"Meow—!"
Tom only had time for one panicked yelp before he was swept up by the gale. He instinctively extended his claws to grab onto something and ended up snagging Ariana.
Unfortunately, a ghost girl isn't exactly a solid anchor point. A split second later, the cat and the spirit turned into a shooting star, vanishing into the vast night sky.
"Oh, blimey, sorry about that. I'm a bit allergic to cats..." Hagrid rubbed his nose, his voice sounding muffled. "You must be that cat-wizard student I heard about? I've actually been dyin' to meet you... wait, where'd he go?"
He blinked his dinner-plate-sized eyes at the group, which was now suddenly missing two members.
Harry stared blankly in the direction Tom had disappeared. "He... kind of got blown away by your sneeze?"
"That can't be right!" Ron's jaw dropped. "Is Hagrid's sneeze really that powerful?"
Beside them, Hermione pressed her hand to her forehead in a mix of worry and exasperation, while Hannah covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
In front of the cabin, everyone stood in awkward silence, the only sound being Fang's excited barking.
---
"Hehehe, where should I find some fun tonight?"
In the corridors of Hogwarts, Peeves the Poltergeist was floating around with a wicked grin, plotting his pranks for the evening. Just as he was deciding whether to set traps in Quirrell's office, catch some night-strollers, or draw mustaches on a few portraits, he heard a strange noise.
"Hmm? What's that? Sounds like a cat... Don't tell me Mrs. Norris finally got cornered by some students?" He cackled. "Let Uncle Peeves help you 'bond' a little."
He followed the sound to a specific stretch of wall. "Strange. It sounds like it's coming from right here."
Peeves looked around, confused, seeing absolutely no one. Just as he was about to give up, the sound suddenly exploded in volume.
BOOM!
The wall literally burst open, and a streak of blue lightning slammed into him with the force of a freight train.
"Holy—! That's a cheap shot! No fair!"
Peeves, who should have been intangible, was hit so hard he felt a solid impact. Everything went black as he passed out.
(Safe landing~ But wait, did I hit something?)
Tom shook his fur out, looking at his body in surprise. He'd flown that entire distance and didn't have a scratch on him? Had some poor soul cushioned his fall? He looked down, but there was nothing there—mostly because Peeves had been knocked down to the floor below.
(Eh, if I can't find it, it's fine. As long as I'm okay.)
Tom looked at Ariana, who had been dragged along for the ride and was currently floating beside him with literal cartoon swirls in her eyes. He scratched his cheek awkwardly.
He'd completely forgotten about his "physics-breaking" properties! Luckily the ground didn't get assimilated into his trajectory, or they would have brought half the forest back with them. And why did he have to grab Ariana? If he'd grabbed a living person, they might have actually stayed put... probably?
"Ugh, Tom? Good morning. I think I had a dream that we were flying."
Ariana's dizzy voice reached his ears. As she regained her senses and saw the castle corridor and the two cat-and-girl-shaped holes in the wall, her groaning stopped instantly.
"Wait... what is happening?"
She was a ghost, right? Why was a ghost making holes in solid stone walls?!
[That? Don't worry about it. Let's just call it an 'accident.'] Tom looked a bit guilty. [As for the wall? I've got it.]
He pulled out his wand and tapped the gap. In an instant, time seemed to reverse. The holes vanished, leaving the stone as smooth as if nothing had happened. Tom nodded, satisfied. Magic was so much easier than manual labor.
[Alright, let's head back.] Tom pulled out his black curtain of darkness and vanished with Ariana.
---
A while later, a dazed Peeves floated up from the floorboards. "Curse them! Who dares ambush the Great Peeves—huh?!"
He stared at the perfectly intact wall. He was sure he'd seen it break. In his mind, there was only one person at Hogwarts who could fix a wall that fast:
"The Headmaster? Nope, nope, nope. Not touching that. I'll go find fun somewhere else!" Peeves ducked his head and zipped away.
---
Back at Hagrid's cabin...
"Tom! Ariana! Where are you?"
Harry and the others were searching frantically. It was hard to believe a sneeze could carry someone that far, but Harry had seen the "blast radius." Even Hagrid was starting to wonder if he'd accidentally cast a spell.
"If I can do that on purpose, I'd love to learn it," Hagrid muttered. "Keep that pesky Mrs. Norris off my tail next time I'm in the castle."
Tom, having just teleported back, pulled out his whiteboard:
[We're over here!]
Somehow, even though it was just text on a board behind some bushes, Harry and the others turned around as if they'd heard a voice. A gap in the leaves opened up just in time for them to read it.
"Where did you go? Is Ariana okay?" Hannah ran over, looking worriedly at the dazed ghost girl.
[We're fine. We just took a quick, accidental trip back to the castle. But hey, we're back now~] Tom gave a nonchalant shrug of his paws.
"Back to the castle?!" Ron's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he looked at the distant silhouette of Hogwarts.
Forget the sneeze—even if it could blow them that far, how did they get back so fast without a single scratch?
---