A.N. Okay, I know this fic is taking forever for me to write, but I am determined to finish it! Anyways, I just got a spurt of inspiration for it so finished this chapter. Hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: HP and POT not mine

Chapter 3

(Momo,) Eiji started finally, breaking the silence, (what have you been eating nyah?)

But the violet eyed boy wasn’t listening as he gaped at the archway, looking like his jaw had come permanently unhinged from his skull, (Somebody pinch me. This has got to be a dream!)

Shrugging, Ryoma leaned over and did as requested, receiving a startled yelp of pain then a string of curses for his efforts. Granted, even he couldn’t quite seem to grasp what had just happened… If it weren’t for the fact that all of his teammates were obviously just as amazed by the sight as he felt he might have thought that he was seeing things—hallucinations caused by spending too much time in the company of the somewhat more than slightly insane people whom he called friends.

“Well, hurry it up then kids,” an unfamiliar voice chided them and all their heads turned in unison to watch as an old lady dressed in violet robes bustled purposefully past them and towards the hole in the wall as though there was nothing at all unusual about having holes in the wall. “You don’t want to impede traffic now, do you? Come along.”

Somewhat stunned and a little mute, they filed hesitantly after her through the archway, tennis rackets still in hand, though most of them retained enough sense to snatch their respective bags off of the courtyard ground so they could stow said rackets away. Well, those who had brought their bags at any rate.

To their astonishment the hole in the wall closed the moment Kaidoh—being the most hesitant—stepped through it, causing the hissing teenager to jump away from it like he thought it might bite him. Not that he could really be blamed, since none of them felt by now that that would have been particularly surprising. Or actually, it would have been a little, but there was this little thing about repeated surprises that tended to leave one numb to them.

Tezuka cleared his throat finally, feeling that they had spent enough time as it was gaping—a most unproductive use of a limited and irretrievable substance.

(We need to,) he paused a moment, not entirely sure how to phrase the statement since there didn’t seem to be a way to say it he could think of that didn’t sound ludicrous, (find a way back through the wall…)

Six pairs of wide, round eyes and one smile turned on him, and he grimaced mentally at how that had sounded, shifting his tennis bag higher up on his shoulder. Still, he could see from the majority of their faces that most of his teammates didn’t really believe what had just happened either—though they all knew it had.

(Um…well…ah…) Oishi stammered, frantically swiveling his head from side to side as though there would be a neon sign somewhere to tell him what to say if only he could find it. (I…this…it’s…)

Beside him Eiji couldn’t stand it anymore, letting out one loud exclamation that summed it all up quite nicely.

(This is weird nyah!)

And it was as though someone had broken the dam because the rest of the team came instantly to life. Momoshiro buried his fingers in his short, spiky hair as best he could—dropping his racket—and started shouting something that sounded like “I knew those stupid drinks were going to make us lose our minds one of these days!”, and next to him Echizen didn’t make any comments for once, green gold eyes staring straight down the street as though glued there. Kaidoh on the other hand had his own gaze fixated on the wall, looking as though he thought the hole would reappear if he stared hard enough—it didn’t seem to be working, but that was all right, he just had to try harder. It was probably Kikumaru-sempai’s fault he couldn’t concentrate anyway, since having the redhead bouncing around in front of the wall was highly distracting.

Even Inui had almost dropped his notebook—almost, not quite, but almost—and was now hurriedly searching for the escaping cap of his pen. He wanted to note everyone’s reactions to such an…unusual revelation, but the panicking Oishi had accidentally kicked the aforementioned pen cap, thus leading to its flight down the street.

Tezuka pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to ten. The last thing he wanted to do was go haywire like the rest of his team—Oishi in particular. The poor vice captain looked about ready to faint.

(You know,) Fuji mused quietly from where he had carefully edged out of the way of the mayhem, (I believe this is a market of some kind.)

Oishi paused momentarily, looked around, and broke out in a relieved smile, (We just have to ask have to ask how to get back to our inn! Or find a way out of here—I’m sure someone can point the way. Let’s go!)

(Yeah, let’s,) Ryoma agreed quickly, snapping out of his daze, (if we don’t I think Momo-sempai is going to lose it.)

(Fshuu,) Kaidoh rolled his eyes, turning reluctantly from his fervent wall-gazing. (The baka doesn’t have anything to lose.)

It was a mark of just how distraught the spiky haired teenager was that he didn’t reply.

(Hoi! Wait a moment!) Eiji exclaimed suddenly, making them all jump. (Where’s Inui nyah?)

Momentary silence.

