a shapeshifting chameleon. Like, what’s with that? Is he really a muggle? And the octopus! And the muggle seems an awful lot like those Mafia guys that show up in the shows my mum watches,” Dean said.
”Mafia?” Neville asked, and Harry sat up in disbelief.
”You mean wizards don’t have mafia?” he asked, and heads shook. Dean sighed.
”Mafia is basically an underground organisation dealing with drugs, the underworld and stuff like that. They’re a bit like... the muggle version of Death Eaters, except you don’t know who’s mafia and who’s not. Their comings and goings are also secret. And though people know they’re there, no one can ever do anything about them,” he explained.
There was a tense pause, and then Seamus cleared his throat.
”Well, I think we should all go to sleep now and stop talking about this. First day of school tomorrow,” he said, drawing his curtains and disappearing from sight.
So, one by one, each of the boys muttered a small goodnight and drew their curtains and fell asleep. An odd day indeed.
POV switch...
”...”
”...Lackey...”
”I told them!” Skull wailed loudly. Reborn raised an eyebrow, and gestured toward the single king sized bed. “I told Severus in the letter! ‘Please have two rooms ready because I will be bringing someone along because my Family doesn’t trust me to stay out of trouble’. I swear I told them!”
”Can’t you ask them for another room?” Reborn asked.
”We could,” Skull agreed. “Except this room is above the teacher’s room, which is above the teacher’s classroom, and there’s no room above this. So if we were given another room it would probably be somewhere away from here and that would be troublesome. And the stairs like to move and the doors like to disappear so... you’d probably get lost if you took one step out of your room. The castle is mean that way.”
”...the castle is alive?” Reborn asked, and Skull shrugged.
”Well, everyone talks about it like it’s alive, so I’m assuming it’s alive.”
The conversation trailed off, and the two looked at the bed, and sighed. ”I could sleep on the couch...?” Skull offered.
”Absolutely not,” Reborn snapped. “You’re going to be the one teaching in the morning. I’ll take the couch.”
”But you’re-” Skull flailed his arms at Reborn. “Well, you’re Reborn! And you’re a guest! You don’t sleep on the couch, I’ll sleep on the couch, Senpai!”
”I thought I said no,” Reborn said.
Oodako and Leon watched this fight like it was a very interesting tennis match. The two argued back and forth like an old married couple. It was rather amusing to watch.
Should we just tell them to sleep on the bed? Oodako wondered. Leon watched his human fight with Oodako’s human.
...Maybe soon. Hey, is this what people call a Lover’s Quarrel? Leon asked.
Maybe? Wait... since when were they mates?
Since they met. It’s been my life goal to get them together, Leon said matter of factly.
Oh... ok. It’s annoying, isn’t it? Like, can’t they just get together? Oodako complained.
Leon gave the chameleon equivalent of a shrug, before getting an idea.
Follow me.
Oodako blinked, but did as told. Leon led the octopus to the couch and Oodako seemed to realised Leon’s intent. Oodako dragged his travel tank, (a fishbowl with a lid), and shoved it up onto the couch before settling inside and closing the lid. Leon lay down next to the bowl and waited for their humans to notice.
They noticed in about ten seconds.
Skull blinked. Then groaned, rubbing his hand over his face.
”The familiars have claimed the couch already,” he sighed. Reborn shot the animals an annoyed glance.
”Then we’ll just share the bed,” he said stiffly. Skull blinked again. The information loaded... and his face bloomed red.
”Fine!” he squeaked. “I claim the left side!”
”Do as you want,” Reborn muttered.
The two got ready for bed, and Skull slid under the sheets, promptly turning away from Reborn.
”...night Senpai,” he mumbled, shitting his eyes.
”...night Lackey,” Reborn grumbled back.
Leon and Oodako looked at each other. Then Leon gave a small nod and Oodako twisted his tentacles into a thumbs up.
Mission accomplished... almost. Now, to get them to kiss...