Dawning of Magic
by Goggleplex
Summery: To protect 'The Holder of Magic' Hogwarts itself invoked a spell that calls a group as protectors. But Konoha is too big a group and a single team is too small. Which group is the perfect size? The Akatsuki actually.
Chapter Six - Trolling and Sheep
On Halloween morning everyone in the castle awoke to the sweet smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the halls. Tobi was making a nuisance of himself as he kept trying to follow the sent to the kitchen and everyone could feel the thrill of the holiday in the air. And even better for the Gryffindor's that day, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to make objects fly.
This was something they had all been dying to do since they had seen him make various objects fly across the classroom in a stunning display of spinning and pseudo juggling. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Deidara was partnered with Harry and Kisame with Justin Finch-Fletchley. Ron, however was partnered with Hermione. Deidara was finding it hard to tell whether it was Ron or Hermione that was angrier at the situation.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Professor Flitwick squeaked from atop his pile of books. "And dictation is of utmost importance as well."
It was very difficult. Deidara and Kisame swished and flicked, but their feather just sat lying on the desk. Deidara got so impatient that he prodded the feather with his wand and it unexpectedly exploded making it so that the only class he hadn't caused an explosion in so far was History of Magic.
Kisame glanced over to Ron and Hermione's table to onlt to see that he wasn't having much luck either.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms around like strangely shaped bird wings.
"You're saying it all wrong," the two heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it, then, if you're so clever!" Ron snarled.
"Alright, then. Watch." Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her robes, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The entire class abandoned all their attempts at their own feathers to watch as Hermione made her own rise about five feet above her and Ron's desk and hover there.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "See here everyone! Miss Granger's done it!"
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.
"Blimy, she's such a know-it-all. It's no wonder she doesn't have any real friends," Ron said to Kisame as he, Harry, and Deidara pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "She's a nightmare, honestly."
Hermione shoved passed Deidara, Harry and the other Gryffindor boys, running as fast as she could down the hall and away from their line of sight. "Wait Hermione-san!" Kisame shouted but she kept moving.
"Ah, let her go Kisame," Ron said with a scowl, "I know from my sister you shouldn't confront girls when they're crying and mad."
"I don't think she looked mad, hm..." Deidara said as he looked down the hall, feeling slightly bad that he hadn't defended her. But wasn't it necessary to be closer to Harry then to Hermione? He was the one that the Akatsuki had narrowed down to being the Holder of Magic since he had survived the killing curse when he was an infant.
Hermione spent her day looking into the mirror in the girl's bathroom, the words that Ron had said echoed in her mind like static. 'Blimy, she's such a know-it-all. It's no wonder she doesn't have any real friends.'
Hermione tried to block out the voices, but couldn't. She dragged herself in a bathroom stall, curled her legs up into a ball and began to sob…
Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry, Ron, Deidara and Kisame overheard Parvati telling her friend Lavender Brown that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked a little awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione right out of their minds.
A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins flicker. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.
The Akatsuki found themselves relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere that the feast provided. Zetsu and Tobi where encouraging Neville to sit beside Hidan, who looked more cheerful than most people had ever seen him, mostly because earlier in the evening he provided some animal sacrifices to Jashin as well as 'purifying himself' from his sins by staking himself to the floor. His wounds already stitched up by an exasperated Kakuzu. Kakuzu had been making a side profit by selling cliff notes to students who weren't bothering to study for a sickle a page, after having stolen a seventh year Ravenclaw's carefully cataloged notes over the past few years. Orochimaru and Itachi were becoming less hostile towards each other but the stoic Uchiha still remained the biggest mystery out of the Red Dawn kids to the Professors. Pein wasn't sleeping and he shared in Konan's activity of glaring at Deidara and Kisame for not defending 'their' student.
It didn't help that Pein was scolding them trough the connection they shared with him thanks to their old contact with the rings. 'You two are morons. That little brat has a very superior intellect and if the two of you weren't making yourselves out to be a bunch of dumb school children you would see the potential she has as a future spy for our cause. Before this night ends you will fix this.'
