Show appreciation to the eldest of the bunch, or the first fankid you ever created! Hosted by @endlessly-cursed
Duncan Ludwig (Jacob's kid)
Duncan is the firstborn and only child of Jacob Moss and Abigail Ludwig. Duncan was my first HPMA/Next Gen kid that came about and to think he almost was put into Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw suits him much better however I digress. I enjoy this angsty, broody prankster using his intelligent mind to everything but studying. However, there is a reason for his moodiness is trying to cope with culture shock, losing his mother and suddenly raised by a father whom he had never properly met so who can blame him. While never competing for my attention unlike my other kids is probably the reason why I love him so much as he is the easiest to handle surprisingly.
(I hope you don't mind me adding a random barnago fankid that only exists in an AU 🙈)
Rosa opens the door to the artifact room with a sigh. "What is it now-"
And though Rosalyn was expecting trouble, rarely Oberon called anything an emergency, those usually came from Teddy, the scene is a tad weirder than she had expected, on the corner of the room sat a boy with a pumpkin over his head with two unevenly sized holes for eyes and only his loose Ravenclaw tie and white skin for characterization, yet she didn't have to ask to know who it was.
In the centre, her cousin paced in the constricted space, coming to a stop when he sees her. "Oh, great, you came- Why you have a toad on yer head?"
"I was taking him out on a walk when I received your owl."
Oberon pokes the toad who seems to be sleeping, gripping her hair for stability. "You take your toad on walks?"
"Is that Rosalyn!?" The boy exclaims, the German accent clear even with his voice muffled by the pumpkin. "I can't believe you called her!"
"Well, well, I'm glad I'm welcomed!"
"I said I called help! You're often the one with these types of ideas, I thought you might have an idea on how to solve it."
"Seriously, Obby? It's such a silly spell, I bet you can undo it yourself!"
"The problem is, this isn't Melofors! If that was the case, I could just smash his head against the wall and it'd all be fine-"
"Excuse me-"
"-but this dumbass is wearing an actual pumpkin!" He finishes knocking on it. "Which he made near indestructible."
"How?"
"I adapted a shielding spell, I can teach you later if you get me the fuck out of this!"
Rosa knows it'll be for nothing, but for her amusement takes the fruit and shakes it just for the fun of it. "Indeed, it's stuck."
He waves her hands away. "What a keen eye!"
"How did you get it in there in the first place?"
"I shrunk my head and waited for the spell to wear out while inside the pumpkin, otherwise it would slip out."
"May I ask why you did it?"
"I wanted to see if I'd be able to make a helmet combining a breakable pumpkin and a shielding spell. And it worked."
"Can you ever use your head for something reasonable? You could change the world, but nooo."
"Will you bully me or will you help?"
"Can't you just shrink him again?"
"I dinnae ken what spell he used to make this thing indestructible, but it's also working as a barrier on him. Just look."
Oberon takes a stance perfectly before performing a Flipendo that deflects from Duncan's chest and hits the wall above their heads with a smoke stain. He also tries an Incendio that ends in mere sparks.
"See? Nothing."
"Awesome right!? I'd keep this on forever, the problem is I can't eat, I can't perform spells for some reason, and oh, I am close to suffocating."
"Perhaps, we should just allow natural selection to do its job, don't you think?"
Oberon takes her arm. "Rosa, please. Flitwick must cry at night because of him and this week was going so well..."
"I'll give you all the candy I get from Hallowen!"
"You hate candy."
"And I could give it to anyone else!"
She rolls her eyes.
"Please, Murk, think of something, it's starting to get slimy and gross in here."
She taps the toad on her head with a laugh. "That's it! Slimy and gross!"
"Ha, I don't like the sound of that..."
"Me neither."
"What's more slimy and gross than your animagus form, huh? The octopus must be small enough to fall through."
"First, I am offended, second, that's a great idea." He rubs his hands together. "Okay, Onion, hold it for me."
Oberon does so with a eye roll and within a heartbeat they watch him fall to the ground with a blobbery sound, the brown octopus almost camouflaged against the wooden floor. The scene is bizarre as they watch him turn back into a boy, head covered with remnants of slimy pumpkin guts.
