But For A Stone (A Matou Shinji Series AU)

[apsalar]

A minor quibble (not that I'm trying to tell you what the term means in your story, just the Potterverse): apparently, halfblood refers to any witch or wizard with muggle or muggle-born parents or grandparents, meaning that Draco's kids would be halfbloods, but their children would be purebloods. That said, I had to look that up; I had been under the mistaken impression that once you let filthy muggle blood into your family, your line of descent would forever be tainted.


(On second thought, this is a terrible idea, but) [X] Amber

C'mon, she's been trying to help us with our night terrors for a while now, and we could really use the help, but Shinji would never ask. This is a perfect opportunity to either get that help or beef up our Occlumency, and I think we should take it.

[alfheimwanderer]

A minor quibble (not that I'm trying to tell you what the term means in your story, just the Potterverse): apparently, halfblood refers to any witch or wizard with muggle or muggle-born parents or grandparents, meaning that Draco's kids would be halfbloods, but their children would be purebloods. That said, I had to look that up; I had been under the mistaken impression that once you let filthy muggle blood into your family, your line of descent would forever be tainted.

Ah right. I'd remembered that muggle grandparents would still let someone count as half-blood (since at least one of your parents would be Muggleborn, presumably), but I'd forgotten that having Muggleborn grandparents also made someone a halfblood. Still, with half-bloods being the most common type of wizard in Britain these days, hard to be picky. Wizarding blood purity here is less about "one drop makes you impure" thing, really, and more like who actually "belongs" to a small rural town. First generation - you'll be known as the outsiders, with odd beliefs and traditions. Your children, more accepted, assuming they work to blend in. Their children, mostly blended in. The children of those children - fully members of town (pureblood).

[apsalar]

That's a pretty good analogy. And regardless, the "purity" of the Malfoy bloodline would be restored after merely one generation. That's probably a pretty small price to pay for absorbing the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

[alfheimwanderer]

'On second thought, this might be a terrible idea,' Shinji reflected. 'At least the part about practicing with blades while Amber or Phelan can read my mind. They've both already trained in this kind of thing for years, and I...well, haven't.'

Even without the advantage of being able to tell what moves he was about to make, they would thrash him if they came at him at all seriously.

'No. We should do something where we're probably more even in skill. Something none of us are that familiar with...'

Something like...

Magical Dueling. Since his new cottage was registered as a magical residence with the Ministry, with a house elf on the premises explaining away any odd magical use detected by the Trace, and there was an area in the basement that would be useful for dueling, that might actually work...

But what would be the best way to practice Occlumency while fighting be?

[ ] 2 v 1 - He and Phelan team up against Amber (who would be wearing his glasses)
[ ] 1 v 1 v 1 - Free for all (with Amber wearing the glasses)
[ ] A series of 1 v 1 training bouts, with everyone switching off who uses the glasses
[ ] Have Phelan put on the glasses and dare the others to do their best to hit him with magic
[ ] (write-in)

[Skull Leader]

[X] 2 v 1 - He and Phelan team up against Amber (who would be wearing his glasses)

I could also do the series of 1v1 but 2v1 here forces Teamwork from Phelan and Shinji or it quickly turns to just a 1v1 match when she takes out Phelan when she reads his stupid risky plan from his head. Really to me, this plan allows for Shinji to test his mental defenses but also fighting an enemy that has an advantage over you.

Plus the simple fact that trying to work with Phelan is already hard to do but is also risky since he would likely be a leak source of whatever plan they come up with. Unless Shinji knowly uses that, to come up with a fake plan to tell Phelan and rely on Amber reading it from Phelan, only to surprise her. It might not work in the end, but it is likely his best shot against her.

I am just gonna also state for the record, how annoyed I am that I had one hope for this break with the Twins IE Learn how to use a sword, and we seemed to wanted to do that but when push comes to shove, we never block actual time to the activity. Its like people think he will simply learn the skill just by having training equipment, without spending time on it. It's rather annoying to me.

