"It was named after a certain breed of lily - a flower," said Madam Hooch. "Hand out."
"Right," said Naruto, putting his hand out in imitation of the teacher. "So a big old school was named after a flower?"
"The castle was named after the flower, and the school was named after the castle," said Madam Hooch. "Now say 'up.'"
Naruto blinked as the broom shot straight up into the teacher's hand. "Up?"
The broom rolled to the side.
"More forcefully," advised the teacher.
"Up!" tried Naruto, rewarded when the broomstick thwacked meatily into his hand.
"Right, next step is to get on like so," said Madam Hooch, demonstrating.
"Okay," said Naruto, duplicating the woman as best he could.
"Firm grip," instructed the teacher. "Good. Now shift your weight backwards while maintaining that grip."
"Got it," said Naruto, almost expecting to overbalance and fall off. Instead he felt his feet leave the ground.
"Excellent," said Madam Hooch, sounding pleased. "You're doing quite well for someone with no experience. Keep this up and we may arrive in London in time for a quick meal before you go boarding the train."
"Ramen?" asked Naruto hopefully.
"I believe I know a place that serves oriental dishes not far from the station," said Madam Hooch. "Whether they are open at this hour I am not as certain of."
"What's next?" asked Naruto.
"Now comes the fun part," said Madam Hooch.
Jiraiya would have preferred green tea, but apparently they didn't have any in stock at the moment. He'd quietly spoken to the house elves, asking politely as to the possibility of acquiring some.
Fifteen minutes later, and a copy of one of his books lighter, he'd been enthusiastically told that such would be acquired at the first opportunity.
Jiraiya wasn't sure why these little creatures were so surprised at his manner, he got the distinct impression that they'd expected him to be rather more demanding and less polite. Curious, that. Another piece of the puzzle to put aside at least for now.
So instead he was sipping a black tea (with cream and sugar - which was the recommended method from those house elves) and watching from a balcony as Naruto made an unsteady rise up off the ground while sitting on one of those flying brooms.
He lifted the camera he'd borrowed for just such a purpose and snapped a quick shot of the two rising up. That was one that should interest Tsunade.
The student and the teacher ascended into the darkness of the pre-dawn hours into the sky, going slowly at first but gaining speed as Naruto got the hang of whatever jutsu was involved.
Ah well, he needed to get busy too - even though classes actually started tomorrow there was quite a bit to get ready for that little event.
Once he was no longer in danger of running into a wall, Naruto had to admit something. Flying was fun.
Flying faster was more fun.
"Very good, Mister Uzumaki," called out Madam Hooch. "Just keep it slow for now. Under forty-five."
Forty-five what - now that was a question Naruto wanted the answer to.
"Yours is a Cleansweep Eleven," continued Madam Hooch. "Top speed is about seventy."
Seventy what? Naruto asked himself before realizing that whatever they were, the top speed was twice what he was travelling at now. Which sounded most intriguing.
They spent some time just following the path of the tracks below them before Madam Hooch pulled closer and spoke to him again. "You seem to be a natural at this, Mister Uzumaki. The air spirits seem to like you. Time to speed it up a bit. Increase your speed slowly."
"YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Madam Hooch struggled not to smile at the obvious enjoyment before she caught up with him again. "I do believe I said 'slowly' Mister Uzumaki!"
Madam Hooch kept an experienced eye out, having been hit (by accident admittedly) by an anti-aircraft shot once. An experience she'd come out of with an appropriate appreciation for "mere muggles" and their "toys" that would have earned her Voldemort's ire had he known of it.
Still, Mister Uzumaki had a Cleansweep Eleven that was for advanced students - mainly because of the quick acceleration and sturdy anti-friction charm. It wasn't as well equipped in the seat-pad-charm section as a broom designed specifically for long travels, but from what she'd observed - the youth wasn't all that inclined towards a soft lifestyle.
She'd been around a bit after all. To Rolanda Hooch, something about the two had translated as "specialist soldiers" to her eye. Speaking with them both had strengthened that initial observation. Rather like that secret agent fellow she'd met back in the '60s. Not nearly so dashing, but the same sort of feel on the older of the two.
"Ah, James," said Madam Hooch, remembering that fellow. A muggle of course, but rather attractive for all that.
Madam Hooch swooped near the boy. "We're going to practice braking and turning at speed now before we just dash on to the destination. Are you ready, Mister Uzumaki?"
"Born ready!"
Madam Hooch nodded, satisfied. Exactly the sort of attitude one needed for this sort of thing.
Naruto brought the broom up to the side of Madam Hooch's broom and stared at the scene before him.
He'd caught glimpses of large communities as he'd flown, following the tracks, but this was on a whole other level.