"Ha! It worked!"
She holds her hips and looks at her cousin. "See? Us Gryffindors aren't as stupid as you claim."
"I never said Gryffindors were stupid, if I did mum would have some things to say."
Duncan wraps his arms around her, kissing her cheek loudly and making pieces of pumpkin fall on her. "You're the smartest, Murk."
"Get off me!"
"C'mere! Let me thank you!"
She hold out her hands. "Keep your promise and that'll be enough. Ugh, you get me some good candy."
The two Ravenclaws watch as she walks out, taking her toad in her hands checking if any pieces of guts had fallen on it.
"Thanks for not telling her it was me who called," Duncan says.
"You played the part quite well. But maybe you should just be sincere, lassies like when you consider them important."
"They do, but not when you have yourself stuck inside a pumpkin!" He taps Oberon's cheek. "Oreo, you might have the face but I have the technique."
While surprises can be fun not all are good especially in Duncan's case when a well intended surprise backfires bringing up painful memories for him.
Warnings: grief, past death
There was something consoling about the beach; Duncan found out very quickly, especially today. Living in a forest community for the past year, which, to put it mildly, was very dull. Despite never settling in one place for more than a couple years with his mum, it was always a city which gave him some form of familiarity.
He wandered to Tayport, too, a small and quaint port town. It was better than losing his sanity in nature or getting dragged along to Jacob's workplace, the dodgy pub with the weird name, die freche Klippe, or how Duncan translated it then. He remembered Jacob's laughing fit over the German version. Jacob quickly realised Duncan preferred being alone and trusted him to be home alone.
He went back to the moss-covered stone cottage, which from a distance, blended in naturally with the trees. It was eerily quiet despite his aunt, uncle and cousin visiting from Romania. His uncle, Onkel Charlie, had a very cool job working with dragons compared to his father. Though the actual job, dragonologist, was something he would have thought to have existed until last year.
Duncan carefully opened the door; hopefully, he had the house to himself again for a few hours. With nobody around, he could steal the ginger newt biscuits in the kitchen. What he was not expecting was to get bombarded in the dining room.
"Surprise!"
"Überraschung!" Tarragon shouted with excitement, although her pronunciation wasn't perfect. The bunting and banners unfurled themselves, displaying the message 'Happy Almost 11th Birthday'.
Duncan stood to light a deer in highlights. It wasn't his birthday today; it was in three days. He wouldn't have minded if it was any other day, but Jacob threw the party today of all days.
"Well, I ken it's a little early but I figured we celebrate it before Pip, Charlie and Tarra leave. "Jacob said with an apologetic smile. Duncan clenched his jaw. He felt fuchsteufelwild!
They all waited for his reaction; Tarragon looked at him in particular nervous anticipation as he approached the table where a white cake with blue icing decoration. It looked like the cake his mum got him last year. Ten and a half candles were lit. Small gifts were wrapped up tidily next to it.
"Do you want tae blow out the candles and make a wish? "His auntie Juniper warmly smiled at him.
Duncan doesn't want to. He didn't ask for any of this. Especially when Jacob had chosen today of all days. Duncan wondered if he did it out of spite or pure oblivion. Neither conclusion made Duncan feel any better. In one swoop motion, Duncan swiped the cake off the table.
The cake splat straight to the floor. Icing and cake parts flew into Tarragon's face. His trainers were covered in white and blue cake frost.
"Duncan, what the hell? "Jacob said, his eyes wide with shock.
“Du bist ein arschloch!“ Duncan yelled. "You forgot mama died today!"
His aunt and uncle comforted Tarragon but were just as shocked as Jacob. Jacob's jaw dropped before his hand smacked against his own forehead.
"I'm so so sorry, Duncan. I didn't realise that…." Jacob paused, gulping. "That today was when Abi- your mum-" He couldn't finish the sentence.
It didn't matter anyway since he ruined it all. Duncan stormed upstairs to his attic room. He drew the curtains behind him to make it clear that no one would enter. All day he just wanted to avoid anything about his mum. He tried to stop thinking. To stop hurting. He missed her. He missed everything; playing Mensch Ärger dich nicht, her helping him with homework, telling him off for causing the goldfish to float or even when she nagged at him.
