Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Harry Potter nor the concept of multiple Soul Societies. Credit goes where credit's due - in other words, Kubo Tite, J. K. Rowling and someone-whose-name-I-have-yet-to-learn respectively.
AN: Basically, this is just an idea, born from reading Nesarna's Harry Potter and the God of Death and Eradona's Bleach and the Half-Blood Prince. I'm interested in the concept and have many ideas for how it could go, but I'm largely uncertain whether I should continue or not - so I'm just gonna post this and see what the readers think. Constructive criticism is always welcome!
Also, note that not everything that is said in this chapter is true.
Timeline: Bleach - canon compliant up to chapter 423 and takes up basically after Ichigo wakes up. Harry Potter - Prologue happens sometime during the GoF, but the first chapter will be happening during the summer between GoF and OotP. Sort of. Technically, I'm diverging from Bleach canon straight away (with Central 46 not yet formed and all that, you'll see the changes) and the story will follow OotP for a while, but a big divergence is gonna happen there, too.
Some points made in this story are not going to match up with Bleach canon after chapter 423, but nothing major.
EDIT (03-30-2013): To make it a point, since there had been several misconceptions so far, this is not, in any way shape or form an Evil!Dumbledore story. There are enough hints of it, yeah, but it is not a story where Dumbledore's the antagonist, even if the Bleach Characters will probably think that way for a while. Just... well, calling him a catalyst wouldn't be out of place, but not entirely accurate, either.
Prologue: The Captains' Meeting
Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni stood rigid, focused on a number of men standing before him in two separate rows, much like pillars of society that they were supposed to represent and battle for. However, one row was significantly smaller than the other, much to his chagrin.
The defection of the three captains, months ago, had had a lasting effect on the moral of Soul Society and right now, the only ones with the power to take over the vacant Captain spots were either unwilling or at the moment lacked the power to do. Squads three, five and nine reflected the sourness and the lack of faith the best – with squad five far ahead of the others. After all, they had lost their Lieutenant as well, for Hinamori Momo was still recovering and was hence unable to take over her post as the second seat of har division.
Despite all this, the first squad chambers were now much cheerier than before, especially during the Captains' meeting. In fact, several Captains were discussing animatedly about Kurosaki Ichigo's recent awakening that the Sōtaichō ended up wondering whether they even remembered how much they owed to the human boy – but Yamamoto did. Yamamoto did, and he had every intention of paying back that debt and bringing the boy under their charge.
Kurosaki Ichigo was a wildcard. It was only a matter of time when Urahara would find a way to recreate the boy's immense power, and no one could predict what Kurosaki would do then. A full-blown war against Soul Society – with a very large number of allies from Seireitei itself – could hardly be dismissed. The boy loathed their justice system. And even if not, there was still risk it might happen one day.
Thus, the Sōtaichō had found a solution and therefore snapped his cane to the marble floor, the sound of it echoing throughout the chamber.
Finally, the noise settled down.
"We have gathered today," Yamamoto began, "to discuss the consequences of Soifon-taichō's departure to Avalon."
The said woman stiffened and bowed her head in shame, which was quite the opposite of her habit to keep her head high. Not single one of the Captains failed to notice it, but only one of them besides Yamamoto knew what it was all about – and even that Captain barely knew anything other than what he was required to know.
"Your report, Soifon-taichō," Yamamoto demanded clearly.
The Captain of the second division stepped out, rising her head – and began. "On January Eleventh, about two weeks after Aizen's defeat," she informed them, "Avalon had requested for aid in order to deal with a traitor of their own threatening to invade the Royal Dimension. That man, Prescott Blake, with his allies, had been captured alive and interrogated. Through interrogation, we had learned that his allies were none other than Aizen Sosuke and Penglai's Yin Xiao Long, who had made an alliance in order to overthrow the Spirit King."
"But hadn't Yin Xiao Long died shortly before-?" Ukitake Juushiro, the Captain of thirteenth division, said, but then quickly amended. "Ah. He had faked his death as well."
"Affirmative," said Soifon. "However, Yin Xiao Long had been defeated shortly after his defection, therefore Aizen and Prescott had lost their ally shortly into the war. Aizen had then been imprisioned by us, leaving only Prescott to run wild; which is precisely what he did. Several commanders of Avalon had lost their lives in order to stop him and that is when Avalon had requested assistance which we have, along with Penglai and Tikal, given."
