“Expelliarmus!”

The duel had finally fallen silent. Thanatos looked defeated without his wand. Then a slight smirk appeared on his face.

“Is this how this is going to end? A good guy like you?” The guy laughed. Hugo was disgusted by him.

“Go ahead. Do it.”

Thanatos was right. Hugo wouldn’t be able to do it. “You... Killed... My sister...” he said, shaking and raising his wand.

And there he was. Pointing his wand at the man who destroyed his life...

“Stupefy!”

Hugo was on the ground. He had been an inch away from revenge. He was too late now.

Hugo yawned as he stepped out of the dorms. The common room was empty. The fire in the fireplace was now at a state of ashes and embers. He sighed. It had been a while since he had gotten up in the middle of the night, looking at the stars. Taking a seat on the sill plate in front of the big window, he stared at the stares. Nostalgia filled his thoughts. Memories of first year. He had quite improved his social state since first year. But his time at Hogwarts was almost over. He would miss this common room.

Hugo approached the portraits. In front of them were Eino and Kurumi. He smiled. He hadn’t seen them in a while.

“Hey guys, wha-”

Hugo yelled a little when Eino vigorously turned around and pointed the stick at his chest. “Friend or foe?” Eino demanded, looking at Hugo intensely.

Hugo looked around confuzzled, not knowing what was going on. Then Kurumi jumped in between them. “This is my companion and Sheriff of the land of Courtyard. We too are on a quest.” she glanced at Hugo, hoping he’d catch the game.

“Greetings, sheriff of the Courtyard.” Eino withdrew his stick.

“What’s the difference?” Hugo asked interestedly. His mother pointed at the fatter cat. “That’s a kneazle. It looks like a cat, but it’s another creature.”

“Then what’s that?”

“That’s just a cat,” his mother replied. Hugo studied the two animals carefully, looking from the fat old one to the small young one. “I want that one,” he said, pointing at the normal cat. “It’s cuter.” Hugo’s parents looked confused.

“Honey, kneazles are a lot more intelligent...” said mum.

“I don’t care, that one is cute,” Hugo stubbornly kept pointing at the little kitten.

His parents gave him a little smile.

“PEW PEW!” the two little boys were running around the garden. “ZAP!” the other boy yelled, flicking his twig.

“I got you!”

“No, because I have an invincible spell!”

“But I have an invincible spell breaking spell!”

“That’s not possible!”

At that moment the two mothers came out of the house.

“Hi mum,” Hugo said.

“Did you two have fun?” the other boy’s mother asked.

“Yes, we played magician!” the boy said. Hugo’s mother’s face turned pale. She took Hugo’s hand and walked away quickly. “Thanks for letting me stay over,” Hugo said after being dragged away by his mum.

Hugo sat in a corner of the Room of Requirement, looking at the sock Leo was holding.

“Behold,” Leo said, bringing the lighter to the sock. And... The sock burned. How exciting. Leo really looked like an evil villain this way. When all of the sock had turned to ashes, Hugo got out his wand.

“Wouldn’t it be easier this way?” He pointed his wand at the other sock and said “Incendio!” The sock immediately caught fire and burned pretty quickly.

Leo pouted. “No magic! It’s way more fun burning things with a lighter!”

This was Leo’s interpretation of fun...

Giggle.

Professor Zookara shot him an annoyed look.

Flipping through the pages, Hugo settled on the letter P. He searched for the word and chuckled.

“Hugo, is something wrong?” asked Zookara, looking over his shoulder. Hugo looked back, quickly flipping to another page.

“I was looking for the word ‘portkey’... Guess it’s not in here... Muggle dictionary...” Hugo said, awkwardly smiling.

“I don’t think you need to know the definition of portkey for a Muggle Studies essay, Hugo. Ten poin-”

“Excuse me, but I’m already done,” Hugo rudely interrupted. He got up, turned in his 10 page essay and left.

Hugo looked at himself. Black clothing, bag, in the middle of the night. Then, he looked at the huge wizarding hotel.

“Can you re-familiarize me with the plan?” Hugo asked, nervously.

Kurumi looked just as nervous as Hugo. “We go into the kitchens and hide the clothes in their pots and pans. When the house-elves cook breakfast for the guests, they will find the clothes and think their master presented them with it.”

“What if they don’t want to go?”

“Trust me. Those house-elves are treated like utter garbage. They’ll be free at last,” Kurumi explained.

Hugo stepped forward. “Alohomora.”