"Do you want me tae check on him?" Duncan heard his auntie Juniper offer through the thin floorboards.
"Probably for the best. I don't think he wants to talk to me for a while." Jacob sighed. "I messed it up big time."
He heard the heavy footsteps of her used boots. Juniper pulled aside the curtain as Duncan hid under his bed covers. The bed was pushed down as his auntie sat down next to him.
"Duncan?"
"Go away! "He yelled. "Leave me alone."
"Duncan," her voice was quiet and soft. "I'm sorry. It was my idea; had I known, I would have never thrown the party. I'm sorry I did nae realise it today is the death of your mother."
Juniper waited for Duncan to demand her leave, but he stayed quiet. A muffled sob escaped his voice. They both knew it was trying to contain it all in.
"The first year is always hard after losing someone you love." Juniper continued on.
Duncan finally peaked his head out from under the covers. He quickly wiped away any tears; he was too embarrassed and ashamed that he cried in front of his aunt.
"Will it stop hurting soon?"
She wore a sad smile and shook her head. "It will always hurt, even after five, ten or even eleven years. You just learn how to live with the pain."
Duncan was somewhat disappointed with the answer, but at least it was true. It was better than all the teachers, social workers, and doctors telling him his mum was in a better place and what a tragedy it was.
"What can I do?"
"Remember her. Do something special for her if you feel like it. Give her a special day to remember her. It doesn't have to be today. Anything day works." His aunt advised. "And allow yourself to be sad. It's better if you cry than holding it all in."
Duncan fought back the tears, though it was a little late. Like they had a mind of their own.
"Come here," Juniper shuffled closer and hugged her nephew tightly. She wasn't his mother, and would never replace her, but he missed the motherly comfort.
Once the tears dried up, he pulled back again. Duncan looked away. His mother wouldn't let him leave things in a mess. She would tell him that he should apologise to whoever he had wronged.
"I'm sorry I ruined zee cake."
"It's fine. We can always make a new one."
"Also I need to, eh, to sorry to Tarra."
"Apologise?" Juniper suggested what Duncan was trying to say. "You did give her a wee fright, but she'll forgive you easily. She's a good wee egg like that."
Duncan's eyebrows knitted in at the last sentence. "Wee egg?"
"It's something we say here." Juniper lightly chuckled. "Just come downstairs whenever you're ready. There's nae rush."
Watching his aunt leave, Duncan felt a heavy weight in his chest. The day was painful as he had expected, but the events were not. He still hadn't forgiven Jacob for his part in the blunder. Though he did regret ruining the cake. It looked absolutely delicious.
Duncan finds himself entranced by an odd girl who makes a few suggestion and improvements to his handiwork. I was inspired by the snippet that @indigobackfire had written so here it is.
Duncan prepared the balloons with green sticky goo that smelled like sweet syrup. He had charmed them all to be lightweight, making it easier to float up to the tall ceilings of the East corridors.
His closest friend, Marcie, helped levitate the balloons high to the top of the East corridor ceilings.
Perfect.
"Bis du bereit?" Duncan enquired of Marcie as she charmed the last balloon to float up.
"Ja, bereit wenn du bist." Marceline nodded, matching his dimpled, mischievous grin.
Now they wait for unsuspecting victims to pass by. They hid in the shadows of the columns; sometimes, Duncan wished he had an invisibility cloak to sneak about.
A small group of friends passed through. Second or third years, if Duncan had to guess. One stood out in particular. Hair split into two colours, one blonde and the other black or brown; he couldn't tell in the dark light.
As they drew closer, Marcie signalled to say she was ready. They prepared their wands, and Duncan held his pine wood wand tight. Just a moment, just a moment closer and now!
"Finite incarnatem!"
They chanted, and like they had practised, the balloons dropped down, doing what gravity does best. With that came the rain of splats and bright green goo flying everywhere. Duncan quickly used his arm as a shield to cover himself from being a victim of his doing.