"London," said Madam Hooch. "We have an anti-sight charm, standard on these broomsticks, that keeps the muggles from getting more than a glimpse. We still have to keep relatively low though. Otherwise we might get picked up on a radar or some other gimmick, and then someone's got to go out and Obliviate and there's paperwork."
"Right," said Naruto. "Damn. I haven't seen a city this packed since... Heck, it's bigger than that!"
"London is rather a large place, eh?" asked Madam Hooch, feeling a stirring of national pride. "Where we're heading is King's Cross, a major hub in the railway system. I'll drop you off straight at the correct platform, try not to stray. Do you have your ticket?"
"Uhm," Naruto patted pockets, finally pulling the slip out. "Yeah."
"Good, keep track of that, you don't want to be caught without that," said Madam Hooch firmly. "Now let's see... there."
"Hmmm," hmmmed Jiraiya, brush poised over the scroll.
How to put this to Tsunade that the training journey had taken an unexpected turn?
This was a mission update report, and it all had to fit onto the scroll, and it all had to be coded with a standard cipher as this was NOT something to let anyone outside Tsunade know about it. So he had to be brief, professional, and without undue elaboration.
Ni-32 (Mission has gone into unexpected territory.)
Ni-33 (Mission has REALLY gone FUBAR. No fatalities.)
Za-9 (Uncharted territory, not part of Elemental Countries.)
Ka-7 (Potentially valuable resources. Assessing.)
Ya-11 (Infiltration mission underway. Have established identities.)
Za-10 (Conflict upon arrival in foreign territory. Issue resolved.)
Ku-1 (Arrived safely. Continuing mission.)
Yu-1 (Further documentation sealed below, keyed to specific individual's chakra. Sensitive documents requiring secrecy, do not unseal unless in a secure location.)
Jiraiya paused and then reached for a camera that he'd borrowed from Madam Pomfrey "to send a few photos back with a 'arrived safely' message" - which was pretty much the truth just not all the truth.
Naruto settled into a compartment early on and remembered to use a henge, transforming to where he looked two years younger. Apparently the locals saw an enormous difference between an eleven year old and someone who was thirteen, for reasons that Naruto wasn't even going to spend a moment pondering.
No, he preferred broomstick travel to this method of transport - but he saw it as having a few pluses as well. For one thing, small flying bugs did NOT splatter themselves against your flying goggles or teeth while riding a train.
Waiting for things to start moving again, Naruto tried a magazine that had been left behind for whatever reason. It was apparently a 'muggle' publication as it had no moving pictures but DID have a lot of photographs.
He had no idea what "Private Eye" was about, since everything seemed to involve references to things he hadn't encountered yet or people he knew nothing about. He'd thought at first it might be about spying, since that was what the name had first suggested to him.
"That's an old edition anyway," said a slightly chubby kid as he entered the compartment.
"Uhm, okay," said Naruto as he finished putting the magazine away again.
The boy took a seat on the opposite side of the compartment and fidgeted briefly. "Uhm."
"Naruto Uzumaki. Pleased ta meetcha."
The boy blinked and looked up. "Oh. Yes. Neville Longbottom."
Naruto blinked and then decided to be kind and not snicker at that last name.
"Oh?" said a girl entering. "Hello."
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"Neville Longbottom."
"Longbottom, that's an old established wizarding family isn't it?" asked the girl. "Oh, and I'm Hermione Granger."
"Yes, yes, it is," said Neville, looking momentarily depressed and unsure of himself.
"Uzumaki though I've not heard of," said Hermione, turning thoughtful.
"Recently arrived," said Naruto.
"To England?" asked Hermione, perking up a bit. "Where from?"
"No place you've heard of, I'm sure," said Naruto, turning towards their other compartment-sharer. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's my toad, Trevor, he's gone missing," said Neville.
"Ah, your familiar's gone wandering off?" asked Hermione. "I suppose that might be a problem."
Naruto considered that and nodded. It was an excuse to go exploring. "Right. Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
"Yo!" said Gamakichi, appearing in a puff of smoke.
"A summon familiar spell without a wand?!" asked Hermione after she'd recovered from gaping at the sight.
"Whassup this time?" asked the orange toad.
"He's HUGE," observed Neville. "Trevor's only pocket-sized."
"You're overlooking that the toad is talking," said Hermione, clearly intrigued.
"He's got a name, ya know," said Naruto. "Gamakichi."
"Oh terribly sorry," quickly apologized Hermione. "Gah-mah-key-chay?"
"Uhm, close enough," said the toad.
"Gamakichi, this guy's lost a toad named Trevor," said Naruto. "Can you find 'em?"
"Eh, I can have a look," said Gamakichi. "Not one of the toads I'm familiar with though."
Hermione glanced at the foreign-looking boy again, clearly someone she'd have to keep an eye on.
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(Posted Thu, 25 Jul 2013 17:25)
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