Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Fruits Basket. I do, however, own YOUR MOM.

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Enjoy Chapter Two!


The next day at noon, the Sohma doorbell rang. Tohru hurried to answer it. Despite themselves, Yuki and Kyo couldn't help peering over her head to catch a glimpse of the stranger.

It was an elderly man, tall and very thin. His silver beard and long, flowing hair hung down to his waist and he was clothed in sweeping purple robes. His eyes were a remarkable, sparkling blue and he had a very long nose. He smiled kindly at Tohru as she greeted him nervously.

"You must be Honda-san," he said in nearly flawless Japanese. His accent was somewhat stiff, like his writing had been, but he spoke with a fluency rarely heard in foreigners.

"Yes," she said politely, a blush rising to her cheeks. "Please, come in and sit down. Would you like some tea, Dumbledore-san?" Yuki and Kyo had reminded her that the family name was written after the given name in English, making sure that Tohru didn't make the mistake of calling him "Albus." The two boys had accepted that Tohru would likely be the one dealing with their strange houseguest, and tried to coach her as best they could in dealing with a foreigner.

"I would love some tea, Honda-san. Thank you for your kindness," Dumbledore replied politely. Tohru led him to the kotatsu. Dumbledore thankfully knew what to do, and made himself comfortable as Tohru went to fetch the tea.

"You two are Sohma Kyo-san and Sohma Yuki-san, I presume?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling. Kyo narrowed his eyes and looked away, arms folded across his chest.

"Yes," Yuki replied. "It's good to make your acquaintance, Dumbledore-san."

"Hello, Dumbledore," Shigure said in English, appearing in the doorway. "I suppose our lovely Miss Honda has already received you properly?" He made his way towards the kotatsu, and seated himself beside Dumbledore. It was evident that they knew each other.

"Yes, she has," Dumbledore smiled. "What a charming young lady."

"I agree. " Shigure switched back to Japanese. "Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, please join us at the kotatsu." As it would be very rude to refuse, both boys seated themselves at the kotatsu, although somewhat reluctantly. Kyo kept his eyes down, his mouth set into a scowl.

Tohru entered the room with a steaming pot of sencha green tea. "I apologize for taking so long," she said.

"It's quite alright," said Dumbledore, an amused smile on his face. After Tohru had finished serving the tea, Dumbledore took his cup in his hands and raised it to his lips. Tohru waited until everyone had taken a sip of tea before touching her own cup. Dumbledore cocked an eyebrow.

"Is it Japanese custom for the woman to drink her tea last?" he asked Shigure blandly in English.

"Our Miss Honda is very humble," Shigure explained. "Technically you're supposed to wait for the guest to drink first and the host or hostess drinks last."

"How fascinating," Dumbledore remarked.

Everyone sipped at their tea in awkward silence until Dumbledore set his cup down. "First of all," he said in Japanese, "I must apologize for invading your home so suddenly."

"Oh, no, it's no trouble!" Tohru assured him nervously.

"Thank you, my dear Honda-san," he said gently. "I'm afraid I was rather abrupt in inviting myself over, but I do believe we have some things that need to be discussed."

Kyo could contain himself no longer. "You're here about that prank letter."

A slight smile appeared on Dumbledore's face. "Why do you think it was a prank, Sohma-san?"

"Because...because..." Kyo said, obviously flustered. "There's no such thing as Hog...Hog-Wart School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Plus, the letter arrived attached to an owl's leg! It just doesn't make any sense!"

"I'm forced to agree with my cousin," Yuki spoke up firmly, but politely. "It seems like a very elaborate joke, and I congratulate you for your efforts, but I think you underestimate our intelligence. Shigure, you can give up the joke now. You must have been in on it."

Shigure raised an eyebrow and a half-smile appeared on his face, but he said nothing.

Dumbledore turned to Tohru, who was looking slightly panicked at the turn the conversation was taking. "What about you, Honda-san? Do you think it was a prank?"

Tohru lowered her head and looked steadily into her lap, a curtain of hair concealing her face.

Kyo turned to her, his eye twitching. "Tohru, you can't tell me – you don't – you don't believe him, do you?"

She remained still for a moment, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. All of the pressure was on her at the moment, and Tohru wasn't especially good at dealing with pressure. Then she said something very quietly, almost in a whisper.