(Off taking data?) Ryoma suggested finally since no one else seemed to want to say anything.

Tezuka sighed, (Kikumaru, Echizen, Momoshiro, go look for Inui. Momoshiro, don’t leave your racket lying on the ground. The rest of us will search for a way back to the inn.)

This was so not his idea of a trip for a tennis tournament.

(Why did Ryuzaki-sensei allow those horrible concoctions into practice anyway! Didn’t she realize it could permanently damage us? I mean, those things are obviously not good for you!)

(Momo-sempai.)

(We’ve been hospitalized because of the horrid things for goodness sake!)

(Momo-sempai!)

(They should ban laboratory products from practices! We aren’t lab rats! I mean—)

(Momo-sempai!)

(I can still taste the last when whenever I’m not eating!)

Sighing in irritation, Ryoma grabbed his hysterical teammate by the sleeve after shoving the power player’s discarded racket back into his hand and proceeded to drag him across the cobbled street to where Kikumaru was waiting impatiently for them. Really, this was getting just a tad ridiculous.

(Hurry up nyah!) the redhead was saying, waving his hands around in the air like a madman. (I don’t want to spend the entire day looking for Inui!)

(Inui?) Momo snapped out of his personal monologue, staring around wildly. (Were!)

Ryoma rolled his eyes, (If we knew we wouldn’t have to look for him now, would we?)

But—as expected—Momoshiro wasn’t listening. Instead he was pointing at a store a few doors down.

(There he is!)

Eiji and Ryoma traded startled looks.

(Well…that was fast.)

(Useful nyah!)

Ah bookstores…nowhere in the world could ever be truly unpleasant or undesirable if it had a bookstore. It was after all the epitome of knowledge sought and knowledge found—a place where all who visited shared at least one commonality that could be understood beyond lifestyles, beyond languages, and any other obstacle there might be.

It was enough to settle any unease one might have had upon entering a new place, and Inui was infinitely grateful that it was to the door of a bookstore that his pen cap and led him. Perhaps there was indeed such a thing as fate.

Strolling casually through the shelves upon shelves of books bearing myriads of mysterious and intriguing titles he had never heard of before, he paused suddenly as he caught sight of two particular volumes set side by side on top of one of the lower shelves. One was titled Brewing Success, with a clear beaker overflowing with colors on the cover, and the other had the words Numbers Never Lie: Equations of the World printed neatly over a backdrop of pure black.

Fate was indeed on his side today.

He couldn’t stop grinning.

Eiji, Ryoma, and the now—thankfully—silent Momoshiro stood outside the bookstore’s display window, peering in through the glass. They had found their wayward data collector all right, but for some reason none of them really felt like going in to call him.

(Inui looks like he’s found heaven. It’s kind of disturbing nyah…)

The other two nodded their agreement.

x-X-x

Markets, Tezuka decided, were all fundamentally the same no matter how strange they were upon first glance or how unlikely their locations were. They were perpetually noisy, crowded, and entirely too chaotic. All he really wanted was to find a place where he could breathe without feeling like he was breathing in people instead of air so he could settle down to the business of finding a way out. The answer to this plight—or so he thought—was the much quieter side street that he and his three companions had discovered. The only problem was that it was a bit of a shadowy place and the already anxious Oishi took an immediate disliking to it.

(There’s something wrong with the air in there!) he said adamantly, tugging despondently on the strap of his tennis bag. (And it’s all dark! We don’t know where we are so we shouldn’t put ourselves at risk!)

(Fshuu,) Kaidoh nodded his agreement, edging discreetly away from the alley mouth. He could hear the chirping of birds from the pet store just behind him. Maybe he could just go there until Buchou and Oishi-sempai decided what to do…

(It looks like it curves back towards the direction of the inn though,) Fuji was saying, peering into the shadows. (We just have to take a quick look.)

(But it could be dangerous!) Oishi protested vehemently.

(Anything can be dangerous if you put your mind to it,) the tensai pointed out, beaming cheerily at him.

Tezuka shook his head at the way his vice captain immediately paled several shades, (Why don’t you keep looking here then and we will check this place. It shouldn’t take very long. If this is the way out then we can proceed to finding the others. If it is not we will at least know that much more.)

Oishi glanced from one of them to the other, seemingly at a loss. Sightly dejectedly he shrugged.

(I guess that makes sense… Be careful though, we don’t know this place after all. And I’ll…) he blinked, glancing from one side to the other before turning around in a full circle, (…go look for Kaidoh?)