[shanagan]

[X] 2 v 1 - He and Phelan team up against Amber (who would be wearing his glasses)

[alfheimwanderer]

I am just gonna also state for the record, how annoyed I am that I had one hope for this break with the Twins IE Learn how to use a sword, and we seemed to wanted to do that but when push comes to shove, we never block actual time to the activity. Its like people think he will simply learn the skill just by having training equipment, without spending time on it. It's rather annoying to me.

While shiny things can be fun and enticing, what is necessary if you want to build a certain skill is a bit of focus.

[alfheimwanderer]

[X] 2 v 1 - He and Phelan team up against Amber (who would be wearing his glasses)

---

Two versus one, Matou Shinji thought to himself, would normally be quite the advantage for the two. Except now that he was lending Amber his special glasses, having a partner who could not use Occlumency could instead be something of a liability.

'Hm...what to do...?'

How does Shinji intend to approach this?

[ ] Come up with a plan with Phelan - It doesn't matter if Amber can read surface thoughts, its still 2 on 1 and teamwork is a powerful tool
[ ] Let Phlean do his own thing, while he does his own - It means that even if one is compromised, she'll have to deal with the other
[ ] Come up with an plan with Phelan (but make sure its a lie, to fool Amber into acting on inaccurate information)
[ ] Rush in and hug her from behind, so Phelan gets a clear shot! - Let embarrassment do the trick!
[ ] (write-in)

[Skull Leader]

[X] Come up with an plan with Phelan (but make sure its a lie, to fool Amber into acting on inaccurate information)

It is either this or teamwork plan with Phelan for reals. While I do not feel like fake plan will ultimately work on Amber (she will expect this), I think this is the move that we want Shinji to do, in terms of building Shinji in the long run. It is a more magus/cleaver solution that both Amber and Nats would approve of. So I figure it will score well with Amber, even if Phelan is not going to like this when he finds out.

[ ]Rush in and hug her from behind, so Phelan gets a clear shot! - Let embarrassment do the trick!

*snort* Now, now, this is a perfect plan Shinji. After all what could possibly go wrong with it? I mean of course Amber is so easily embarrassed, and totally wounld not counter it and turn the tables on you by upping the ante. Nor does she have a protective brother that would not be pleased by this tactic and would rather strike you for hugging/kissing her. Nor is Amber a girl known to take offense on boys that overstep their boundaries with her.

Yep flawless plan. O grade Worthy! Shit you might as well go for extra credit and kiss her...

I am fairly certain I have never seen a choice that makes we want to pick it as much as this one when I know it will be bad, yet want to watch the results anyways. Its not likely to be the main plan, but hey it can be plan B or C.

[alfheimwanderer]

Yep flawless plan. O grade Worthy! Shit you might as well go for extra credit and kiss her...

He would be far too embarrassed to even try such a thing. Why, that would be his second kiss!

[Skull Leader]

Did like everyone give up voting for this fic or something? Come on people at least chime in and vote.

[apsalar]

I didn't give up voting, I just don't have much of a preference about this choice, or many thoughts to share about it. That said, I might as well support what someone else wants.

[X] Come up with an plan with Phelan (but make sure its a lie, to fool Amber into acting on inaccurate information)

[alfheimwanderer]

[x] Come up with an plan with Phelan (but make sure its a lie, to fool Amber into acting on inaccurate information)

---

Such is the obvious choice when preparing to fight someone who can read minds in the company of someone who can't defend their thoughts. Not that Phelan himself is likely to appreciate it once he finds out he's been duped, of course, but then nothing is perfect, and attaining victory matters more than something as paltry as a first year's pride (or at least, Shinji is willing to be broadminded about it since its not his pride at stake).

With that in mind, who will come up with the doomed plan?

