Chapter 9: There Departure, And The Wait.

Katie and Gale had become quick friends. Partially because Katie liked how blunt he was, as it was sort of funny, but also because he was a generally nice person.

Gale hit it off because she was kind, and he liked kind people. She was also sort of funny, and thankfully, she did not talk about his height (Yet). But mostly because she was kind. Definitely. Nothing to do with not being teased about height. Nope. Not at all.

George and Fred, were of course, endorsing their friendship a little too much.

Currently, the group was walking down High Street, Hogsmeade's main street, home to many shops and other businesses, such as the establishment they just went to the Three Broomsticks.

Walking past a crowd of eager Hufflepuffs, Gale and the rest of them entered Honeydukes, the smell of freshly made candy and chocolate filling the air. It was a pleasant smell, not too overwhelming yet not too underwhelming either.

Gale looked around, quite pleased by the shop's aesthetic. Shelves upon shelves of dripping fudge and chocolate, countless wrapped caramels and creamy nougats, the options went on and on. In the corner, a large barrel of Every Flavour Beans and many others, of various iconic candies.

The room was lit by a few warm lamps on the ceiling. It was nice. The shop was crowded, filled with Hogwarts Students and locals alike. A few children ran through the crowd, laughing joyfully as they waved about small twisting lollipops.

He hadn't tried much in the shop, in fear of some certain items. Gale especially feared the Acid Pops. Getting a hole burnt through his tongue did not seem pleasant, from his point of view at least. Though, the fudge was homemade and quite nice and creamy.

The twins immediately dashed off, no doubt going to stash up on treats for the year.

"Hmm… Only ever tried out the fudge and chocolate here." Gale shrugged. Turning, he watched as Katie examined her surroundings in fascination. Thinking about it, she was a third-year, so this was her first time here.

"The chocolate looks sooooo tasty!" Currently, she had her eyes on a small glass cabinet, in which balls of carefully molded chocolate had been dipped in hot fudge.

Gale focused on a small wooden cage, in which a few small yellow chicks seemingly made of marshmallows ran about. He watched as the small creatures, plump and jiggly, looked about with their button-like eyes seemingly made of licorice.

Taking out his small leather wallet, he stared at his funds. 7 sickles, and fifty knuts. Quite the negligible amount of money…..

But it was pretty impressive in his own opinion, after all, he was a stranger who just showed up in Hogsmeade one day…

Walking about, he finally decided on a Cauldron Cake, a popular small wizarding cake. It was pleasingly plump, with a deep brown dough topped with caramel frosting. It came in plastic packaging with a flashing Honeydukes logo on the front.

Getting in line, behind him, Katie had stuffed a shopping bag full of stuff.

"So, what did you get?" Gale questioned.

"A lot of chocolate." She smiled in bliss, flipping her hair back.

Gale was quite envious. There was so much stuff in the WIzarding World he wished he could get. Whether it be food or appliances, many, many things….

Paying for the Cake, Gale and Katie made their way out of the shop, meeting up with the twins, who were dining on some salt-water taffy, a type of taffy that made one crave water. Another completely pointless treat that many enjoyed eating.

"All done?"

"Where next?"

The redheads said, as George (Or Fred?) moved on to a Treacle Tart, which he began wolfing down.

"Dunno… I'm completely free today, the Hog is closed. So, I don't care." Gale mentioned.

"I'm going to go meet back up with Angelina and Alicia." Katie waved, and headed on her way, before stopping, and smiling again: "Nice to meet you. Gale."

"Pleasure." Nodding, Gale waved back, and he and the Weasley twins went back on their pointless journey, walking down High Street.

"So, how was your time…"

"With our good friend, Katie, eh?"

Fred and George wrapped their arms around his shoulder, both of them grinning stupidly.

"Shut. " Gale slapped their hands away.

The two laughed, whistling and twirling around, generally teasing him. Gale had it in his mind to use the Ten Rings and blast them to tomorrow. Skimming over the floating card in his virtual "deck", he shook his head and the trio continued walking.

It appeared that the twins were just here to stock up on stuff and enjoy Hogsmeade. Walking through town, he scarfed down the Cauldron Cake, teeth sinking into the spongy confection. As he ate, cream filling blossomed in his mouth with a sweet honey-like flavor.

