HP :Pokemon In Horgwart

The four of them barely managed to clasp each other's hands seconds before George's free hand closed in on the broomstick.

Magnus felt a sudden lurch, and for a few seconds, everything was lost in a swirl.

When they made contact with the ground, Magnus would have face-planted were it not for the fact that he had been holding Lee's hands.

"You alright? It isn't your first time using a Portkey, is it?"

Magnus did not answer. He was fighting hard to keep himself from spilling out all the food he had just ingested. He was, however, aware that the three were now scrutinizing him keenly.

"He can't be a Muggle, can he?" one of the twins was asking. "I mean, he is dressed like one."

"Don't be a dud, Fred. Muggles can't walk into the Leaky Cauldron for a meal, can they? I mean, they aren't supposed to even see it," Lee answered.

"Yeah… but he doesn't look like he's used to all this, does he?" Fred insisted.

Their silence told Magnus that they might be expecting him to offer some explanation, but another voice saved him the trouble.

"Your tickets, please."

Magnus straightened up to see another wizard approaching them.

They were standing just in front of the entrance to what looked like a gigantic arena.

Surprisingly, no sound was coming from inside, even though he knew there should be. He could see the lines of people making their way in.

Then again maybe they had masked the sound so you could only hear it once you were inside.

The four of them took turns showing their tickets to the guy, who eventually stepped aside to usher them in.

He must have been right because the moment his feet crossed the threshold of the gates, his ears were almost deafened by the sudden noise.

"Whoa… look at that... the betting booth is packed!"

"You mean Charizard's line is packed?" George asked his brother.

And true enough, when Magnus looked at the shiny enchanted board ahead of the line, he could see the green glowing letters indicating it was for Charizard. Beneath the name was the odds, which were currently at 1.9. But even as he looked, the last figure dropped to an eight.

There was a thunderous, disgruntled moan from the people in the line. Apparently, the gamblers were complaining about the slow pace, despite the fact that Magnus could see the line was moving pretty fast. He, however, knew the feeling—most wanted to place their bets before the odds dropped even further.

"Looks like your line is free, mate," Fred said to Magnus as he pointed to the opposite booth.

It was just a meter apart from the Charizard booth. Magnus stared at the red letters indicating Gyarados beneath it.

He was even more surprised to see that, instead of the four the three had predicted, it had an eight next to it. It, however, wasn't empty as Fred insinuated. There were three people in the line, whom the others from the Charizard queue stared at as if they were the dumbest people alive.

"Blimey, George, I think he finally sees what we meant... I think he's changed his mind," Fred smiled, patting Magnus's shoulder.

"That's what I thought," answered George, as yet another furious roar of protest came from the Charizard queue.

The odds had fallen once more—now it was at 1.5.

Without pausing to give more room to the doubts forming inside him, Magnus drew out the three Galleons from his pocket and rushed just behind the last guy being served at the Gyarados queue.

He could hear the three friends rushing after him.

"All on Gyarados to win the first round," he said, placing his Galleons on the counter.

The guy behind it took a second, scrutinizing Magnus like he was contemplating whether to send him away. But Magnus knew there was no Ministry regulation barring him from betting.

The guy then turned his attention to the gold. Maybe he thought it was leprechaun gold, Magnus thought.

"You sure, kid? I mean, most folks are rooting for the Manticores," the man said, nodding over to the long queue next to them.

"I'm sure," Magnus answered firmly.

"Brave choice, lad… Let me see," the man said, picking up a quill and scribbling on a piece of parchment. "That shall be 24 Galleons should Lady Luck smile on you."

'Scratch luck' , he wanted to say... type advantage was already on his side.

Turning the parchment so that he could see it, the man explained something Magnus had been preparing to ask.

"See these two blank lines here? Well, that's because the Pokémons playing the other two rounds haven't been revealed yet. But when they are, their names will appear there with odds next to them. If you win the first round—which you'll know because the 24 Galleons written in red will turn gold with 'WON' next to them—you may use a portion of that or the whole amount to play the other two rounds. Just scribble the betting amount next to the odds here," he said, indicating another blank space beneath the eight.

"Here," he plucked out a quill from a stack and handed it to Magnus.

"Use this when the time is right. Be quite sure because whatever you write cannot be undone. And don't bother writing anything you haven't won—it won't work. Understood?"

Magnus nodded.

"Alright, best of luck, chap."

And with that, the man swept his three Galleons with a beaming smile, as if the ticket was already lost.

Magnus turned to leave, and the three friends, who had been watching everything, fell in step with him in awe.

"Tell you what, mate," said Fred, "whatever else you are… you definitely have balls. That was three freaking Galleons you just gave away! You saw the guy's face; he thought you were a git."

"Well, let's see the same face when he pays up," Magnus answered as he carefully folded the parchment and placed it in his pocket.

"Oh, they always pay up, alright. That's what keeps them in business," Lee affirmed.

The four had to show their tickets to two more officials before they were eventually directed to their designated seats, which were adjacent to each other. They were, however, quite low on the stands, bringing them very near to the floor of the arena.

Magnus noted that the floor of the arena was made of plain earth—no lush forest here like in the anime. It looked more like an ancient gladiator arena.

"Oh crap… I told you guys we should've hurried," Fred yelled above the noise of the crowd. "Now, by the end of the first round, our necks shall be stiff as rock!"

Magnus knew Fred was right.

Both Charizard and Gyarados could fly, though the former did not prefer it much. But once they both took the action into the air, craning their necks upward would require extra energy.

On the plus side, though, they would enjoy every ground duel without a problem.