[ ] Let Phelan come up with the plan
[ ] Shinji will come up with the plan himself (propose your "plan" for Phelan)

[Cassius]

[x] Let Phelan come up with the plan

[Haunter]

[X] Let Phelan come up with the plan

[alfheimwanderer]

[X] Let Phelan come up with the plan

---

Chapter 32. First Night at Shinji’s

Despite how comfortable the bed in his new cottage was, how tasty the dinner, or how luxurious his surroundings, Matou Shinji did not rest well that night. Oh, it wasn’t because he had trouble falling asleep in unfamiliar surroundings (as his daily naptime in Binns’ classes could attest), or because he wasn’t sufficiently tired (as he surely was that, after all the running around he’d been made to do on what was ostensibly a holiday). It wasn’t even because he was rather anxious about the fact that someone at Hogwarts was probably more than she seemed (even if he was).

It was because through the night, Rumpy, his new house-elf, which his previous owner had dressed in the remains of an old stuffed bear, kept standing by his bedside, staring at him with its glistening, bulbous eyes.

“D-did you do this with your last Master?” he asked, understandably disturbed how every time he woke up, the elf was there, looming over his bed like a monster of yore.

“Old Master is liking Rumpy by her side. Rumpy be driving away nightmares, old Master be saying.”

Shinji wondered how that was even possible when a moving, talking plushie with a wrinkled house-elf face was the very stuff of nightmares, but perhaps those who grew up in magical Britain had different standards for what to be horrified of?

‘…at this rate, I’m going to go back into Exton Hall.’

“Would Master be liking a lullaby?” the house-elf asked, in a voice like stones rubbing against one another.

“T-that’s ok,” Shinji managed, swallowing. “Um. Go to the basement. Please. Don’t come back until I wake up.”

The house elf bowed and disappeared with a pop, leaving the boy alone in his bedroom, and rather out of sorts as he contemplated the command he’d given and groaned.

‘...bloody hell. It’s going to be back again once I wake up, isn’t it?’

Not for the first time that night, the boy gave some serious thought to the idea of just going back to Exton Hall, where at least, when he woke up, he could be sure he wasn’t in a nightmare.

‘But its already past midnight. I can’t bother them now.’

And besides which, Exton Hall, unlike this dwelling, was not registered as a magical residence, nor one with a house elf, so any display of the arts under its walls would likely have the Ministry running, screaming about violations of the Reasonable Restriction on Underage Sorcery.

So, the boy tried his best to go back to sleep, with his thoughts drifting as he did to what was going on at Hogwarts. What were the professors doing over the long holiday, he wondered? What about the few students who had not gone home (or if not home, had not left the premises)? And of course, what other secrets did the ancient castle hold?

Hogwarts was about a thousand years old, after all, and like any other place that had been around that long, he imagined that its walls hid any number of dark histories.

‘Yes, we found the Chamber of Secrets, but that can’t be all that is down there…’

Where there was one hidden chamber deep under the school, not on any map, there were surely others.

Rooms, passages, secret dungeons and nests of foul and dangerous creatures.

Speaking of which…

‘I wonder if the Black Lake is connected to some other body of water, magically or otherwise,’ he mused, reflecting on the fact that there was a giant squid living there – a creature which should not be able to survive at such shallow depths, or in fresh water. Of course, it could be a phantasmal beast of some kind, but that only raised the question of how it had gotten to the lake in the first place, as he couldn’t remember there being a giant squid colony in the lake’s murky depths. ‘Which means there’s either something going on with that lake, or that the squid is not a squid…’

It occurred to the boy that maybe the squid was in reality, an Animagus who had had spent so long in animal form that he or she had forgotten what it was like to be human – or perhaps had made him or herself forget.

‘Though if that were so, wouldn’t the Headmaster know about it?”

Or would he?

Dumbledore hadn’t seemed to know about the Chamber of Secrets, after all, and he supposed that it was unfair to expect any one man to have all the answers, even if that one man was nominally in charge of the institution and its grounds, and as such, was ultimately responsible for the things that happened on the campus.

‘Speaking of which…what’s on the third floor, in the corridor to the right-hand side?’

Not for the first time, he reflected that it was…odd that the Headmaster hadn’t given a reason for the place being “out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.” It was as if he was tacitly challenging anyone willing to brave the possibility of a very painful death to uncover the mystery of what was there.

‘The question is – a challenge…or a trap?’