(Ah,) Tezuka nodded and turned, walking purposefully into the darkened side street, Fuji trailing after him after waving to Oishi and suggesting he try a pet store.

The moment they passed into the alley’s shadows a draft of cool air wafted over them, smelling of slightly damp cobblestones and sunless corners. To either side of them yet more stores made their appearance, slightly dusty windows staring like empty eyes in flat brick faces. Yet unlike the previous street there were only a few shoppers here, and there wasn’t a one to be seen who was wearing a pleasant expression, making Fuji’s smile seem extremely out of place—not that he minded.

Still…there was something about the place… Maybe it was the miniature human heads arranged in size order in one large shop window, or maybe it was the set of long, curved blades hanging in another that looked distinctly…used… He wasn’t squeamish by any means, but even he was starting to feel a little uneasy. It didn’t help that the few passersby they encountered all paused to give them long, measuring looks, their faces grim and unwelcoming.

Their footsteps slowed gradually as they progressed further and further into the alley until finally they both stopped. To their right was a floor to ceiling display of wooden gallows and to their left was a collection of human skulls.

(Perhaps we should go back?) Fuji suggested quietly. (This doesn’t seem to be the way out.)

Tezuka nodded silently, turning around—only to come face to face with a stranger with pale blond hair who was looking at them coldly.

“May I inquire as to what you are doing here?” the man asked coolly. “I do not recall seeing either of you before.”

Tezuka gazed levelly at him, starting to feel irritated despite himself, “We are lost. I apologize if we are intruding but we will be on our way. Excuse us.”

With that he walked past the man and back up the alley, pausing only to make sure that Fuji was still with him.

x-X-x

(A pet store…a pet store…) Oishi muttered to himself, wandering down the street at a bit of a loss. But now that he had the time to just look around he found himself rather amazed. All around them the people were scurrying through shops with the strangest names—though he wasn’t entirely sure he was reading them right—looking at such strange things as broomsticks of all things.

Glancing to the left his gaze was caught by a small stationary shop—or ,more precisely, the table just inside it displaying what looked like thin black planners. The sign proclaimed that they were “Perfectly suited to every individual! Every one will be unique!” with the subscript “Organize and/or record your days”.

Something clicked in Oishi’s head.

This was exactly what they needed! They were after all on a trip in a foreign country, and it would do them all some good if they had something to keep them on track with—not to mention it would be wonderful to have a documentation of all the new experiences they were bound to encounter. The more he thought about it the more he liked the idea.

Walking into the shop he picked up one of the books, glancing at the beautifully illustrated black and silver dog illustrated on the cover before flipping it open and noting how everything was neatly sectioned out and arranged—planner, address book, and writing paper for notes and journals, plus a small black pen tucked into an elastic gold loop beside a small pouch for random slips of paper on the inside of the cover.

Nodding decisively he scooped up eight of the books and approached the lady at the counter, mentally reviewing his English.

“Ah, excuse ma’am,” he said politely, placing the books on the counter, “but how much do these cost?”

The woman looked up from where she had been reading the newspapers and smiled, “Well, they’re a new item, so altogether I’d say about…six galleons and four sickles.”

He stared at her. He could have sworn English money was in pounds…maybe he remembered incorrectly?

“Um…are these,” he fished out his wallet and pulled out a few bills, “the right ones?”

The woman glanced at the bills then back at him with a laugh, “You must be one of the new students, right? Well, you see, we don’t use that kind of money here. You have to go down to Gringotts to exchange the currency.”

“G—Gringotts?” the words were just getting stranger and stranger.

“The bank. Here,” the woman stood up and came around the counter, “wait here a moment so I can tell my assistant to come up front and watch the shop. Then I’ll show you to the way.”

Gringotts, it turned out, was the enormous white building at the end of the alley. It was rather impressive and Oishi found himself looking up at it in wonder, examining the etchings on the door in particular with a little apprehension. It wasn’t until the he and the shopkeeper were almost at the doors that he noticed the squat creatures flanking said doors.

He gasped, recoiling, “W—what are—”

But the lady grabbed his arm and pulled him firmly inside, “They’re goblins dear, and they do not appreciate rude behavior so try not to do that again.”

“R—right…” he let out a breath and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. It was easier said than done though seeing as the moment they stepped into the long hall he discovered that all the way up and down the building the counters were being manned by ‘goblins’.

He tried with all his might but he just couldn’t help staring as the shopkeeper led him to one of the open counter spaces and started the process of exchanging his money for gold, silver, and bronze coins. Finally he settled for keeping his eyes on the coins themselves which were unusual enough as it was to explain a little gaping.