"No one else answered the call?" Hitsugaya Toshiro, the tenth squad Captain, asked incredulously.
"No," said Soifon. "Upon his capture, Prescott had been put under severe torture measures and several truth serums before he had finally been forced into submission. We have learned that the final step in his plan was a bomb set in the center of the city of London, where the sacrifice of the souls would have been more than enough to enter the Royal Realm and we had then set out to stop it."
"Hm… I don't see why they wouldn't just try to steal the King's Key," muttered Kyoraku Shunsui, the eighth squad Captain. "Each of the Soul Societies has one of its own to use in the emergency. They were intelligent enough to try it and perhaps even succeed."
"Maybe that was a slower solution?" Komamura, the Captain of seventh division offered.
"No. It was the easier one. They had to have had ulterior motives for going the roundabout way," muttered Ukitake.
"The prisoner had avoided answering to the questions related to their motives even despite the truth serums," said Soifon. "The mission 'Goliath', as the Avalon had called it, had been successfully completed and the city of London had been protected from the explosion. Prescott's followers – which were very few in numbers – had successfully murdered many officers before their final defeat. We have lost about seventeen Onmitsukidō members."
"That is a large number," noted Kyoraku. "I think we lost fewer officers in the war against Aizen than that."
"We have," Yamamoto confirmed, deep trace of regret etched in his voice. "Soifon-taichō, continue."
She obliged. "The Onmitsukidō and myself had volunteered to make another check up over London, to make sure that everything was under control. Avalon had retreated to recover from the war and we have soon after reported that London was clear. Shortly upon our report's delivery, everything had gone wrong.
"I… have failed," Soifon admitted grudgingly with her head once again bowed. "While there, in the city of London, there have appeared to be several wandering souls. I had… not been aware of a human – a wizard, to be precise – watching while I was contacting Avalon about it. The attack had caught me unaware. I never reached them."
"Such incompetence… by mere human…" along with a snort could be heard from Kurotsuchi Mayuri-taichō of the twelfth Division.
No one bothered giving him a response – not even a reprimand for the insult. The reasons for that were more than clear.
"When I had awoken," Soifon continued, her voice faltering a little while she tried to ignore another one of Kurotsuchi's snorts, "I was blindfolded, in a room where I could determine nothing. I was restrained by something remotely assembling the Sekkiseki stone structure and my Reiatsu was not strong enough for an attempt of escape."
"A man came," she choked out, "introducing himself as Dumbledore Albus. He… demanded to know what I was and what I was talking about when I mentioned the souls. I never gave in to the threats, not to my subordinates', not to my own wellbeing. I was offered some water, as to help keep me alive. I don't think he realized what he was dealing with. I refused, not willing to taste any poison the man may have prepared."
Everyone aside from Zaraki Kenpachi listened with stony faces as the professionals they were. The eleventh division Captain only looked as if he was bored – which pretty much was the case.
"Why did Avalon not interfere?" wondered Hitsugaya.
"For all they knew, our unit dispatched. For all they cared, they dropped dead," interpreted Kyoraku scornfully.
"It was forced down my throat," Soifon continued at Sōtaichō's gesture, "– the potion that man called Veritaserum – the truth serum. I have no recollection of much that happened after. The answers – completely truthful – flowed out of me against my own will. Then he cast a spell on me – yes, I have already said he was a wizard – Imperio, I believe I heard him say. It forced me to contact Soul Society and bring his offer to Yamamoto-Sōtaichō. I fought against it until he punched my face, breaking the last of my focus and I succumbed to the spell.
"I… remember everything I had been forced to do," she admitted. "For that, Yamamoto-Sōtaichō, I wish to resign from my post as the Captain of the second division and the head of the Onmitsukidō. I had failed my mission, disclosed the secrets of Soul Society to mortals and breached nearly every written rule regarding intercontinental soul dispatch and information guarding. I no longer deserve to bear those titles."
"Stand up, Soifon-taichō," Yamamoto ordered. "Your punishment will be dealt with accordingly. At this moment, we must focus on the matter at hand." He turned to the rest of the Captains in the room. "As you all know, I have spoken to this man, Dumbledore Albus. He is adamant and requests a task force numbering at least two Shinigami for a mission he has in mind. Any attempts to pass it over to Avalon have as of yet been in vain."