Phelan, of course, thought it was a challenge – for any adventurers confident in their skills, with the unspoken promise of some great treasure waiting at the end, as was only natural after facing mortal peril.

Shinji, mostly to be contrary, argued otherwise: that the so-called challenge was nothing but a way to get serious troublemakers to incriminate themselves, and that any great treasure would likely be trapped somehow, left only as bait for the unwary – who, in the moment of their triumph, would find themselves crushed.

…perhaps even literally, if his fears about a trap featuring a giant boulder was anything close to reality.

‘I wonder…’ he mused, as his breathing slowed, and his mind began to sink deep into the ocean of the unconscious. ‘If Sokaris would know…’

---

That night, Matou Shinji found himself dreaming – though this time, for once, the dream didn’t turn into a nightmare.

He wasn’t running from something, wasn’t frantically trying to get somewhere he could not while senpai or someone else he…cared about died in front of him, hadn’t just killed the wrong person in his quest for vengeance or any number of other things.

In the dream, he’d just been walking beside someone, through trails – streets – fields that were familiar yet strange, talking about his first year at Hogwarts, and how different it had been from his expectations.

The people he’d met.

The events he’d participated in.

The choices he’d made.

The other smiled slightly, seemingly amused by his overly dramatic recounting of the masquerade and the various challenges laid down by Quirrell, though she – and it was a she – stopped suddenly, turning her head as something caught her eye.

Glancing in the same direction he had, he saw what had caught her attention, a…

…shooting star streaking over the great red bridge that connected two very different sections of a sleepy city.

…series of fireworks illuminating the largest tree he’d ever seen, and the city that had grown around it, in a place outside of time.

…white horse taking flight from a castle on a mountain.

…deer streaking past them, into the thickly forested grounds, spooked by something…else.

A dizzying array of images filled his mind, all of them contradictory, and when he looked back, the person who he was talking with was gone, replaced by a Sialim Sokaris dressed all in white, her purple hair unbound and draped over her left shoulder – and a raven perched on her right.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked tonelessly, her eyes red as the shadowed moon during an eclipse.

He looked away, unable to answer, and found himself standing in a corridor at Hogwarts.

‘What? Why?’

He spun around, trying to figure out where in the castle he was, only to see a version of himself wreathed in darkness.

‘…I know this form…’

He’d become it once that he could remember, yet this was his first time seeing it from the outside.

A figure of shadow and flame, a demon of vengeance and rage whose eyes blazed red, with a cloak of corrupter prana billowing like black smoke behind him.

And from him, Granger fled, sheer terror on her face as merely human muscles did their best to escape the beast she had awakened, leaving a trail of…fluid in her wake as feet pounded against stone and her heart thudded in her chest far faster than was healthy.

But the monster did not chase the girl, merely turning to look at him.

“…what…why…?” Shinji asked this…this alter-ego, as the world dissolved around him, becoming a scorched clearing in the Forbidden Forest, with great gouges in the ground as if something had melted the earth, trees knocked to the ground and torn in twain as if by the hand of a giant, and scattered limbs and parts of spiders as large as horses littering the ground.

The air smelled of fire, of roasted hair and of sickly sweet death.

Of rage, unbound and unleashed.

His rage.

And standing calmly in the center of everything, the moon-drenched figure of Sialim Sokaris, clad in a dress so dark it might as well be black, with a green-gold vial in her left hand.

“Why are you here?” he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“I was never away,” the girl spoke enigmatically, with the world shifting once more until he found himself as the demon, standing in Ravenclaw Tower, with Sokaris standing between him and the fallen form of Hermione Granger.

‘This, I…I remember this…but…’

“Why am I here?”

“You have always been here,” Sokaris responded, watching pitilessly as the darkness surrounding him fell away, and slowly he returned to just being himself. “At the crossroads. In the space between decisions.”

“Huh?”

Before he could ask more though, the boy found himself stirring once more, opening his eyes to find the house-elf looming over his bed.

Despite himself, Matou Shinji screamed.