The students screamed and moaned that their clothes were ruined. Duncan revelled in a little longer before the familiar sight of a yellow cat came with the caretaker. The fun was over far too soon.
Just as he was about to leave, he caught a glance at the girl again. The one with the split-coloured hair from earlier in the middle of the chaos. Looking closer, she was pretty, hübsches Mädchen, even with goo-covered hair. Her eyes glinted with tones of green quickly back at him.
"Wir müssen jetzt gehen, oder Filch wird uns erwischen." Marcie dragged him, but his eyes couldn't help but linger back at the curious girl. The sense of calm -ruhig- in the neon green chaos around her.
Once the coast was clear and they were out of sight, Marcie noticed Duncan's distracted state.
"Bis du in ordnung?" Her eyebrows scrunched in before they relaxed again as she realised. "Ah...hat ein Mädchen dich abgelenkt?"
Duncan felt his face turning warm. He hasn't felt this way about any girl. Yeah, he had a few brief crushes but never this overwhelming.
"Nein, über haubt nicht!" Duncan denied it too quickly, which earned an eyebrow raise from Marcie.
"Nah dann..."
Marcie chuckled as she walked away, shaking her head. Damn, Marcie would never let that go, not that he expected her to.
***
Classes were finally over for the day. Duncan hung his blue and bronze scarf around his neck to contain the chill November weather. He hung about in the corridor a bit longer. He always preferred the castle when it was quiet in between the chaos. Helped him scheme up the next one.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that split blonde, dark brown hair. Some green lingered in her hair, but she didn't care. Duncan looked around, but the corridor was empty. Wait? Was she here for him?
Her bright green eyes intensely stared at him. An awkward silence fell before the girl opened her mouth.
"You could have just used one balloon."
"Bitte?"
The word just slipped out of Duncan. He wasn't expecting that. Generally, if anyone who was a victim of his pranks would even come up to him, it was either to yell at him or, on the very rare occasion, impressed even. Though was usually the resident poltergeist.
"You could have used an expansion charm on one balloon with your skill. Filled with as much goo as you like, put the weightless and floating charm together." She continued to explain.
Duncan was stunned, and on top of everything else, she was right. The comment about one balloon instead of several would be more efficient than those hours spent sending those balloons up to the corridor's ceiling.
He wanted to say something, but his mind blanked out. Like every single bit of English was gone from his mind.
"I...uh..."
He heard a croak from her or at least nearby. A toad peeped his head out from the pocket of her robes. A small dimpled smile formed. He had his pet rat, Hamish, usually in his pocket too.
"Maybe you can help me wiz my pranks sometimes." Duncan nervously chuckled, licking his dry lips. The Ravenclaw was confused. Usually, he could instantly throw out dry remarks left and right, but this girl had thrown him so far off guard.
"I could but I wouldn't want to outwit you in your pranks." She smirked slightly, and with that, she was ready to walk away, but Duncan couldn't help but call out.
"Hey, what's your name?"
"Not unless you tell me yours first."
"I'm Duncan Ludwig but everyone just calls me Ludwig." He leaned against the pillar, trying to look cooler. Duncan didn't know why he was doing it, but it made him feel a little better.
Rosalyn tilted her head a little. "Does no one call you Duncan?"
"Except for Jacob, Marcie and Duncan one, then no."
"Duncan one?"
"Yeah, you know the dead people here? They can fly. Go through walls," Duncan tried to explain, throwing out suggestions. "I only remember in German, Geist?"
"Ghost?" She suggested, trying to help him out.
"Yeah, those. There is a ghost called Duncan too."
"I didn't know." She looked genuinely surprised. "I guess you're Duncan two then, huh?"
"Ja, I am." He laughed.
"I guess I'll call you Duncan two then." Rosalyn laughed. It was a look that suited her well, Duncan noted.
"Yeah..."
"See you around then, Duncan two."
"You never told me what your name." Duncan called out.
"Rosalyn Murk."
She left, waving goodbye. Duncan couldn't tell how long he was waving back, but he stood there until she was out of sight. He wanted to smack himself. Duncan one. Duncan two. Why would he make up some thing like that? All to impress a Mädchen.