The two sighed at the unfairness of it all but mentally affirmed the message they received. They would fix it when they saw the girl again... The feast had continued after that when a wild-eyed panic stricken Professor Quirrell came running into the Great Hall with his turban askew. He skidded to a halt before Professor Dumbledore at the staff table.
"There's a troll in the dungeon," he stammered in breathless voice before he promptly fainted from sheer anxiety.
There was an uproar that threatened to break several sound barriers. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.
"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
Percy Weasley was in his element. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"
"What about Hermione, she doesn't know about the troll." Deidara whispered to Kisame, who was looking over, watching Kakuzu argue with a prefect against going back, he caught the words "If you want to be smashed like an ant be my guest but I have a Transfiguration quiz tomorrow and don't exactly have a desire to spend my night recovering from troll caused injuries in the Hospital Wing."
Finally he turned to Deidara and whispered back, "All right, let's do this then, but no one had better see us."
Their departure from the crowd of students was easier then expected and their journey towards the girls' bathroom was mostly quiet. The look of triumph quickly disappeared off the two boy's faces when they nearly ran right into the path of their teacher, Severus Snape.
Snape crossed the corridor just a few feet in front of where Deidara and Kisame had stopped and proceeded up the nearby staircase. They waited a few moments, listening carefully for Snape's fading footsteps before continuing toward their destination.
"That was close," commented Kisame.
"I'll say," replied Deidara. "I hate using stealth in this place, all the footsteps echo a little, hm. And shouldn't Snape be heading towards the dungeons? As useless as he is, that is his classroom area and you'd think he'd want to protect it."
"Ugh," Deidara groaned suddenly before coming to a halt and covering his mouth with his shirt sleeve, causing Kisame to run into his back, nearly toppling the both of them over.
"What is that smell?" asked Kisame as he scrunched his nose into a grimace, "It smells like a dozen people are rotting in a vat of old fish innards." He quickly followed Deidara's example and brought a hand up to his nose to try and shut out the awkward stench that lingered in the corridor.
"Now that's a lovely image, hm" Deidara sarcastically replied as he was drowned out by a burst of loud grunting that besieged their ears. Their attention was immediately drawn to the far end of the hallway, where a giant shadowy figure lumbered its way in their direction.
As the figure emerged from the shadows, Deidara and Kisame immediately recognized the lurking creature as a troll -- the troll Professor Quirrell had said was in the dungeons. Anticipation growing on their faces, the boys exchanged quizzical looks. They were nowhere near the dungeons and with a castle the size of Hogwarts there was no way the troll could've moved areas that quickly.
The troll was a large creature –- it filled nearly the entire corridor at roughly twelve feet tall –- its large arms dragged a huge wooden club along the floor as it moved down the hall. The two smaller boys shrank back as much as they physically could into the shadows along the wall as the troll neared. The once horrible stench was quickly becoming even more of a foul one.
The troll seemed to hesitate at the open doorway halfway down the corridor. It tilted its head from side to side as if trying to judge its worth. After a few tense moments, the troll made its decision and stepped noisily through the doorway.
"Let's get out of here, Kisame," said Deidara, turning around to go back the way they had come. "That was too close for comfort, hm."
"No," replied Kisame, stopping Deidara in his tracks.
"What do you mean no, hm?" asked the blond ex-Iwa ninja, a hint of impatience on his face.
"Let's close that door first," Kisame answered quietly, creeping towards the open doorway. "I don't know how that troll got inside the building in the first place, but nobody knows that it's not in the dungeons. A closed door will certainly give us more time to find Hermione and keep anyone from running into that thing."
Deidara smiled shakily. "You sure don't do things in halves, do you, hm? That's not something I'd expect from you without Itachi-teme around."
"I have to make up for what you lack, namely common sense," Kisame replied with his usual sharky grin as he walked over to the doorway.