Goblins, he thought, shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot. It sounded like some kind of disease…and by the looks of it it was a pretty bad one at that… Someone should really try and find a cure instead of making them all work here…I wonder if it’s contagious…

“There you go!” the shopkeeper smiled at him as they reemerged into the sunlit world and headed back for the stationary store. “Now, you heard the currency rates, right? Good! Then you’re all set. By the way, if you haven’t gotten your other supplies yet the robes can be purchased at that shop right over there, and wands are at Olivander’s—you can’t miss it. Though you probably already have one of your own hmm? You don’t look like a first year.”

“Oh, no, we—my friends and I—were invited here,” Oishi explained quickly, searching through his new coins and picking out the ones that were required. “Is that all right?”

“Perfect,” she pulled a bag out from under the counter and placed his purchases inside before handing it to him. “I hope your stay goes well then.”

“Thank you,” Oishi smiled gratefully. “Oh and, if it’s not too much trouble, could you please show me where there might be a pet store?”

“Of course,” the shopkeeper smiled, “there’s one right next to this shop. Just go out and two doors to your right.”

Oishi beamed, bowing, “Thank you!”

x-X-x

There was something…distinctly out of place about this pet store, or so Kaidoh thought when he stepped through the door, fingering the handle of his racket for reassurance. It was lined with cages filled with animals—though that in itself couldn’t be more normal—it was the animals that were…well…what could one say when presented with massive orange toads, gently humming fur balls of no recognizable shape other than spherical, cats with small things on their backs that looked oddly like wings, rats who looked like they were participating in their own version of the Olympics, and all sorts of other strange and disturbing things.

He hissed softly to himself, wandering over to where a massive cobra lay in lazy black coils behind a screen of tinted glass. It was—oddly enough—the most normal of the creatures available in the shop, and that in itself spoke volumes.

“Why do you keep making that sound?”

Startled, he glanced sideways and found himself face to face with small man with sharp, irate features who was giving him a distinctively disapproving look. He hissed in surprise, tempted to bring up his racket for defense, and the man’s brow furrowed.

“Stop that young man,” the man snapped, “or do you want people to think so of you?”

Kaidoh could only stare, thoroughly confused by now. His English wasn’t perfect, but even so he had the distinct impression that what the man was saying didn’t make a lot of sense.

By now the cobra had lifted its head slowly from within its glistening coils to gaze at them curiously. It tilted its head slightly to the side and hissed, bright red tongue flicking out to taste the air as its yellow eyes seemed to glow.

The man heard the hiss and turned towards the tank, eyes growing wide and round. Thinking he had better leave, Kaidoh edged around him and set out for the door in a hurry, spying what looked like Oishi-sempai coming through the door. The problem was that the irritable man noticed and reached out to grab his arm.

“You come back here and explain yourself!” he was saying—most unreasonably. Kaidoh hissed in alarm and bolted.

(Kaidoh!) Oishi was saying as he opened the door, a look of relief on his face. (So you are here! I think we should—eh? Wha—)

Running past Oishi, he tugged on the vice captain’s sleeve, pulling the startled teenager along with him as he completed his quick and unceremonious exit. The very confused Oishi could only trail after him, wondering what in the world this place was doing to his companions. Maybe Momo was right and it was the notorious juices and they had all lost their minds and were in fact still unconscious somewhere back in the inn…or Japan even…

x-X-x

“Back through the wall?”

Tezuka nodded, wishing the man would stop looking at them like he was about to burst out laughing and just answer the question. Yes, it was a ludicrous question, but no, he had spent a lot of time thinking and there was really no other way to phrase it.

“We wish to return to our inn but the break in the wall we came through is…no longer available,” he stated calmly for what felt like the hundredth time—to the same person no less.

“Of course, of course,” the man laughed, waving him away, “you mean the Leaky Cauldron of course! But I mean, how could you have forgotten how to get through so quickly? Just tap the nineteenth brick in the middle column three times with your wand! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really got to run.”

Still laughing, the man turned and headed into a shop full of giant, round bellied metal pots.

“With our wands,” Fuji repeated, looking rather bemused. (I guess we’d better find the others, ne? Oh look, there’s Eiji, Momoshiro, and Echizen by the bookstore. I wonder where Inui is?)

The two made their way across the street to where their three fellow regulars were all staring intently at something inside the bookstore, though Tezuka wasn’t entirely sure he was satisfied with the “way back” they had discovered. If anything he was feeling quite the opposite.

(Hey Eiji,) Fuji called as they neared the bookstore, (what are you three doing there? Don’t you want to go inside?)