"I don't see why we don't just kill the bastard," said Zaraki Kenpachi, the eleventh division Captain casually. "That would pretty much solve the problem, wouldn't it?"
"While, in the usual cases that option would be taken into account," said Yamamoto, "in this case we cannot rely on assassination or memory removal. Dumbledore had informed us that if something unexpected were to happen to him, the rest of the Magical Britain would learn everything he already knew. While we do not know if this truly is the case, we cannot take that risk. Erasing a memory of a person may be an easy task, but erasing memory of thousands is downright impossible, for we all know how fast the information spread."
"This is a matter Avalon should be dealing with, however. What was their response?" said Ukitake.
"Avalon refuses to interfere," replied Yamamoto. "While I have not informed them of the details of this problem, they refuse to deal with anything regarding British Ministry of Magic – or Magical Britain in general. Their reasoning for this is the crudeness, arrogance and the sheer ego that the current Ministry possesses."
"So there they go, let us deal with something in their own region," muttered Kyoraku. "Irresponsible and hypocritical, seeing as many of our own officers had lost their lives to protect theirs."
"On the other hand, Avalon has given us free reign to deal with this accordingly, which is precisely what we are going to do."
"So what? We just dance to the tune that a single mere mortal plays?" Kurotsuchi snapped irritably. He seemed to be more bothered with that, rather than the fact that Avalon had refused to interfere.
"It bears too much risk not to. If the existence of the afterlife got out to humans, other than special exceptions of Kurosaki and his family and allies, the Royal Guard would have to act and the punishment would be dealt with accordingly," replied Yamamoto, a dark sense of foreboding hidden underneath his words. "Soifon-taichō, would you be capable of recognizing this man? Have you ever seen Albus Dumbledore's face?"
The Second Division Captain still stood near Sōtaichō's feet. "No, I have not," she answered shortly.
"As you can see, Kurotsuchi-taichō, we have no means of recognizing this Dumbledore. According to the negotiations, I have several… officers… in mind that will follow through Dumbledore's request. Their primary task shall be to determine whether the threat of information breach is truly existent or whether it was only an old man's bluff. In whichever the case, this task force will act accordingly."
"When you say accordingly, what exactly do you have in mind, Yama-jii?" asked Kyoraku.
"Memory removal – or, for the latter, securing that the information is not revealed no matter the cost," replied Yamamoto stiffly.
"I don't understand," muttered Komamura. "So this task force shall respect Dumbledore's request, then with the first given opportunity, remove his memories?"
"That's not very nice," muttered Kyoraku.
None aside from Kurotsuchi Mayuri and Zaraki Kenpachi seemed overjoyed with the idea, though the mentioned two clearly wanted the human to be murdered (or at least dissected).
"One of the conditions given to us is that the task force must have at least two capable Shinigami officers that could pass of as humans, age eleven to eighteen, hence this mission shall be led by Hinamori-fukutaichō."
Hitsugaya Toshiro and Unohana Retsu stirred up, but Yamamoto continued without giving them an opportunity to object.
"Dumbledore Albus' request is for Soul Society to infiltrate into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – which he is the headmaster of – to provide protection for one Potter Harry. He put an accent on those agents capable of using magic and that are easy to fit in with a large number of schoolchildren, for this Potter is a student there himself. As for Hinamori-fukutaichō's recovery, the mission shall take place on September, so she will have more than enough time to recover."
"So in other words, that man is using Gotei Thirteen as his army on disposal," Hitsugaya muttered with distaste.
"Can Shinigami even use their magic?" wondered Kyoraku. "I know some of us here must have been wizards – or witches," he amended, with a short glance towards Soifon and Unohana, "but we have no recollection of it. Does this magic perhaps relate to Reiatsu?"
"It doesn't," was Kurotsuchi's brief, but snappy response. "Well, that is actually inaccurate, as the use of magic actually has some rather brief, but significant influence on one's Reiatsu."
"Such as?" Kuchiki Byakuya of division six and the Noble Kuchiki clan asked.