Deidara just huffed irritably and took a calming breath as he marched right up to Kisame's side and began to help pull on the door. It creaked slightly and its rusty hinges fought against the movement, but their persistence paid off as it soon closed with a large slam that echoed throughout the hall.
Kisame and Deidara both jumped away from the door and hurried down the hall, intent on putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the troll as they continued their search for Konan's 'student buddy'. The urgency of the situation made itself known to the young shinobi when a frantic, high-pitched scream reached their ears, bringing both boys to a stumbling halt.
"That couldn't be …" Deidara trailed off as he turned to meet Kisame's gaze. There was only one logical choice and the danger was too much to be denied.
"Hermione," Kisame confirmed solemnly.
"There's no time to run back for help, hm" Deidara said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two cream colored lumps of clay from inside his robes. Kisame stared at his partner in disbelief.
"You still carry that stuff around? We're supposed to be undercover you know."
"Now, now, Kisame-danna," Deidara said with a devilish grin, "these will help us bring the attention over here and it might distract that troll so we can get to Hermione, hm."
"This might actually work." Realization hit Kisame and he began to look at the lumps in his partner's hands with approval.
Deidara shrugged and began to mold one of the lumps before he shoved it into his hand mouth. "I can always get more clay later, hm." A couple of small hummingbirds appeared and with a slight hum they began to glow as well as expanded in size. Deidara took aim and threw the birds down the corridor as hard as he could back towards the main part of the castle. The two boys watched as the little birds flew along the corridor before disappearing from their line of sight.
Moments later the explosions followed, alerting the rest of the castle to their location. Deidara took a moment to appreciate the small flashes from the explosions that would pop into their view.
"Ron and Harry are going to be so jealous when they hear about this," Deidara said, as he gave a wide grin to Kisame.
The mood was quickly broken by the loud thrashing that was taking place inside the room where Hermione and the troll were.
"Let's hope you still feel that way at the end of the night, kid." Kisame replied.
The two age reduced ninja made their way to the closed door and began pulling as hard as they could on the handle. As tough as the door was to shut, it seemed even more impossible to open even with their combined strength. The old castle was swollen with moisture and the wear of age. Deidara's hands were beginning to hurt and Kisame was growling from from intensity when the door finally gave way and sprang open.
The two partners barely had a chance to catch their breath before the sounds coming from inside forced them to rush in. Crossing into the bathroom, they were greeted with a shocking image. Hermione Granger, the smart and stubborn Gryffindor friend of Konan, was shrinking against the back wall in fright. She looked absolutely terrified at the bigger creature and there were signs that she had already been injured by the giant monster since she hadn't been able to escape the view of the steadily approaching troll.
The bathroom itself looked no better. It was almost as if a rampaging demon had gone right through it several times over. Entire stalls were collapsed, sinks were torn off the walls and water was flooding the entire room from the broken pipes that where littered throughout the floor. It was clear that Hermione had not always been huddling against the wall. Her hair and face seemed to be caked with debris and some blood while her normally pristine uniform was torn and disheveled.
Deidara quickly realized Hermione's attention wouldn't be drawn away from the terror in front of her and knew they'd have to split up. "Come on, kid. I've taken out people bigger than that!" Kisame growled as he leapt into battle, Deidara right on his heels.
"Hermione! Get out of here!" The girl looked over and was shocked to see Deidara and Kisame tackle the troll in a flurry of blows from Deidara's feet and Kisame's fists, actually managing to distract the troll. Hermione was still too weak to run, so she slumped further to the ground and stared at the troll which Kisame was shoving into the floor.
"Hermione, come on!" Deidara urged. She couldn't budge Hermione began to cry again, just when she thought she had no more tears. The fear induced adrenaline had left her and she was feeling the aches of her injuries. Deidara looked over at the troll and jumped onto its back as it shoved Kisame aside. He then very carefully shoved a concentrated clay bomb up the gray monster's nose. The troll went nuts from the invasive object and tried to clobber the blond on its head.
"Oh no, I don't think so, hm." Deidara growled, "I think its time that you learned the true meaning of art!"