---

After that admittedly strange dream – and the rude awakening that had followed – the boy had not tried to go back to sleep, though he had told the house elf to only greet him once he was outside his bedroom, as he wasn’t sure that his heart could take another scare.

‘But if I’m not sleeping, then what…?’

He supposed he could read and work on Occlumency for a while, since his acquisition of the…glasses in Horizont Alley had reminded him of just how useful the ability to shield his mind from intrusion could be.

And so, he did, for a time, but as an eleven-year-old boy, there was only so long he could sit in one place practicing something that was all in his mind. Still, it had been a way to while away a few hours, for when he’d finished, the sun had risen, with the boy wondering what to do next?

‘…I have nothing planned for today, do I?’

Indeed, after days and days of being dragged around Britain, Matou Shinji found himself with one of those rarest of things – free time – and a completely lack of things to fill it with. He – like nature – abhorred a vacuum, as the prospect of letting the time go to waste utterly horrified him.

There was just too much to be done, too much to study and catch up on if he ever wanted to one day be able to walk by Senpai's side. Really, even remaining friends and peers with Natsumi and Amber was demanding enough in itself, given that they were quickly pulling away from him, in terms of their respective capabilities.

Both Amber and Natsumi had demonstrated at least competency in occlumency, and if Natsumi truly did learn Thought Acceleration, well…

‘No. I refuse to be left behind.’

That said…it figured that after spending thousands of galleons on mind-reading glasses, they didn’t work on the people he’d like to know the most about. Girls were a mystery, and he’d sought to demystify them just a bit, but…apparently he’d been overly hasty.

Or presumptuous.

Or something.

The thing was, he honestly didn’t really care about most people, what they thought, or who they were. He just wanted to better understand his friends, who, for all their affection for him, seemed...

...well, alien was probably the best word he had to describe what he thought their thought processes must be, though that was really such an impolite way to put it.

‘I guess, to learn more about them, I’ll have to spend time with them, eh? No shortcuts for something like that.’

But he needed to work on his skills too, and how could he both do that and better get to know the people around him?

The boy sighed, and then groaned as the obvious hit him.

They could all work on some skill together.

Dueling maybe.

The practice equipment the Noels had ordered for him should be ready by now, and perhaps it would be a good opportunity to see if he could hide his thoughts? Though they probably didn't know Legilimency, which could be a—

'I'll just lend them my glasses. What could go wrong?'

On second thought, dueling either Amber or Phlean with a blade, when he’d never even really held one, would be folly enough without them being able to read his mind and predict every move he was about to make.

Such a thing would only result in great pain, if they took him at all seriously.

Pain for him, that was.

And whatever else Matou Shinji was, he did not consider himself a masochist.

'They've both already trained in this kind of thing for years, and I...well, haven't. We should do something where we're probably more even in skill. Something none of us are that familiar with...'

Something like...

‘Magical dueling.’

Yes…that was it.

Since his new cottage was registered as a magical residence with the Ministry, with a house elf on the premises explaining away any odd magical use detected by the Trace, and there was an area in the basement that would be useful for dueling, he wouldn’t get into trouble, and he rather thought the Noel twins would enjoy.

And so, having decided on something, he set down his books, got up and opened his bedroom door, only to yelp and fall flat on his arse in a rather undignified fashion when he saw his house-elf Rumpy, standing there.

‘…this whole thing is going to take some getting used to.’

---

The session itself proved to be good fun, with the trio warming up with some basic spells like the disarming charm (Expelliarmus), the Knockback Jinx (Flipendo), and the Tickling Charm (Rictusempra) before sparring against one another in a series of bouts to see who was fastest with a wand and had the best reflexes, with the first to lose their weapon or otherwise be incapacitated considered to have lost.

Since none of them could use a shield charm, or knew any other way of blocking spells, these tended to go quite quickly, with Amber coming out on top, and her twin…

“…we already know you’re fast, sister,” Phelan grumbled after the conclusion of the bouts, showing that he was the slowest of the three. “But that’s because you use a rapier. Speed and precision are key to wielding that weapon.” He’d glanced at Shinji. “I’m more surprised you beat me, Matou, with as much time as you spend reading. You even need to wear glasses now!”

