o o o
Memoirs of a Ninja.
written by exhaustion
Chapter one.
o o o
His fingers hurt, and he just knows that they're swollen, he can feel it.
For a moment, he feels weightless, there are no thoughts bothering him and—
—blood everywhere, under his nails, dripping, dripping, 'You're weak, and pathetic, and soso stupid' and more pain—
Perhaps Kabuto finally got what he wanted.
No; he is alive, alive, so fucking alive. Sasuke is alive.
His eyelids feel heavy, but his eyes are there and everything is so blurry but he can see, he has his eyes and the fire is still burning in his heart because with eyes he is invincible.
His feet are trembling and his hands are numb and everything's blurred but it doesn't matter.
There are brown eyes he sees and power flowing in his eyes, this is right, and the man falls, dead, dead, dead.
o o o
The Ministry of Magic its full of trouble. The Improper Use of Magic Departament has gotten out of hand, because this itty bitty child killed a full-grown perfectly-healthy muggle. 'He ain't even a Hogwarts student,' one says, and it's true—the teeny-weeny kid is seven, seven.
They're looking for a flaw in his rights, an exception for using Veritaserum on children, even Cruciatus if they get lucky, but there's no hole and they aren't allowed to restrict him from using magic, he's not a student and it's normal, so normal that every child uses magic growing up. It's not that normal to kill a muggle, though.
The blood tests come and the child's a pure-blood and that changes everything because poor boy, he had Death Eaters as parents and they may be dead, the child does what he saw them doing, so he's put in a wizarding orphanage and everything's kept secret, because the Ministry doesn't want people believing that pure-blood cannot raise their children properly.
They leave him a hundred Galleons in a vault at Gringotts to keep him silent and give him a name because the boy remembers and speaks nothing.
His name is Jonathan Walker and he's seven.
o o o
His real name is Sasuke and he's
seventeen. He's drowning in
hesitation and everything he's done
is burning to the ground. It
feels like his whole life is erased.
The thought of starting over leaves his paralyzed.
o o o
At the orphanage, there's May, Em, Marge and Ger, the women who take care of lots and lots of children. It's no ordinary job, seeing as every child does magic and sometimes everything is just too much, and they want a break, but this is hard times, my dear, you must take care of them, because Dumbledore made this orphanage and something Dumbledore made must be perfect.
Jonathan is a silent child, mostly because he doesn't any English; he does take private lessons with Ger every Wednesday and Friday, but he understands little because Ger's never been good at explaining. It's the best they've got, so nobody complains.
Before he learns to speak, he learns to write and his first word is 'I', followed by 'kill'. There's no surprise there, because all four women has seen the way he sometimes looks—dark, dark, dark—as if he's plotting the world's destruction.
They have a river near the orphanage, and all the children swim in it and unlike the other pure-bloods orphans, Jonathan sometimes swims with the muggle-born ones, and that's the time the women start to see kindness and innocence in his words, eyes—in his everything. He's nothing but a child and only now they fully comprehend that.
Inside, Jonathan is eveything but quiet. He's exploding, he's desperate for some answers, help me, help me, but there's no one there to bring him back to reality and he's left in this magical world where everything goes backwards.
The first time he uses magic, he turns a flower into black dust, the opposite of what most children do.
.
"Jonathan, make hot chocolate for Daisy, will you?" It's May that interrupts him from his lecture.
"Is she sick again?"
May leaves and the answer is obvious; Daisy's a fragile little thing, she's a muggle-born too, and they've only once seen her do magic. He goes in the kitchen and starts making the chocolate. It's November and everything's quiet because this year fifteen children left to Hogwarts so there are only thirty-one left. Most of the children from the orphanage get sorted into Hufflepuff, and very little into Gryffindor. They don't have many books, so Ravenclaws are very rare, and everybody's raised to share things therefore there's no Slytherin.
He delivers the hot chocolate but it goes unnoticed, the mediwizard is already here and he's scolding May and Em for letting Daisy catch such serious cold.
"—it's very possible to have caught a Muggle illness,"
"So what shall we do?"
"Worry not, I've read that they pass quite quickly."
But Daisy doesn't look right, her skin is blue-tinged and she's hardly breathing, she's eavesdropping most likely, and not in the least convinced by what the doctor says because the pain she feels it's real.
He comes back later at night and she's asleep. Daisy is ten, an year from now she is to go to Hogwarts, she smiles a lot and she's useless so there's no doubt she'll be a Hufflepuff. Sasuke watches her all night, and by the time the sun makes itself known, she's dead. He takes a knife and makes a small cut on her little finger.
A drop of blood falls into his hand.
.