"What was that, Honda-san?" Yuki coaxed gently. "It's okay, you can say it."

"I do not believe that Dumbledore-san is lying," she said softly, trying to hide behind her hair.

"Tohru, how can you not think this is a prank?" Kyo demanded, his eyes growing worried. "I know you can be spacey sometimes, but I thought you would have more sense than this. A school for wizardry and magic? It's ridiculous! That stuff doesn't exist! It just...it just doesn't make any sense! How can it make sense?" Yuki nodded in reluctant agreement.

Tohru slowly raised her head and looked at Yuki and Kyo defiantly. "But Kyo-kun...wasn't it just a few months ago that you could turn into a cat? That didn't make any sense either, did it?"

It was as if a shell had dropped into the middle of the room and blown up the kotatsu. Kyo and Yuki stared back at her, their eyes wide. There was a long, silent moment in which Shigure grinned victoriously and Dumbledore smiled with just a hint of satisfaction.

"Thank you, Honda-san," Dumbledore said kindly. He turned to address Yuki and Kyo. "I already knew about the Sohma curse, gentlemen, so there is no need to be angry with Honda-san. She hasn't revealed any secrets."

"Okay, old man," Kyo said after a long pause. "We'll pretend for now that your Hog-Wart school is real. First off, why would you want us to come to your school?"

"Yes," Yuki agreed. "Also, why concern Honda-san? I understand that Kyo and I have had a history with curses and what I suppose you could call "magic," but as far as I know Honda-san grew up in a very normal family until...until her mother passed." He realized too late that mentioning Tohru's mother might not be the best idea, but luckily Tohru masked the hurt in her eyes very skilfully.

"I'm going to explain something to the three of you," Dumbledore said gravely, "and I must ask you to listen and contain your skepticism until I have finished. May I ask that of you?"

The three teenagers' curiosity had gotten the better of them, and so all three nodded.

"In our world," Dumbledore began, "Some people are born a little different from the others. While some people are able to make their way in the world by inventing machines and technology that is simply amazing," here he gazed fondly at the television, "some people are born with certain powers."

He paused to let it sink in, and then continued. "For lack of a better word, these people are born with magic. Over time, all of the people born with magic bonded together and formed the wizarding community. The wizarding community has functioned for eons hidden from the eyes of non-magical people. We take great pains to keep ourselves hidden.

"In time, we discovered the different things we could do with our magical powers and began to pass these secrets on through the generations. After much time had passed, the witches and wizards established schools to teach young people about magical history, the uses of spells, and other subjects important in the wizarding world. We also began to discover magical children being born into non-magical families, and we drew these people into the wizarding community.

"This leads me to my very own prized school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Wizards have ways of tracking down people born with magical powers. Thus, we are able to have children at our school from both wizarding and non-wizarding families. When a child with magical powers turns eleven, he or she receives a letter offering them a place at Hogwarts. This is where you three come into the story.

"All three of you received your letters at eleven years old. However, this did not come as a surprise to the Sohma family. Sohma children have a tendency towards having magical powers, but due to their curse, they have never been able to separate from the Head of the Sohma family for long enough to attend any magical school. This generation, however, was different. Shigure and Sohma Hatori-san corresponded with me to inform me of their suspicions; they believed that the curse just might be lifted within this generation. They asked me to reserve Yuki-san and Kyo-san's places and I agreed.

"Honda Kyoko-san, on the other hand, didn't exactly understand her daughter's letter; Honda Katsuya-san had obviously passed away by this time and Honda Kyoko-san couldn't read any English. She dismissed it as some kind of mistake and filed the letter away. It may still be in Honda-san's grandfather's papers somewhere. We would have continued to send letters as is our normal policy, but our Divinations teacher, Trelawney-san, had a strong hunch that we should reserve a place for Honda-san. She tends to be something of an old fraud, but this was one of those things that the Hogwarts teachers couldn't ignore, so we filed Honda-san's letter away and kept in touch with Shigure and Hatori-san.

"Eventually, much to our surprise, we learned that Honda-san had come to live with the Sohma family; it was then that we understood Trelawney-san's strong hunch. Honda Tohru was inextricably linked with the Sohmas and ultimately had a key role in the lifting of the curse. After the curse lifted, you three received your letter, a few years late."