The redhead spun around quickly and clapped a hand over the tensai’s mouth, (Shhh! That’s the last thing we want to do! Inui’s inside nyah!)

Blue eyes blinked open for a moment in surprise before sliding shut again, (Eiji, isn’t that just more reason to go in? We’re leaving now.)

(Nani?) the redhead quarried, hand still muffling his friend’s words.

Tezuka sighed and strode past the two, nodded to Momoshiro and Echizen, and entered the bookstore.

“But these are certified English pounds,” Inui could be heard saying as he entered the shop. The data collector was brandishing one of said bills in a distinctly unusual mixture of confusion and frustration while his other hand held two books he had apparently developed an attachment to.

The shopkeeper on the other hand was shaking his head in exasperation, “No, you do not understand, you have to go to the bank first and get your money exchanged for the proper amount of gold. I cannot perform the exchange here, and I cannot accept your money. I’ll hold on to those if you really want and you can come back when you have the proper change.”

“What currency are you speaking of?” Inui insisted, putting the books down on the counter but still refusing to actually let go of them. “Why was I never informed of a new currency here?”

The shopkeeper looked about ready to just kick him out of the store, but Tezuka broke in before he could go through with the action, calling to Inui. Ten minutes and a lot of blustering and a little apologizing later he had extracted their team data specialist from the store with the shopkeeper’s promise that yes the books would still be there if they came back in a few days.

x-X-x

(Tap on the wall?) Ryoma couldn’t help repeating, staring at Fuji like the tensai might have sprouted horns while he wasn’t looking—granted, it being Fuji-Sempai, that was entirely possible. (We’re supposed to tap on the wall?)

(Three times,) the brunette nodded, smiling cheerfully as though what he was saying made perfect sense—which it didn’t.

(I think you’ve lost it nyah!) Eiji exclaimed, grabbing Fuji by the shoulders and peering into his face closely as though he could see what had gone missing. But the tensai just laughed.

(We asked three different people and they all said the same thing,) he explained, (ne Tezuka?)

Six pairs of eyes turned in the captain’s direction. He stood stiffly for a moment, noting with some chagrin that no, the situation hadn’t gotten any less ridiculous, before he nodded shortly.

The others—Fuji excluded—traded looks, even Inui looked taken aback.

(You don’t think Buchou’s lost it too do you nyah?)

Oishi, who had been waiting by the wall with Kaidoh and a large plastic bag when the others had arrived, looked askance at his doubles partner, (Eiji!)

(What nyah?) the redhead blinked innocently.

(It’s Buchou you’re talking about, remember?) Momo elbowed him sharply. (But I must say…)

(Fshuu, don’t be an idiot,) Kaidoh hissed, giving his rival a hard stare.

Momo bristled, (What? Do you think it makes sense?)

Kaidoh opened his mouth—and shut it again, looking away sourly.

(It is logistically unsound,) Inui added, pushing his glasses up his nose. (But…)

Ryoma sighed and tugged on his cap, feeling distinctly bored, swinging the racket he had kept a hold of ever since they had came through the wall up over his shoulder and bouncing it a little. The idea of walking back through the wall by tapping on it three times was admittedly weird, but they were in a foreign country and not getting anywhere by standing there.

Glancing from where the majority of his sempai were still discussing the improbability of the suggestion to where Fuji-sempai was smiling serenely then to where Tezuka-buchou stood with his arms crossed, he shrugged and decided that nothing would get done this way. Not that that was a surprise, seeing as it always seemed to take a very long time indeed for his sempai to do anything. He stared at the wall for a moment. It really was a very…unusual choice for a door…which brick had they said again? Nineteenth?

Counting the bricks—it took a few times because there were so many of them and it had to be the row in the very middle—he reached forward and tapped the said brick with his racket rim. For a moment nothing happened and he wondered if perhaps they were wrong after all, but then the same hole as before appeared in the middle of the brick and began to expand. In seconds there was the archway, clear as day.

The others had all stopped talking and turned around to stare.

(What do you know nyah,) Eiji blinked, (it works!)

TBC

Notes:

The brick: Since the books never mentioned what you did on the other side of the wall I took the liberty of picking the brick and such.

Year: Chances are I’m going to set this in 4th year and replace the Try Wizard tournament, but I’m not entirely sure yet. You’ll know eventually anyway.

A.N. Well, that was a lot longer than my usual chapters… So, questions, suggestions, comments all appreciated Guesses as to which of the actual HP characters they’ve met so far? Not that it’s hard though really.