“…maybe I just don’t have bad habits to unlearn?” Shinji suggested. “You keep trying to slash with your wand, like it was a sword or something.”
Phelan shrugged.

“True. I’m used to a backsword, and there’s a lot more cutting there than thrusting with that,” the earl’s son admitted. “It’s a more practical weapon than a rapier, though. Even Godfrey says so!”

Amber just rubbed her temples as she heard the reference hat her brother made, her lips curving into a distinct frown.

“…first, brother of mine, the Treatise Upon the Useful Science of Defense was written back in 1747,” she chided, “though I am surprised you remember anything from that old book.”

“Hey, I read too,” Phelan sputtered. “Maybe not as much as Matou over here, but if it’s interesting, I do pick up books, you know. And not just to throw at people!”

“…fair enough,” Amber conceded. “Still, we’re not learning to fight in magical formations, we’re learning to duel, so let’s focus on how to make you a better magical duelist. We both know that a rapier is better for duels anyway.”

“…well yes, hence the rapier was ‘the Call of Honour, the Back-Sword the Call of Duty,’” Phelan quoted, shaking his head. “I’ll have to ask Quirrell for a better selection of spells. Or just use my sword after downing Mopsus.”

“I don’t think your sword can deflect spells, brother,” Amber quipped, with her brother looking particularly petulant at her comment.

“Well, we can’t all have goblin-silver weapons,” he grumbled, but nodded. “Fair point though. As of right now, you’re the best duelist of the three of us.”

“Glad you see things my way,” the girl said with some satisfaction.

“…still, I wonder if those skills would help you if you were up against more than one of us at a time,” the earl’s son murmured slyly.

“…what was that, brother?”

“Oh, let’s say that Matou and I worked together to try and take you down,” Phlean spoke, spinning a scenario. “Do you think you could take both of us down before one of us got you?”

For the first time, Amber seemed less than certain.

“That…I’m not so sure about,” she admitted.

“Shall we put it to the test then? Let’s say, with a friendly wager?” the earl’s son suggested. “Maybe with that fancy rapier of yours on the line.”

“…nice try, but you don’t have anything I’d want in return,” Amber replied, sticking out her tongue at her brother.

Shinji was struck by the childishness of her behavior, which he didn’t think he’d ever seen before, yet in his eyes, made her all the more charming.

“Let’s just do it for fun then,” Shinji interjected. “Take turns being the one against the two.”

“Nothing on the line?” Phelan inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“How about this – if none of us win as the one against the two, or all of us win, nothing happens. If only one of us wins, then we each owe the winner a favor.”

“And if two win and one loses?” Amber questioned.

“…then the one is at the mercy of the two and has to do whatever they say for a day?” Shinji suggested, with both Amber and Phelan seeming to pause at that, before nodding.

“Fine, I accept your terms, Matou,” Amber quipped sassily. “And you, brother?”

“…I just hope you’re ready to do whatever we want for a day, sis, heheh…” Phelan chuckled.

They drew lots to see who would go first, and order decided, began.

…to their mild chagrin, none of them managed to win against two-to-one odds.

Shinji had evaded both of them for a while, but had eventually been taken out by Phelan, while he was trying to pay attention to Amber, who he couldn’t read.

Phelan had evaded his sister’s spells, but had been hit by Shinji’s quite quickly.

And Amber had been forced to turn away from Phelan when Shinji had come charging at her, only to wrap her in a hug – with Phelan blasting both of them with the Tickling Charm for his trouble.

“Fine, so none of us won,” the earl’s son conceded. “Now what?”

“Now…I hand one of you my glasses, and we see if things change,” Shinji noted with a smirk.

“Ah,” Amber noted.

“Wait, why glasses?” Phelan muttered. “Wouldn’t that just make it harder for whichever of us got them, since none of us need them?”