But Rosalyn...
What a Hübsches name that matched with a Hübsches Mädchen. That name will be stuck in his mind for a while.
July was the month of dread for many fifth and seventh-year Hogwarts students. That month, everyone anticipated owls to drop in and deliver their results for their OWLs and NEWTs. Duncan was one of those unfortunate students.
In his fifth year, he didn't care much about his OWLs. Duncan put enough energy into his studies as he thought he should, which wasn't much. It's what he did with all his classes throughout his time. He knew enough to pass, and Duncan was okay with that until the end of the sixth year when Professor McGonagall made him a tutor; his experience made him realise that Hogwarts was sorely lacking resources for those students with learning difficulties.
Magic cannot cure everything.
"Stop pacing around so much, Duncan. You're making me nervous." Jacob dry chuckled as he propped up the Daily Prophet in the kitchen.
"Your future is not at stake, Jacob." Duncan sighed frustratedly before finally sitting down. He nibbled at the pretzels that Jacob had painstakingly acquired that morning. It wasn't like the ones in the German bakeries, but the thought counted. "You never got your NEWTs."
"That's not fair." Jacob placed the newspaper down.
"Sorry."
"It's fine. I get that you're nervous."
"I'm not nervous." Duncan quickly deflected.
"Whatever you say." Jacob raised a silvery blue eyebrow. Duncan got up to ensure all the kitchen and dining room windows were wide open. Jacob just let him. It helped him ease his mind that the owl could fly in smoothly.
They both knew that to become a Professor, he didn't need much qualification but rather experience, but Duncan wanted to prove himself. After many years of being called to the Headmistress's office, he was proud to say that in his seventh, he was only called in to be praised for not getting into serious trouble. Duncan wanted to prove that he could put aside -mostly- his pranking ways, get serious, and prioritise studying.
Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall supported him and even liked his suggestions for improvements at the school and were intrigued by muggle methods for supporting those learning difficulties. He still was a menace to Filch, but he helped make a positive difference for once.
Duncan perked up when he heard an incoming hoot. The awaited owl swooped in and dropped the letter on the table. Duncan tore the envelope open with the report card with his name confirmed and the four subjects he picked. Jacob watched Duncan's reaction in anticipation.
"Scheiße."
Duncan threw the NEWTs report on the table. He yelled out a frustrated, incoherent noise. Jacob picked up the report and read it himself.
"Acceptable is good," Jacob said, nodding with a supporting smile. "And you can do your resit in August for Charms."
"Vy, does it matter?" Duncan moaned. He didn't understand. Usually, he skated by with an easy average of exceeded expectations with a few acceptable without even trying. He studied hard the past year with his girlfriend, Rosalyn, helping and teaching him study methods.
"Look, if there is anything I learned, it is that grades don't always matter, Duncan." Jacob moved and sat down next to him. "I mean Juniper managed to become a curse-breaker with only OWLs at Gringotts."
"I know, but it is frustrating. "Duncan sighed. Jacob sympathetically patted him on the back. "I worked hard for what and zen, I need to resit zee Charms NEWTs too."
"At least be proud of the fact that you gave it your best. That's the least you can do." Jacob smiled serenely. "It's not the end. You did what you could, and be proud of that." There was a hesitation, but he opened his arm for a comforting hug. "Even if you aren't, I'm proud of you...Duncan."
He accepted the awkward embrace that only lasted for several seconds from his father. Duncan had a lot of regrets. He did the bare minimum, including choosing only four subjects for his NEWTs so he could use his free periods to prank younger students instead of studying. How it took him only just over a year ago to figure out what direction in life he wanted to go. Jacob was always there even when Duncan didn't want him to, but today, he was glad his father was there for him.
He sighed, leaning back on the chair. Jacob was right. Professor Flitwick himself said that experience mattered more than grades. Duncan then half smiled.
"Guess I have to study charms if I want to well on my resit."
Challenge: All You need is love @hp-12monthsofmagic
A/N: I don't know what demon possessed me but I wrote this in like two days and then she had the audicatity to ask me to draw not just one but four drawings however o realised that I didn't have the time so here it is. So, Zola is tired from living with a loveless home but a simple letter from someone special is exactly what she needed.