On his ninth birthday Marge goes with him to the bookstore and lets him buy two books—whatever books he wants. He knows how to read and write, now, though it's not thanks to Ger, but to Anna, the sixth-year Ravenclaw that spent her entire summer helping him. It was a blow to his pride, indeed, but it was something that needed to be done.
He buys History of Magic and Magical Creatures and Where To Find Them. Unknown to Marge and the shopkeeper, there are three more books hidden under his clothes that he later hides in his room at the orphanage.
The books are black and he keeps them for later, when the words 'dark arts' will mean something to him.
.
Sometimes when he's supposed to wash, Jonathan looks in the mirror. He sees black hair and black eyes and white white skin, but if he concentrates enough, his eyes bleed red. This leaves him exhausted and drained, so he doesn't do this often. It is however enough to know that he possesses the power to rule the world within his eyes.
.
It's summer again and the weather's wet so they stay inside at all times. Loryn, a twelve year old Gryffindor was telling everyone how awesome Hogwarts was. 'If you're a Gryffindor, that is,' she says because almost all teachers treat the lions better. That, though, didn't stop the Slytherins from winning the cup.
"What house do you think you'll be, Jonathan?" It's Mary who asks him that, a girl his age. They're both sitting farther by the group gathered around Loryn, but close enough to hear what she's saying.
"A Ravenclaw, I reckon," he smiles and it's a fake smile. "You?"
Gryffindors stand out too much, Jonathan thinks. Hufflepuffs are useless—he has seen the ones at the orphanage, they can barely make a simple spell.
Mary smiles too. "I've always wanted to be a Hufflepuff, but Loryn describes Gryffindor so nicely, it's seems like a fairytale. Like the pranks they do! I can't imagine someone being so brave to do such things."
"Stupid, you mean. I bet they all got detention," Jonathan points out, a little sourly. Blonde hair and blue—blue eyes enter his head and a little 'believe it'.
Mary giggles and says something along the line 'it would've been worth it' but he's not listening anymore.
Loryn is showing the children her wand, which is uncommonly short. Jonathan knows how wands are supposed to be. He wonders how his wand will look like. What core it would have.
Hogwarts is an year away and it's the longest year he's spent so far.
o o o
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Minerva McGonagall.
Dear Mr. Walker
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted
at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please
find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no
later than July 31
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft And Wizardry
Uniform:
First year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black).
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear.
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar).
4. One winter cloak (black with silver fastenings).
Set Books
All Students should have a copy of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllis Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment:
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter standard size 2)
1 set of glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set of brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.
.
There are children chatting happily, five of Jonathan's age, who are overly-excited for receiving their letters. Did they expect otherwise? How foolish. They are, after all, at a wizarding orphanage, it is obvious all of them had magic in them. A third year Gryffindor is begging Marge for a broomstick, while Ger is trying to estimate the amount of money they will need to buy books for all of the children—'Eighteen children to Hogwarts this year! We'll barely have any money left for the winter!'—and Em is taking care of the children that aren't old enough for Hogwarts.
"Jonathan, Nora says that we'll be going to Hogwarts by train. Is that true?" Mary asks.
Nora's a first year, too. Most of the boys think of her to be the prettiest of the whole lot, and perhaps because of that she's a little vain.
"Weren't you paying attention when Jones was telling us about the sweets trolley on the train?" he scolded her lack of attention.
"Oh yeah! And I fought so much with Nora over it," Mary says and sits down besides him on the ground. "Aren't you happy, Jonny?"
He frowns at the nickname. "Why would I be happy? Are you forgetting that Joshua and George are also coming?"
Contrary to popular belief, Joshua and George aren't brothers, though they do have the same rude behaviour. Both George's parents were half-bloods, whereas Joshua's mother was muggle-born and his father was a pure-blood. They only talk to each other and insult everyone else. Nora and some of the older children being an exception.
Mary laughs—she's a very happy person and Jonathan sometimes wishes she wouldn't spend so much time with him. She drops the subject, choosing to talk instead of the weather. Jonathan gives her small replies, like usual and everything's peaceful.
"I am a little frightened to go to Hogwarts," she says after a while and he looks at her with curiosity in his eyes. "I mean, come on, we're orphans, our home is an orphanage at the border of a little magical village, I doubt we're gonna be treated very well. I don't believe a bit of what Loryn's saying."
Well, this was certainly interesting.
"I have to say," Jonathan begins, "I see your point, but I don't share your worries. Nobody will be curious of me if I don't stand out."
"So that's why you want to be a Ravenclaw."
And he smiles, because Mary got to know him over the years and honestly, she's the only child he can talk to calmly.
"Oh Merlin, another trip to Diagon Alley," May sighs because it's not a pleasure to take eighteen children on a supposedly 'field-trip'.
So that's chapter one. Did you like it? Were there and grammatical mistakes?
Should I continue?
Review and tell me your opinion.