“Oh, I think you’ll be surprised…” the boy said, explaining that the glasses allowed him to take a look at surface level thoughts, so it gave whoever was wearing them a slight advantage when dueling. “As for the other thing, they’re not prescription lenses.”

“Ha! I knew you couldn’t really be a better duelist than me!” the earl’s son crowed, with Shinji taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. “Give ‘em here and let’s see we do with a new 2 on 1.”

Shinji – reluctantly – did so, though even with this newfound advantage, Phelan lost once more.

“…you sure these are working?” he grumbled. “Couldn’t see anything from my sister. And you…only sometimes.”

Amber and Shinji shared a wry glance.

“Yeah, about that,” Amber spoke up. “We both practice Occlumency.”

“Occlu-what?”

“How to protect your mind from outside intrusion,” the girl quipped, with Phelan’s expression going rather sour.

“…well, that’s hardly an advantage then,” the earl’s son muttered. “Still, I don’t think even those would be enough to help you win against the both of us, sister.”

“Shall we bet on that?” Amber suggested, mirth dancing in her eyes as she took the glasses from her brother.

“No. Just for fun is fine,” Phelan said, waving her off. “Matou, shall we plot something?”

“Err, I guess?” the Japanese boy answered, following the other as he waved for him to follow. “You have a plan?”

Two versus one, Matou Shinji thought to himself, would normally be quite the advantage for the two. Except now that he was lending Amber his special glasses, having a partner who could not use Occlumency could instead be something of a liability.

“I’m not sure having a plan could work if she could just pluck it from my mind,” Phelan admitted, “but your glasses don’t let someone do that, right?”
Shinji hesitated for a moment, something that the earl’s son didn’t miss.

“…I see,” Phelan noted, his voice somewhat colder. “That complicates things.”

“I do know that it needs line of sight though, so...I’m sure we can still come up with something?” Shinji offered, hoping to defuse his friend’s ire.

“Well, we can try,” the noble boy said, with the two hashing out ideas.

In the end though, none of their plans ended up being what worked, even if Shinji being Phelan’s “human shield” to keep Amber from seeing him and reading his mind had shown some promise at first. Amber was still, unfortunately, faster than Shinji, and disarmed him before he could react.

After that though, Phelan had fired a knockback spell, but not at Amber.

Instead, he’d blasted Shinji in the back, Japanese boy into his Amber’s arms, with the sheer momentum of the flying body knocking her to the ground, with her wand falling out of her hand in shock. Shinji and Amber had looked at each other, green eyes meeting grey as their hearts beat faster – and then Phelan blasted both of them with Tickling Charms.

“See?” Phelan asked, after he cancelled the spell, with Amber and Shinji standing somewhat apart, not looking at each other. “It doesn’t matter if you have the glasses, sis. You can’t beat two of us.”

“That…that wasn’t teamwork. You sacrificed Matou!” Amber protested. “After using him as a human shield.”

“We still won,” the earl’s son commented. “And victory is everything.” He shook his head. “I should probably practice that Occlu-whatsits too though, since we can’t have you two winning against me that easily.”

“It probably wouldn’t be a terrible idea,” Shinji agreed. “I need more practice in it myself.” He hesitated…but this time, not all that long. “I could show you the basics?”

“Would you? That’d be right decent of you.”

“Heh…nice to see you two getting along,” Amber quipped. “I was expecting there to be a bit more fuss, after you told him that this cottage used to belong to Tonks.”

“Wait, this used to be where Miss Tonks lived?!” Phelan almost screeched, his hands reaching out to grab Matou’s lapel and shake him about. “Y-you’re kidding!”

“…you didn’t tell him,” Amber noted, shaking her head.

“...sorry?”

“You…you…you!” Phelan sputtered, not able to come up with anything close to coherent. “How did you even…a house isn’t cheap, you know.”

“Quirrell gave me some basilisk skin and an invisibility cloak,” the boy responded, just wanting the shaking to stop. “I sold them, had enough for the house.”

Phelan looked like he was about to argue again, but—

“You’re both welcome to visit anytime. I’ll let my house elf know!” Shinji pre-empted, as the earl’s son finally let go.