"It increases it," said Kurotsuchi. "Not by much, mind you, and I doubt it has any effect at all on those with rather powerful Reiatsu. However, that is something I cannot yet claim. I tried to draw parallels between magic and Kido, and while there have only been few, it is enough to confirm that only those with a knack for using Kido will be the only ones with any possibility to use magic."
"Which is precisely why, as a Kido master, Hinamori-fukutaichō is being given this mission," said Yamamoto, and then focused on Kurotsuchi. "And you said that using magic increases ones Reiatsu – if the one does not have very remarkable Reiatsu to begin with."
"Yes. I have personally run those tests," confirmed Kurotsuchi.
"Do you believe that this magic is able to restore Reiryoku of one who had completely lost it?"
Brief pause, where half the Captains held their breaths.
"Why, yes, it would take some time, but it should."
Kyoraku smirked, seemingly understanding where this was going. "Why, Yama-jii, I didn't know you cared."
"Silence," said Yamamoto. "Hitsugaya-taichō."
"Yes, Yamamoto-Sōtaichō?"
"You will lead the back up force in case something goes awry on this mission with Kira Izuru-fukutaichō, seventh seat of squad four, Yamada Hanatarō and the thirteenth division's Kuchiki Rukia. All of them," he said at some very prominent and stabbing looks he had gotten, "are proficient in Kido and have some relation to Kurosaki Ichigo."
Another brief silence and Sōtaichō could see the captains connecting dots in their heads. He was expecting for a quick protest, when,
"I don't see how this is got anything to do with Ichigo," said Zaraki. "I thought he lost all of his powers when he beat that Aizen bastard to a pulp."
"And we are going to use this mission to help him get them back," said Kyoraku quickly. "Why, you are becoming rather sentimental, Yama-jii. I wonder what Central Forty-Six is going to say once they have completely reformed."
It was meant mostly as a joke, but no one failed to see the seriousness of the matter. Central Forty-Six – or at least whatever part of it that was reinstated at the moment – had explicitly wanted Kurosaki to be tried under the same conditions as Vizards. No Captain in Gotei Thirteen had even thought of supporting that decision, except for maybe Kurotsuchi Mayuri or Kuchiki Byakuya, but then the Sōtaichō completely vetoed it, as Kurosaki no longer had any of his powers and therefore bore no threat to Soul Society as a whole.
"As the Martial Law is still under place, Central Forty-Six cannot question any of my decisions brought while it lasts. They may veto it after they are reformed – but only after the mission is completed," Yamamoto informed him.
"Ah, very clever move," commented Ukitake.
"It is," agreed Unohana. "However, I must object to Hinamori-fukutaichō leading this mission. She had only barely awoken from coma and her mental condition is still delicate—"
"Which is why you had requested leave for Hinamori-fukutaichō to the World of the Living," the Sōtaichō finished for her "-or to be precise, Karakura town. I know, Unohana-taichō. You specified that Hinamori-fukutaichō is in need of surroundings that bear no relations to anything that might cause her trauma. Hogwarts proves to be an ideal location. It is foolproof on the battle side, for it is a memory removal mission and since it is humans, even an unseated officer could complete the mission, were it not for other risks."
"I… see." Unohana lowered her head. "Then, I full-heartedly agree with your decision, Sōtaichō."
"But that also brings another problem up," said Kyoraku. "If Hinamori-chan is sent out to the living world, it leaves fifth division without any commanding officer for quite a while. Unless you have already found replacements for the vacant Captain positions, that is."
"The Vizards are to receive a solemn pardon before the Central Forty-Six reforms, offering to some of them to take over their former positions, such as Hirako Shinji," replied Yamamoto calmly.
"And if they refuse?" wondered Ukitake. "They didn't seem overly fond of us. For a very good reason, I daresay."
"Then the Captain's proficiency test shall be put into motion and anyone willing can apply," said Yamamoto. "Another point that I must make," he added. "Is that if any of Kurosaki Ichigo's allies is willing to come as well, they may, but only after the situation is well considered."
"Eh? Why?" Hitsugaya looked rather taken aback.
"Because Soul Society must pay back what they owe," muttered Ukitake under his breath, but it was completely hearable.
"I see…" Hitsugaya mumbled to himself.
The rest of the meeting focused on not very interesting matters regarding paperwork and rebuilding the system and the Sōtaichō noticed that the attention of his fellow captains was very soon completely diminished.