Deidara smoothly leapt away from its head before he formed his hands into a seal and snarled"Katsu!"
The resulting mess was disgusting and strewn with troll snot. The teachers then came swarming in just as Deidara and Kisame assisted Hermione to her feet and she was finally was able to stand. Leading the way was Professor McGonagall followed quickly by Snape and Quirrell.
"What on earth were you thinking?" McGonagall burst out, clearly very angry indeed, while Snape examined the dead troll and Quirrell leaned against a wall clutching his chest. "You're lucky you weren't killed!"
Snape sent a swift, piercing look at Deidara who made a face at his least favorite professor.
"What on Earth were you thinking?" repeated Professor McGonagall. "Why were you not waiting in your dormitories with your fellow Gryffindors? Facing down a troll is dangerous business for any wizard, especially for inexperienced students! Why the three of you could have died!"
"Professor," squeaked Hermione Granger. Evidence of the girl's terrifying ordeal was plainly seen on her wet cheeks. "It's completely my fault. They were only looking for me."
In the many years that Professor McGonagall had been a teacher at Hogwarts not many students could claim in their time there that they had seen a shocked McGonagall. But on this Halloween night, three Gryffindor first year students had been witnesses to one such moments, it was just now at Hermione's response.
"Miss Granger!" exclaimed McGonagall, her unbelieving eyes rapidly searched the young girl's face for any sign of deceit.
"I was upset from earlier today," Hermione stated as clearly as she could. "I didn't even know there was a troll here but they saved me. If Deidara and Kisame hadn't come for me when they did, I'd be dead."
Their head of House looked upset at the news but sighed, "I'm very sorry that you had to go through what you did tonight. But you Mr. Hoshigaki and Mr. Bakuha did very well in watching after the well-being of your fellow classmate. That will be fifteen points each to Gryffindor. I suggest you both return to the common room and get cleaned up, the students are finishing the feast in their houses. I'll escort Ms. Granger to the Hospital Wing."
Professor McGonagall gently patted Hermione's shoulder before turning her attention towards Deidara, though she was speaking to both boys, "Mr. Bakuha and Mr. Hoshigaki," she said. "You two may very well be the luckiest first years I've ever met. It was foolhardy to have taken on a mountain troll, yet you two did and came out unscathed just don't do such foolish things again." and then in a rare moment of expression, she gave the two an approving smile before moving past.
"We'll take Hermione up to the Hospital Wing, Professor McGonagall," Deidara said, "If you don't mind, hm."
The Head of House nodded, secretly disappointed for a moment that Harry Potter had not even noticed Hermione was in danger while these two had. How could the savior of the wizarding world be so unaware? Hermione walked back to the Hospital Wing, leaning on Kisame and Deidara for support in silence.
"Ah, Hermione," Deidara said. Hermione looked at him. "I wanted to apologize. You know, for not defending you earlier, hm. Not from that troll but from Ron."
"Yeah," Kisame aggreed, "It was partly our fault that you got into this. I mean, I know Konan wouldn't befriend you if you didn't have at least a bit of potential and I regret that I missed that. If I wasn't being a thick headed crowd follower none of this would have happened."
Hermione looked at them strangely but smiled after a moment of consideration. "It wasn't because of you guys that I was crying in the bathroom in the first place. But thank you. You can just tell me about that spell you used to kill the troll, Deidara. Then we'll be even."
Deidara laughed nervously and said, "Hey, uh, let's just keep the actual way I did that between the three of us, hm? If anyone asks it was a blasting hex up it's nose."
Hermione didn't look impressed, "I'll find out one day with or without your help, Deidara. You can be sure of that."
After their trollish adventure the three mismatched Gryffindors became like peas and carrots. The trio did everything together much to Ron and Harry's confusion. Who would guess that a blue quidditch fanatic and the Gryffindor House Seeker would be able to get along so well with such a brainy and bossy Gryffindor girl?
End Chapter Six
On a roll, eh? Please review!