Gossip {Sherlock Holmes/Harry Potter}

Chapter Eight

It rained for days outside the castle, keeping the majority of students inside, leaving the corridors and library crowded with students who were trying to find something to do. Pierce had been one of the students feeling quite restless in the castle, especially as he finished his homework assignments relatively quickly. So far, his classes had been off to an easy start. The only class he felt uneasy about was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but it wasn't due to the class, but the professor himself. Pierce wasn't a professor by any means, but he certainly didn't expect Professor Moody to start off the first lesson of the year with discussing the three Unforgivable Curses.

But not only did the professor discuss the curses, he decided to give a demonstration. That was enough to make Pierce question quite a bit about the professor. His mother had nothing nice to say about Professor Moody, claiming the man to be basically senile, which had forced him out of being an Auror rather than him retiring. Pierce held no doubt in his mind that Professor Moody was quite sharp, but there was something about the man that disturbed Pierce and it wasn't the man's appearance.

Pierce distracted himself from the situation as Hermione had actually stayed true to her word and decided to do something about the working conditions for the house elves. It brought a smile to his face to see how enthusiastic she was about the situation, but he didn't have the heart to tell her that it was most likely going not going to go anywhere. He was certain that the house elves enjoyed their work and that S.P.E.W wouldn't mean much to them.

But Pierce lent a listening ear whenever Hermione wanted to discuss the Society for the Promotion of  Elfish Welfare, always enjoying how worked up she could get on a topic she was passionate about. It was definitely different from the topics that Lindsey enjoyed talking about. Most times where she spoke, Pierce swore he could feel his IQ drop significantly in the girl's presence.

On the morning of October 30th, the school was in slightly chaos. It had been announced that days prior that the two other schools would be arriving that evening for the tournament. The castle had gone under a complete makeover, as professors and faculty worked  hard to make sure that the castle had  Classes ended early, leaving Pierce time to himself. Julius had abandoned his side in order to talk to Parvati. Or rather chase after the girl as she attempted to brush him off. To avoid further Lindsey discussions, Pierce headed outside on the castle grounds. Puddles of water were everywhere, the ground was slippery and he had nearly slipped in mud several times, but he was content.

The sound of shoes squeaking behind him alerted him to look up. He turned to look over his shoulder to see Hermione walking towards him.

"Hello." he greeted with a smile.

"Hi." she said. "Do you have a few minutes?" she asked him.

"For you, of course." he said. 

"Thank you. So, I was trying to recruit others to join S.P.E.W. earlier.."

"And how did that go?"

"Not well." she said. "I don't understand, how could people not see it? Fred and George told me to go look in kitchens, but no one seems to understand that those poor elves are just brainwashed to be happy about their lives always working all the time."

Pierce pursed his lips together before scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Did you actually go to the kitchens to observe?"

"Yes, that's how I came to the conclusion that they are just brainwashed."

"Right." Pierce said. "Well, have you spoken with any of the elves? I'm sure they could give you some insight.."

"That's actually a good idea, do you think they would talk to me?"

Pierce began to feel bad because he wasn't sure if he should continue to encourage Hermione, knowing she wouldn't get the results she was looking for.

"I..I don't know." he said.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "I know I'm probably driving you mental with all of this, but...you're the only one who actually listens."

"I don't mind at all. You can talk to me about anything you like."

"Thank you." she smiled. "Are you excited about this tournament?"

"I'm not sure. It seems to have all the professors on edge, and I've heard about plenty of our classmates trying to figure out how to enter it, despite the age restrictions. I'm curious to see how that's going to go for them."

"That's what I keep telling people! They insist that they'll be able to figure a way by it, but it's set up by Dumbledore and the Ministry. I mean, honestly."

"Well, at least it provides some entertainment, doesn't it?"

The two walked along the grounds when Hermione claimed she had to go find her friends, and Pierce was sure he had to go find and Julius and probably save him from Parvati. Well, he had to save Parvati from Julius.

But before she left, she asked him to hold out his hand, in which he did. She placed something in his hand before walking away. He chuckled as he found a S.P.E.W badge in his hand.

"Nice badge you got there." Julius pointed out as Pierce came into the common room.

"Oh, I'm surprised to see that you're alive, Parvati didn't kill you!"

"No, she didn't. I think she's coming around." Julius grinned. 

"Really?"

"No." Julius looked down. "But I can dream, right?"

"Yes, you dream and you dream big, Julius."

"Are you mocking me?"

"No....maybe...yes."