Warnings: swearing, verbal abuse, child neglect, classism, no romance but angst with a hopeful ending
The night was cooling down London from the Summer heat earlier. The sun lingered around longer despite it being close to midnight. Zola wasn't even doing anything exciting, just hanging around the council block playground before a group of older kids from the block took over. She was smart enough to know when to move out of the way.
Instead she opted for walking aimlessly through her neighbourhood in the borough of London. Children screaming happily, ice cream vans and teens on their bikes filled the Summer night.
Zola had spent most of her summer either writing to her best friend, Tarra or seeing if Michael, a guy from her block was free. None of her old mates from primary wanted to hang out with the girl going to 'boarding school'. Like all of a sudden she has become one of those snobs from the West end.
And staying home wasn't an option for her. Auntie Gracie-Mae and uncle Andrew weren't exactly fun company either. They barely tolerated her presence so why stay any longer. Though now she figured would be a good time to head back to their council flat.
Zola waltzed back in without care that she made loud noise in the middle of the night. The TV was blarring in the background anyway. As she stomped pass the crack of the living room door where uncle Andrew has been sitting there since he woke up in the afternoon.
"Zola! What did I say about slamming the door?!" He yelled, slurring his words. The bastard was drunk and Auntie Gracie-Mae was off on the night shift.
She hated being alone with the slob. He didn't do anything but watch TV, eat, yell and sleep. Andrew was too lazy to even get out of the sofa.
"What did you say, you little bitch!" He yelled louder, grunting from the sofa.
"Fuck you, Andrew!" Zola slammed the door again.
"I said fuck you!" Zola repeated before marching to her bedroom, slamming another door. She grabbed a chair to lock her door before letting frustrated groan to the pillow. Remnants of her makeup remained on the pillow.
She looked at the news articles that she had converted as posters. All these cursebreakers free and full of fun and adventure. That's all she wanted, every Summer felt like a prison with them. Her father doesn't bother writing but her brother, Jeremiah did occasionally send an owl but ultimately she was all alone.
She clutched the pillow, hugging it tightly. No one wanted her. Zola was alone in this miserable apartment. Angry or sad tears, Zola wasn't sure threaten to leave her eyes.
"Everyone sucks." She muttered.
Zola wished she had a normal family or as normal as she could get. She was jealous of Tarra, her parents there for everything and even her cousin, Duncan. Yeah, he would moan about his father but it was clear that he wanted to be there for him. Her parents never did that for her. Her father decided robbing Gringotts was worth more than her and her mother...well she probably took one look at Zola and noped out.
A knock on her window brought her out of her own self pity party. A barn owl was outside with a letter inbetween her beak. She knew that owl immediately; Tori, Tarragon's owl.
Zola let in the owl and took the letter. Her fingers fumbled to open it quickly. She scanned each word meticulously, soaking in everything.
"Damn you, Tarra." Zola cracked a wide grin. "Always know how to make my day."
The timing couldn't have been any better. Tarra was inviting her to Scotland to stay with her and Duncan for a while. Without much thought, Zola grabbed whatever she felt she needed and stuffed it into a bag. Including her secret stash of gallons, sickles and knuts.
She boldly strutted past Andrew with new found confidence.
"Where are you going?"
"None of your business, not like you ever care." Zola opened the front door. "Oh and I may never come back. You can tell Auntie Gracie-Mae that."
Andrew looked startled through the door before Zola slammed the door one last time.
Before Zola could change her mind a gust of wind before a royal purple triple decker bus was infront of her.
She looked for a secluded road before putting her wand hand up in the air. She felt stupid but she was sure this was how she could get the knight bus.
"You comin' on?"
Zola blinked before registering what was going on. A man in a purple uniform and a worn out soldiers cap
"Right."
She hopped on, paying eleven sickles for a ticket and told her destination to the Tentsmuir, Scotland. The man was the conductor who welcomed her aboard and showed about.
Metal beds in rows took up majority of the space. Some curtains were closed from other passengers. The few who hadn't closed their curtains stared at the fourteen year old. Zola simply gave a glare back in retaliation and chucked her bag onto the bed.
