The Beginning of a New Competition... Yes, Again – Part 3
A few days earlier...
After finishing their lesson, where the four of them had made the agreement to begin one of their famous competitions, they now exchanged looks filled with competitiveness.
As they walked with fake smiles on their faces, none of them said a single word for several seconds. They simply kept staring at one another.
"Well then... I suppose we'll see each other later, right?" Harry said with his smile.
"Looks that way," Draco replied calmly.
"Then it's time for me to go back. I have a lot of things to prepare before starting this competition with you lot," Daphne said with her own fake smile.
Hermione, on the other hand, didn't say much. She was simply watching them.
Then, all of a sudden, she turned around and ran off at full speed.
"Damn it, she already thought of an assistant!" Daphne shouted as she watched Hermione disappear around the corner of the greenhouse. "I'm not falling behind!" she shouted immediately before taking off as well.
Harry and Draco, meanwhile, looked at each other for a moment before turning around at the same time.
They didn't run at first, but they began walking as fast as they possibly could, clearly having had the exact same idea.
But after only a couple of steps, they started running too.
Harry even transformed into reddish mist to increase his speed.
...
Billy walked calmly through the corridors while the tiny fairy Terra sat on top of his head.
Seeing the two of them like that had become more than normal by now, so none of the students were particularly surprised.
Billy was already a fairly well-known figure around Hogwarts. With Harry, Tommy, and Red causing trouble almost every day, no one found it strange to see him walking around with Terra perched on his head.
In fact, they were probably the most normal members of the entire family.
"So we can go find Mum first, then see what kind of trouble he's getting into. Or maybe do it the other way around, and then we can tell on him at the same time if he is causing trouble," Billy said as he considered his next steps to deal with his boredom.
Though he acted like the most mature and respectful one, of course he enjoyed getting his brother into trouble.
Otherwise, what were brothers even for?
"What do you think, Terra?" Billy asked, glancing upwards.
Terra leaned over his fringe and began speaking through gestures.
"Well, it would be fun if Harry got into trouble too. But he's been behaving himself lately. Maybe he's trying to look more mature in front of Fleur," Billy said with an amused smile.
As Billy continued talking to the little fairy, he suddenly turned his head around, as though he'd sensed something familiar nearby.
"Mmm? Harry? Tommy?" he called out into the air.
But there was no answer.
Billy remained silent for a few seconds, and when neither of his brothers suddenly appeared from nowhere, he simply assumed it had been his imagination.
"Maybe I'd be better off finding Luna and Astoria. I think I heard they were trying to cheer Ginny up," Billy said, pushing the idea of getting his brothers into trouble out of his mind.
But while speaking, he realised Terra hadn't leaned over his fringe to answer him.
Or rather...
At some point, he'd stopped feeling the barely noticeable weight of the tiny fairy.
"Terra?" he said, touching the top of his head and finally realising she was no longer there.
He looked around before letting out a sigh.
"Tommy..." he muttered.
...
Meanwhile, a few metres away, hidden behind a corner, Tommy was crouching with a slightly amused smile while holding Terra in one hand.
On his shoulder sat the tiny snake Dee, occasionally flicking out her forked tongue.
Terra wore a confused expression before immediately beginning to gesture furiously at Tommy.
"Ah, sorry. I wasn't trying to kidnap you. I just needed your help with something," Tommy said quickly after seeing the tiny fairy's angry expression.
Terra raised an eyebrow and moved her hands in a series of pantomimes that, strangely enough, Tommy understood.
"No, I don't want to steal Harry's wand this time. I learnt something interesting today. If you control the information, you control the world," Tommy said arrogantly.
But Terra continued staring at him.
Tommy didn't need her gestures to understand that look was saying something along the lines of:
What are you planning? And why?
Tommy tried to act as though there was nothing strange going on.
But the tiny fairy's scrutinising stare, now joined by Dee, who was also watching him closely, meant Tommy didn't last very long.
"The twins created an upgrade for the battle golem's magical boxing gloves, and it's really amazing. But Mum cut off my allowance after... well, last time. So I thought I could earn some money myself by selling information. The twins said that's what they did in their first year to raise their starting capital," Tommy blurted out completely.
Terra let out a sigh, while Dee merely gave her companion a look.
But neither of them seemed unwilling to help him.
"Thank you. If you help me, I swear I'll buy you the best fruit... and meat," Tommy said quickly to his two new business partners.
...
Present:
"Wait, how do you know that part?" Tommy asked.
At some point, he had approached along with Billy and joined the others in listening to how this entire strange story had begun.
"I actually just guessed. I saw the twins' new creations, but the price was rather high, and I know you far too well," Harry said calmly. "Besides, I ran into Terra and Dee gathering followers for a rebellion against you because you didn't keep your side of the deal," Harry added easily.
