Ace emerged from a crowd, shouting "Arthur!" and running over from afar. Arthur patted his chest and let out a breath of relief, saying "Ace! I lost you in the crowd! Are you alright?" Ace smiled and nodded, "A bit scuffed from the crowd, but otherwise fine."
Harry and Hermione looked at Ace with worry, Ace looked at them and winked, turning back to Arthur, who smiled and said "Let's go. Mr. Crouch and the other Aurors will clean up."
The group left the scene and returned to the Weasley home. Arthur brought the kids to the train the following morning and Ace boarded it as well, waving goodbye to Arthur.
As soon as he stepped on the train, Ace sat in his own cart, holding his side as he groaned.
He laid on the seat and pulled up his shirt, revealing bandages, stained red. He clicked his tongue and coughed, pressing on it.
The wound from those damn aliens was hit again by a Death Eater sometime last night and reopened the wound. Ace thanked his lucky stars that it wasn't a killing curse that hit him, otherwise his problems would be much worse!
Or rather, he wouldn't have any problems at all…
He would be dead!
He pulled off the bandages and took out more from his little bag, wrapping them around his wound. As he was doing so, Hermione and Harry appeared at the door, gasping "Oh my god!"
Hermione rushed in and held Ace's side as Harry ran inside, asking "Are you alright, Ace?!" Ace smiled and said "It's nothing. Just an old wound." Hermione took off her sweater and looked at the wound, saying "From those aliens, I bet!" as she tapped the wand on Ace's side.
Harry sat on the opposite seat, saying "How was it… Fighting them?" Ace chuckled as Hermione glared at Harry, asking "This isn't the time, Harry!" Ace waved and replied "It was a bit stressful, I guess! I don't get hit often…"
Harry nodded, retorting "I guess! Otherwise you'd be dead." Hermione slapped Harry's arm as Ace laughed, sucking in a cold breath of air, clearly in pain, as he chuckled "I'm not Captain America. I'm just a normal dude."
Harry retorted "A normal dude is quite the understatement…" Hermione sighed in frustration, touching the wound with her wand, saying "Vulnera Sanentur" Ace looked at her and smiled, "A difficult healing charm, very impressive!"
Hermione started to sweat a bit and Ace grabbed her hand, saying "Just bandage it up. Stopping the bleeding is enough." as he tapped his wound with his own wand, "Ferula."
Bandages covered his waist and he pulled down his shirt, smiling "I think you should return to your cart, yeah? Ron must be waiting." the duo looked at Ace before leaving.
Hermione stopped at the door and said "Master, I've been trying to-" Ace held up his hand, sighing "Can we talk about it at school? I'm about to pass out." Hermione paused for a moment before nodding and leaving.
Ace laid on the seat, letting out a breath. The only time he got up was to buy everything off the trolley with the cash he borrowed at the World Cup. He tipped her everything and pulled all the candy into a separate bag.
Recently, he had a strange craving for sweets.
He noticed the more he used his magic, the worse the craving became.
Although, smoking also helped!
Ace started eating the candy and rested his head on the train cart window.
A while later
Ace was standing on a runway of sorts. He stuffed his face full of candy as a carriage flew towards him, being led by flying horses. Hagrid was leading the carriage with batons as the carriage flew down.
Ace reached into his bag and sighed at the empty feeling. He instead pulled out a pack of wizard cigarettes, looking at the box.
'Made with the most organic Star Grass and powered Billywig wings!'
He rubbed his temples, vowing to focus on potions this year. He would rather drink than smoke…
Regardless, he lit a cigarette and stood on the runway with his arms crossed, wearing his usual black suit pants, sneakers, and white rolled up dress shirt with top buttons undone.
Obviously, his scarf was missing.
However, his hair was shorter, still wavy, but shorter.
Other than that, his dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, made him stand out among the rest. There weren't many people from North America at Hogwarts, and especially not anyone with a little red star-shaped birthmark at the lower outer corner of his left eye.
All in all, Ace was good looking before, but his experiences these past few years, gave him a more mature look. In conjunction with the cigarette and the tired look in his eyes, he had a very charming temperament, despite his excitable personality.
The carriage stopped in front of Ace, the door opening just a meter in front of him. An extremely tall woman stepped out of the carriage and smiled "Bonjour." Ace exhaled smoke through his nose, replying "Bonjour. Bienvenue au Hogwarts."
He picked the cigarette from his mouth and continued "The great hall is this way. Follow me." as the female students from Beauxbatons exited the carriage. He turned around and walked away towards the castle while they followed him, looking around.
The tall woman asked "And you are?" Ace replied "Ace Brand, Librarian and part time greeter." some of the girls giggled and the tall woman smiled "Madame Maxime, pleasure."
Ace shook her hand and looked up, smiling "Pleasure." before asking "Are you part giant?" Maxime smiled, "Oui." Ace nodded, "Very cool. Welcome to Hogwarts." as he continued walking, letting go of her hand.
He walked into the castle and stopped at the great hall doors, meeting Filch, who looked over and said "'Old on, 'Eadmaster is talkin'." Ace nodded and said "Alright." Filch nodded, asking "How ye been?" Ace smiled and replied "Pretty good, tired though. You?"
Filch sighed and nodded, "Ye, around the same. Welcome back." before running into the great hall.
Ace exhaled smoke as he waited by the door when a group of men walked over. Ace looked over and smiled "Just a minute." a man stepped out and said "Who are you?" while eyeing Maxime with a scowl.
Ace extended his hand, saying "Ace Brand. Librarian and part time greeter. Welcome to Hogwarts… Mr?" The man looked at Ace's hand and said "Igor Karkaroff, Durmstrang." Ace took his hand back and continued smiling "Welcome, High Master Karkaroff."
He then nodded at the boys, "Students of Durmstrang." when one of the students walked out, saying "You. You are the man from the World Cup?" Ace was stunned and asked "Huh? What do you mean, Mr. Krum?"
Viktor Krum looked Ace up and down, saying "I saw you. On broom before the match. You're very good." Ace blinked and smiled "Not as good as you, of course. Thank you." before hearing Dumbledore introduce Beauxbatons.
He opened the door and said "Madame Maxime, please." as the girls walked into the Great Hall, doing a little show. Ace pinched the cigarette as he watched, exhaling glittering smoke from his mouth.
Dumbledore then announced Durmstrang and Ace stepped out of the way, letting them pass. Krum looked at him and nodded before walking into the Great Hall, Karkaroff following right after him.
Ace walked into the Great Hall after them and turned to the side, walking up to the Professors Table by the sides rather than the middle.
McGonagall looked over and frowned, "Smoking?" Ace crushed the finished cigarette to powder, replying "Not by choice. I'll fix it." Minerva hummed and nodded, "Strange cravings?"
Ace looked at her and asked in surprise, "You know?" Minerva sighed and nodded, staying silent. Ace was confused but Dumbledore continued, "Let the feast begin!"
As the meal went on, Ace picked out more and more sweets until Minerva tapped on his shoulder and pulled him out of the Great Hall.