“You would do that?” Phelan said hopefully.

“Of course,” the Japanese boy replied. “Why don’t we keep practicing this stuff for the next few days. I’ll have the house warming say, the day before the 30^th?”

“And will you be sleeping here or at Exton Hall?” Amber asked quietly.

“…I guess I wouldn’t mind spending another night at Exton Hall,” Shinji answered shyly, not meeting her eyes. “The, uh, the company isn’t bad.”

“But this was Tonks’ house,” Phelan protested. “And you even have a house elf at your beck and call. What more could you want?”

“What more indeed?” Shinji sighed. “Want to meet the elf?”

“Ah, yes!” the earl’s son answered at once. “I’ve read all about the fair folk you know, seen how they are in Tolkien’s work and all. So sure, show me this elf!”

Shinji cracked a smile, a very small one.

“Alright then,” he conceded, smirking just a hint. “Rumpy!”

And when the plushie-wearing house elf appeared before them, with the shock of its appearance making Phelan fall on his arse with an undignified cross between a cross and a scream, he even managed not to laugh.

Much.

---

Besides the usual suspects (Natsumi, Selina, Amber, Phelan, Ernie)- will Shinji be inviting anyone else to the House warming on the 30th?

[ ] No
[ ] Yes (write-in)
[ ] Let his guests bring guests

What should the theme of the party be (if any)?

[ ] Holiday / Xmas
[ ] Costume - Dress up like a Magical Animal
[ ] Pajama party
[ ] No theme
[ ] (write-in)

[Skull Leader]

[X] Let his invited guests bring up to a guests each and invite Neville, Nigel and Luna.

Max party size of this would be 16 people a reasonable party size I think for a large but able to fit in his house. I figured we should invite Nigel and Neville because they are both Shinji partners in class. Luna might not fully warrant an invite but still I think Shinji would invite her just to met Selina that she was curious about.

[X] Costume - Dress up like a Magical Animal

Theme sounds fun. Why even Shinji's house elf would be following the theme.

[alfheimwanderer]

[X] Let his invited guests bring up to a guests each and invite Neville, Nigel and Luna; [X] Costume - Dress up like a Magical Animal

The list of attendees will be as follows then, as Natsumi, Selina, Amber, Phelan, Ernie, Neville, Nigel, and Luna can all bring +1s.

Natsumi + Marten (her pig)
Selina + Pansy
Amber + Tonks
Phelan + Ron
Ernie + Justin Finch-Fletchley
Neville + Hannah Abbott
Nigel + Cho Chang
Luna + Ginny

[Skull Leader]

Now we get to ask the important questions in life? What Magical Animal do we dress Marten up as? Hopefully something with wings.

Apart of me is somewhat sad that Natsumi has no one to invite but her pig (no offense to Marten). But given that most people she interacts with were already invited by Shinji directly or can't go to the party such as Sokaris or Miyuki.

Cho sticks out in the party list so much. I have a hard time believing that she will have fun at this party or that there will be no friction caused by her.

[alfheimwanderer]

There are other - very important - questions to answer though:

What are we feeding everyone?

[ ] Pizza - the better to surprise the purebloods
[ ] Fried Chicken + Cake - the traditional Japanese Winter Holiday choice
[ ] Hotpot (because less effort is good)
[ ] Wizarding British favorites - which Rumpy knows how to make
[ ] Make it a potluck - everyone can bring something!

And who does he prioritize talking to?

[ ] Cho and Nigel - who seem a bit disconnected from the rest of the group
[ ] His core group of friends
[ ] Neville and some of the +1s
[ ] Luna and Tonks
[ ] (Write-in)

After the introduction of the two characters in the Iris Potter campaign, Selina asks the group to choose which one they'd like to stay with. Which does Shinji want to play...?

[ ] Iris Potter
[ ] Liliana Spencer-Moon
[ ] "Actually, I'd like to try playing as..."

[ ] Draco Malfoy
[ ] Hermione Granger
[ ] (write-in)