Few Hours Later….

"Bye…." Gale waved to Fred and George as the Hogwarts students began returning to their school in droves. While they could stay for the entire day, most had some work to do. In the twin's case though, it seemed that something had popped up.

Probably something that had nothing to do with academics….

Made him sort of sad though. When Gale looked into the distance, in the direction of Hogwarts, it made him long for something. He felt kinda left out, which was an annoying feeling.

Walking away, the young teen sighed, weaving through Hogsmeade's many corridors and pathways, and out behind the Hog's Head once more. Above, birds chirped and fluttered, and the stream was as busy as ever, gushing out crystal clear water.

Sitting down, Gale watched as his distorted reflection flickered and warped. Splashing his face with water, he smiled, feeling as drops of water fell from his gold-tipped hair.

Extending his hands, he smashed the green card, and the Ten Rings once again manifested before him, glowing that silver glow.

Inspecting them, Gale was mesmerized by the faint humming and arcane ruins flashing about on their surface. It was a beautiful piece of work. Something literally of alien origin.

Clenching his fist, he jumped up, getting to his feet. Walking out under a tree, he stared intently as its shadow drifted and rustled about.

Waving his arms in the air, he got into a crouching stance, rings revolving about. It was here in the serenity of nature, that one could relax and concentrate the most. Not only was this nice scenery, but no one was here to bother him….

As the rings hummed before him, helmet loose, arms thrusting out in punches before him.

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

The rings blasted about, annihilating a lone boulder with ease.

His aim had gotten better in two days… Was improvement under pressure a big thing?

Manipulating them, he lashed out, arms whipping back and forth, and the rings smashed down, like a mallet against two gongs.

Dancing, Gale twirled around, controlling the rings as much as he could. Stumbling a bit, he kept on going, heart pacing and mind slightly panicking.

He practiced with the rings for twenty more minutes, trying to improve his accuracy and such, with… Some success?

'Rashomon: Agito'

Wordlessly, Gale flicked his fingers, and a giant jaw of shadowy darkness extended, ripping a boulder to pieces with its malevolent fangs.

Throwing a piece into the air, he looked up, a black sweatshirt manifesting a shadowy claw that descended up and crushed the rock to pieces. As the pebbly debris rained down, Gale smiled. It seemed that getting the hang of Rashomon was a lot easier. It probably had something to do with it being an innate ability of sorts that he hosted….

*BOOOM!!!!*

Waving the cloak about, shadowy darkness covered him completely as he rained a barrage of attacks upon a small rocky hill. With loud explosions and bursts, the Rashomon devoured through the hill with ease, leaving the geographical landmark in ruin.

It was strange how the residents hadn't heard him.

Shrugging, Gale held the Ten Rings in the air before him and cloaked them in the Rashomon. As the wrathful shadow beast merged with the Ten Rings, another shockwave rocked the area, as Ten Rings, once bright as silver, became black as night, emitting a shadowy haze, and a bloody red hue.

"Cool." Gale nodded, and shot forth, blasting up into the air. With the Rashomon covering the Rings…. It felt a lot more smooth and powerful. Jumping over the tree line, he looked about into the distance, at the sprawling mountain terrain that made up Scotland. Beautiful.

But someone who saw it probably would think of it as dark magic. After all…. It was Dark. And it was…. Magic.

It looked magical. A bit more like an Obscural….

Gale sighed. There was so much to learn and explore. He hopefully had a lot of time. Well, breaching into Hogwarts didn't seem like too good of an idea…. But, since when was staying anywhere near the castle a damned good idea? The place wasn't the safest, despite everyone saying so.

Getting into the castle would hopefully go well.

Maybe he would do it in a week or so? Adrenaline pumped through his veins just thinking about it. While Hogsmeade was nice, it couldn't compare to the mystique and mysteriousness of Hogwarts, School Of Witchcraft, And Wizardry.

Fun, yet turbulent times were coming.

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Did this chapter turn out well? Hope it did. As usual, please tell me of any spelling or grammatical errors you see. If possible. But I don't want to waste your time. Thanks for reading~