CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR

"I honestly think we should try and train it," Fred whispered as the three of them breezed through the fight of stares.

They had just managed to sneak back into the castle without arousing much suspicion. Hagrid had told them to say he had requested them to help with some crates for God knows what, but they had all thanked him and agreed against the idea.

If there was one thing they couldn't afford to bring into the mix-up, it was Hagrid and his Pokémon.

They did not wish to bring any attention to the cabin lest someone paid him a visit to confirm their story only to end up blowing Hagrid's secret. Besides, their cover story had already been decided—Lee would have handled the twins' excuses while Magnus... well, he just hoped his absence would not be noticed.

It was, after all, the first ever Defense Against the Dark Arts class, so unless there was a register, he could survive it.

"By 'we' you mean me?" he asked, and Fred rushed to explain.

"Of course we will help," George clarified. "Think about it, mate—if we can borrow him from Hagrid, we can win all the battles... it has two freaking heads, what can beat that?"

Magnus sighed. It's like these two had not heard anything they had said down there.

"I seem to recall you two telling Hagrid your mouth is shut, so I assume you know he wishes to keep it a secret?"

The twins nodded.

"Well of course our mouth is sealed, mate, but even you know that it's only a matter of time before someone finds out... you said it yourself," George probed.

"Well if someone finds out, the Deino—I mean Zweilous—will end up at the Ministry," Magnus explained, "and even if it didn't, do you honestly see Dumbledore allowing a massive two-headed blind dragon to participate in school battles?"

That question seemed to bring them back to reality. I mean, there was a reason why the school chose the small Pokémon for students.

The two seemed to resign their ambition of using the Zweilous, but Magnus could still see that dreamy look in their eyes.

"I still think we should train it... I mean, even if it leaves, it will still remember us," George persisted.

Magnus watched them for a while and somehow he knew that Hagrid's cabin would be having frequent visitors from now on.

He pitied them... the only thing in their heads was how amazing the Pokémon was. Just like Hagrid, they were shutting their eyes to the danger.

"Did you guys not see the bandages on Hagrid's hands... heck, did you not see what it did to his foot?" Magnus pointed out, hoping to break their careless obsession. "And that was when it had only one head," he added pleadingly. "Now it has two heads that keep trying to murder each other—and anything else around them."

Fred looked unconvinced and was about to come up with yet another excuse, but suddenly froze.

Being the one at the front, he had almost bumped into McGonagall, who had been descending.

She too froze before lowering her glasses and peering at them.

"I was told you two had to see the nurse?" she said as her eyes flew between the two of them.

Magnus was astounded at the sudden transformation that had fallen on the twins' faces.

McGonagall's eyes lingered on them for a few seconds before she too fell for it.

"Yes... you both look terrible," she stated, much to Magnus' shock. He almost laughed but managed to keep the impulse in check.

The twins indeed looked terribly ill. They stayed quiet, only clearing their 'sour' throats methodically. McGonagall eventually slid back her glasses, seemingly satisfied.

"I am sure you will both find my homework and a detention cheering," she said as she turned to leave.

"What!" George asked, momentarily forgetting they were supposed to have a sore throat. He quickly realized his mistake and tried a hoarse voice, but the damage was done.

McGonagall turned and peered at him for several heartbeats. "Oh, and you two may want to keep Madam Pomfrey out of your next excuse to skip a class... you don't want her ignoring you when you are seriously ill—as you two may likely find yourselves very soon." And she turned and left, leaving the dumbfounded twins staring at her trail.

Magnus burst out laughing the moment she was out of sight.

"Well done, guys..." he mocked, patting them in turn. "I bet your 'best' salesman sold her your lie," he mocked, reminding them of the confidence they had in Lee.

"I swear I will kill Lee," George said, but Fred pulled his brother towards the stairs.

"Lee is cool, you heard—it's the nurse who sold us."

"Yeah, maybe you should have tried Filch... guy is honest as hell," Magnus taunted while still laughing, before a voice cut him off.

"Magnus."

They turned to see Hermione walking towards them in haste. Her Pichu was still in the basket, but unlike the Indexing Day, she had no protective gloves. He took that as a good sign—maybe the Pichu was learning to control its impulses.

"Oh hi Fred... hi George," she greeted the twins before turning to him.

"Professor Lupin wants to see you after classes... you weren't in class."

"Ooohhhh!" the twins groaned in retaliation. "Bet he wants you to have a cup of coffee for being so smart, mate," Fred patted him in revenge.

Magnus threw them an evil look before turning and climbing the stairs swiftly. He had no intention of getting a similar summon from Snape, seeing that the next lesson was Potions.

He could, however, hear Hermione's strained footsteps as she tried to catch up with his huge strides, but still, she couldn't keep up seeing he was taking two steps at a time.

"Hey... why were you not in class?" she called from behind, having given up on catching up.

"I overslept," he said without breaking a step or looking back.

"You are lying."

He could hear the certainty in her voice, so he assumed there would be data thrown in to support her point.

"I mean, no one can sleep that late. The house-elves would have woken you up while cleaning up or called a prefect," she panted as she explained.

Good point, Magnus thought.

That excuse would certainly not hold with Lupin.

"Well, I was in the hospital," he added, having run out of ideas.

"Magnus... you are lying and... ouch!"

He heard a crash and a squeal and turned to see Hermione rolling back on the staircase. The basket holding the Pichu was toppled upside down, making the Pokémon squeal frightfully.

He saw the last set of two steps he had skipped materialize back after accomplishing their mission.

He skipped back towards where she was struggling to get up... he grabbed and straightened the Pichu on his way down.

A group of Hufflepuff girls who had been behind them burst out in laughter on seeing another victim of the vanishing steps.

"Are you alright?" he asked, but Hermione pushed his helping hand aside and stood, glaring daggers at the laughing girls.

"I am fine," she said as she retrieved her Pokémon.

She looked fine... I mean, only her face was flushing red with embarrassment at her ordeal.

"Anyway... how was the vial... it worked, right?"

He had been trying to distract her from the embarrassing incident but Just by the way her face transformed, Magnus realized he had stupidly fallen for her trap he had been avoiding.