"What?" Tommy said with a stupid expression.
"Oh, Terra is very obsessive about her fruit. If you promised her something and didn't deliver, then you're really in trouble," Billy added, shaking his head.
"Wait, you're getting away from the main point," Sirius said at once, stopping the conversation before it wandered even further off track. "I'd like you to continue explaining why part of my school looks like this," he said, pointing towards the disaster in the courtyard.
"Why are you shouting, Godfather? You're loud," Harry said in a bored tone.
Sirius simply massaged his forehead.
There was still half a day of classes left.
At this point, Sirius really wanted to give his godson a beating for the first time.
So this was his karma.
As a former Marauder, it had finally caught up with him.
He was suffering exactly what his professors had suffered when he was a student.
"Continue," Wanda said, looking at her son, who was obviously trying to change the subject for his own convenience, as always.
Something that, of course, would never work on her.
"Ahem... right," Harry said quickly as he straightened up.
Then he took a deep breath before continuing his explanation.
...
Flashback:
On Harry and his group's side, the four of them covered quite a distance, even earning themselves a scolding from Filch, though he failed to catch up with them and they didn't seem to care in the slightest.
Then, suddenly, the group that had separated earlier for some reason was now standing in front of one another again, looking slightly confused.
Meanwhile, the person all four of them had gone searching for to become their assistant turned out to be none other than Neville, who now wore a confused expression as his friends surrounded him, staring at him and then at one another as though they were about to fight.
"Er... guys, is something wrong?" Neville asked as he looked at Harry, Hermione, Draco, and finally Daphne.
Daphne opened her mouth before anyone else.
"Fine. Neville will be my mission partner," she declared.
"What? Are you crazy? Neville is obviously my partner," Harry said immediately.
"Longbottom has been my partner in our competitions since number one hundred and thirty-two. It's obvious he'll be my partner in this one as well," Draco added in a firmer tone.
"I think it would be good to change partners sometimes," Hermione added at once.
All four of them were holding Neville from different sides while the young boy wore a confused expression, being pulled one way and then the other, leaving him with no idea what he was actually supposed to do.
He even started getting dizzy as he listened to his friends argue over him, when he himself hadn't even known he was that popular.
Meanwhile, not far from there, Astoria was watching the entire scene while finishing putting away the Herbology gloves she'd forgotten during her lesson.
Luna was standing right beside her, watching with interest as well.
Ginny, who had been dragged there by the two of them, also ended up witnessing the scene.
"Do they always do that?" she asked curiously.
Astoria and Luna looked towards the corridor where the four had disappeared while dragging the confused Neville away.
"Yes," Astoria answered easily.
"Almost always," Luna added.
Both of them seemed to see it as something perfectly normal at home.
"And they always end up destroying something, so our mothers punish them. Sometimes Aunt Wanda turns them into babies," Astoria added with an amused smile.
Luna thought for a moment.
"Eighty per cent of the time. And they dress them in nice outfits. Last year, they were zoo animals," Luna said cheerfully.
Ginny's expression shifted into disbelief, unable to properly imagine that scene.
But returning to what they'd overheard from Harry's group, Astoria let out a small laugh.
"That sounds fun. And if we're going to compete, I intend to win."
Luna nodded, completely convinced.
Astoria turned back towards Luna and Ginny with a smile.
"Then we'll compete too."
Ginny opened her mouth to refuse, but neither of them seemed to be waiting for her opinion, as usual.
Luna turned her head towards her.
"Of course," she said in perfect synchronisation.
The two immediately high-fived, while Ginny, without ever agreeing to it, had apparently become involved as well.
Whether she refused or accepted, those two would end up dragging her along anyway.
Without realising it, they had just created a fifth detective agency inside Hogwarts.
And right above them, a small laugh suddenly began to echo.
"Hehehehehe..."
All three raised their heads.
Peeves was floating upside down above them, grinning from ear to ear.
"Detectives!" he repeated excitedly. "This is going to be a wonderful disaster!"
And before any of them could ask what was happening, he flew straight through the ceiling, laughing loudly.
Ginny watched him disappear.
"...I think we just made a mistake," she said.
Ginny was already beginning to suspect that getting so close to that family might not have been the most sensible decision.
The problem was that she'd never really had a choice.
Astoria nodded at that.
Luna, meanwhile, seemed even more delighted by the fact that there were more competitors.
"Fun mistakes usually end up being the best ones," she said.
Astoria simply shrugged, not giving it much importance.
"Well then, first things first... the costumes," she said.
Luna raised one hand excitedly, and the two of them each grabbed one of Ginny's arms before dragging her away with them.
The three headed towards the castle, completely determined to solve the mystery before Harry and the others.