She closed the curtains for privacy and pulled out the smooshed letters from Tarra. Every letter of Tarra telling her she missed her best friend and was lonely without her when she was in Romania, England or Scotland. While Zola doubt that Tarra would ever feel lonely surrounded by animals a her words filled her heart more than any snogging with Michael ever did.
At some point, Zola's body finally caved into to sleep after staying up for so long. Though when she woke up, she felt her neck sore and the letters spread on stomach and chest.
The bus halted to a forceful stop. Her letters flew off the bed and her bag rolled to the middle of the floor.
"We have arrived at Tentsmuir." The conductor announced. "Thanks for taking the Knight bus, we hope you had a pleasant stay."
It was a beautiful sight of the sunrise along if the forest behind where she could find the stone cottage. She walked through the patches of grass with hope that she could gain a new home.
Zola hurriedly grabbed everything and stumbled out the bus. It left immediately leaving her at a muggle road. She covered her eyes as the stream of sunlight of the sun rising beamed in her face.
A/N: Guess what? I'm not done with writing chaos. I was so happy to finally write for Duncan and Marceline to speak in German and I can finally write out this one idea I had this rent free in my head. And of course they are up to no good, I mean leaving with 'fireworks' in hand. BTW credits to where credits are due, @lifeofkaze helped me out with the German grammer and correcting parts that needed fix so big thank you for that.
Character featured: Marceline Lane-Adler @slytherindisaster and Nova Mae @kc-and-co.
Warnings: possible endangerment to students, chaos, peeves, threats, peeves!
Duncan and Marceline looked across the great hall at the entrance. They had planned to make a colossal finale all year and when was the optimum. Naturally, when students had to study for their O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts. Even though they should be looking for their exams, Duncan and Marcie had other ideas.
"Bist du bereit?" Duncan asked. There was no backing out from this plan.
"Ja, aber stellsicher, dass -"
“Stell sicher, dass Nova nicht getroffen wird,” Duncan finished Marcie’s sentence. He knew how concerned Marcie was for Nova Mae. Nova was a fellow Ravenclaw whom he never took much notice of until Marcie would non-stop talk about her. “Ich weiß, dass du deine Freundin nicht beschädigt haben willst."
Marceline blushed a bright scarlet at Duncan's statement and punched him in the shoulder, "Sie ist nicht meine Freudin." She retorted back shyly.
Duncan smirked at her. "Zählst du runter?"
They hovered at the entrance, quickly checking their blind spots for no incoming or outgoing students. Also, they had Duncan Ashe, a fellow prankster and resident ghost at Hogwarts, distract Filch to buy them some time. Marceline started the countdown.
"Drei!"
"Zwei!"
"Eins!"
Duncan launched a dung bomb as far as he could into the great hall. Well, as far as his arm allowed him. Duncan never described himself as the most athletisch, but he can hold his own when throwing long distances. The cloud of green stunk the place. Students screaming filled the great hall quickly, including some sounds of gagging and even vomiting. They promptly placed an anti-smelling charm on themselves. It was a weird sensation to be unable to smell, but it was adequate for running through smelly potions and dung bombs. Marceline sprinted through the smoke to place the Weasleys' wildfire whiz-bang to make a bang.
Duncan snuck through in his animagus form. Due to the commotion, Duncan, as a brown octopus, managed to wriggle through the crowd to find his part of the great hall to place the fireworks. He shifted between his normal and animal form underneath the long wooden tables and escaping students.
"Luddy Luddy Ludwig! I see you're having a party without me." Peeves cackled despite the massive grin. Duncan knew that behind it lay malicious intent. It was precisely why Duncan hadn't included him in this display of chaos. "How come I wasn't invited?"
"Vell…I guess I forgot to send you zee invite…." Duncan shrugged half-heartedly, hoping to appease the poltergeist. His grin doesn't seem to change.
"It doesn't matter now, let's have some fun shall we, hahaha!" The tone seemed ominous, as his face remained unchanged. Duncan just knew that Peeves was angry for being left out.
He saw the dishes rising up. As well as the cups. Duncan knew whatever happened, it would be hell from here on out.
"Scheiße."
Plates, cups, and food started to fly and hit randomly. Peeves' laugh managed to overtake the noise of plates smashing and cups clanking against. The senior students protected the younger frightened students with their own bodies as a shield or literally casting the shield charm. Bright red hair stood out from the crowd right next to Duncan. He recognised her from his classes and recently learnt precisely who she was from Marcie. Duncan would have just placed the last wiz-bang and sneaked past, but he knew how Marcie would feel.
Nova caught him staring, but before she could say anything, her attention was diverted by a flying object heading straight in their direction. Duncan scrambled about to find his wand, and he should take more care of it instead of placing his wand randomly.
"Protego!" Nova cast the spell above them. "Better watch out for next time."
"Yeah, sanks…" Duncan replied back awkwardly. Nova hurried off. He swiftly made his way to the opposite side where Marcie was. Duncan nodded that he was ready, and at the same time, they both prepared the Weasley fireworks to be released in a minute. They ran off, meeting in the middle to get out of the commotion.
"Also Nova hat dich gerettet, ja?" she laughed at Duncan's attempt of being the hero backfired and was saved by Nova instead.
"Ja, ja, mach dich nur lustig." Duncan rolled his eyes but grinned too but it quickly drop as the figure of someone came over. He pulled Marcie to a stop. "Marcie, warte."
Duncan Ashe floated quickly over to them in a rush.
"Ludwig! Marcie! I tried to stop Filch and-" Duncan Ashe stopped in his tracks and laughed a little at Peeves' chaotic trail of paper, food and broken porcelain. "Merlin's beard what happened here? Did a bomb go off?"
"Yes," The other Duncan said straight-laced.
"That doesn't matter now, Duncan. What about Filch?" Marceline tried to press on with the matter.
"He's coming here like right now, so you better leave and put the blame on Peeves."
It was a little too late as Filch entered the great hall, and he was greeted by an egg. The yolk slid down at the already unamused face. Perfect, Duncan slipped into his octopus form as Marcie grabbed him. She snuck past the other students hoping that he doesn't notice the pink hair passing by him.
"Oi, you," Filch suddenly grabbed Marcie by the shoulder. "It was you and your friend Ludwig wasn't it. Come here and I'll shackle both of you up."
Before Marcie could respond, the wiz-bang set off individually, taking Filch's attention. Each spark created new sparks. Despite the remaining students fleeing the scene, they turned in awe at the sparkling colours of bright blues, reds, and yellows. Duncan, Marcie and Duncan Ashe stood there, impressed with the display of chaos and disruption. Each bang grew a bigger and more brilliant version of a firework. A louder bang irrupted, and out came a roaring dragon approaching them in their general direction.
Filch, amongst other students, panicked. The Duncans' and Marceline had a good chuckle at the fiery red dragon while moving a safe distance away. Though their day was not over yet.
"I spy a Professor McGonagoll coming over here right now."
"Ah, Merlin!" Marcie muttered, "I'll see you around Duncan."
"You too."
Marcie sprinted off with an octopus Duncan in her arm. Despite being a trained chaser, even her arms struggled to hold onto Duncan's slipperiness. She managed to stop at a safe and empty space in the Clockwork courtyard.
“Die Luft ist rein, Duncan.” Marcie let him down.
Duncan shifted back to his usual self. Cracking his bones, while Duncan enjoyed his animagus form, it also left him a little weary since he was on dry land for most of the time.
“Hast du Filchs Gesicht gesehen?” Duncan smirked. His dimples deepened as he recalled the slimy, blotchy red face of Filch as stared in the horror of the firework dragon to his amusement.
"Ja, zum Totlachen." Marcie laughed along. Duncan noticed that he had one wiz-bang left.
“Wie wärs mit noch einem?” He looked at the firework in his pocket before glancing back at Marcie with a smirk.
“Warum nicht,” she shrugged.
Duncan released the last fireworks up into the air. The bright golden-green flashed brightly at the darkening sky, a way to celebrate their accomplished prank despite not everything going their way.