Tohru and Kyo were extremely silent, trying to absorb all of the new information that had been piled on them so suddenly. Yuki's eyes, however, were full of questions.

"Excuse me," he said politely.

"Go ahead, Sohma-san," Dumbledore said.

"You said 'any magical school.' Does this mean there are others?"

"Very clever, Sohma-san," Dumbledore praised, a twinkle in his eye. "Yes, there are magical schools all over the world. There are even a few in Japan. They are, I believe, disguised as Buddhist monasteries and Shinto temples."

"Then why would we go to a foreign school?" Kyo asked sharply. "Sounds suspicious to me."

Dumbledore smiled gently at Kyo. "Because, as much as I'm sure a Japanese magical academy would love to have you, you are needed at Hogwarts."

Kyo narrowed his eyes. "I'm assuming you're not going to explain that," he muttered.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said mildly.

"Um...ah...may I humbly ask a question, Dumbledore-san?"

"Yes, you may, Honda-san."

She paused, lowering her eyes. "How can we start attending a school after missing five years? Wouldn't we be terribly behind?"

Dumbledore laughed; a rich, infectious laugh. "Ever the worrier, aren't you, Honda-san? Please do not worry too much about your studies. I have done a little...how does one say it...a little cheating."

"I-I'm afraid I don't understand," Tohru said slowly.

"Let's just say I've been giving the three of you some...suggestions over the past few years. You may find that you already know quite a few things in the backs of your heads. Of course, you wouldn't be aware of the things you knew unless you tried to use them. Honda-san, will you please hold my wand for a moment?" Dumbledore handed her a long, polished wooden stick. It felt alien in Tohru's hands, almost like it was wary of her. "Now, Honda-san, please point the wand at that book over there and summon it for me."

Feeling a little foolish, Tohru pointed the stick towards the book Dumbledore had indicated. Nothing happened.

"You have to command the book to come here," Dumbledore said.

"What do I say?" Tohru asked. Dumbledore smiled and said nothing. Suddenly something occurred to her.

"Accio!" commanded Tohru, and the book zoomed neatly over to where they were sitting. It landed on the table easily. Dumbledore reached over to pick it up.

"Well done, Honda-san. Hmmm...Summer coloured sigh. I don't think I've ever read something like this," chuckled the old man, turning the book over in his hands. "Is this one of yours, Shigure?"

"Idiot," muttered Kyo and Yuki simultaneously. Then, coming to attention, they both turned to stare at Tohru.

"How the hell did you do that, Tohru?" Kyo demanded.

"I don't know," Tohru said in awe. She put the wand on the table, like she was afraid to be holding it. The three teenagers stared at the unassuming stick in wonder.

"You see?" said Dumbledore. "Your knowledge of magic is buried in your subconscious, but it is still there. However, this is a very flawed way to learn magic," he said sternly. "You three will have to work

harder than other sixth-year students, but you all have the groundwork laid down so that you may continue your magical education."

"Excuse me, Dumbledore-san," Yuki said politely. Dumbledore nodded for him to continue. "I don't really understand. You're saying that we already know some magic?"

"Somewhere in the back of your minds, yes," Dumbledore said. "You were schooled in the martial arts, correct?"

"Yes," Yuki replied. "Although I just learned the basics. I stopped learning martial arts a long time ago. Kyo went on to do more advanced training." Kyo seemed to puff up a little, obviously proud of his martial arts training.

"I see," said Dumbledore. "Now, Sohma-san, imagine you were to attend a martial arts class with your cousin. Would you be able to pick up on some of the things he's learning?"

"Well, yes," said Yuki hesitantly. "Although it would take me much longer, because I learned the basics a long time ago and I'd be a little stiff."

"Precisely," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"So Dumbledore-san is saying that our knowledge is buried in the backs of our minds," Tohru said hesitantly, "and that we will have to work hard to draw it out and continue to learn?"

"Very good, Honda-san. My, my, Shigure, these charges of yours are terribly clever." Dumbledore's smile was genuine. He took his wand from the table and pulled a pocket watch out of his deep purple robes. It was adorned with planets and stars instead of numbers, but Dumbledore seemed to understand it.

"Ah," he said, "It's about time for me to be leaving." The Sohmas and Tohru glanced at the clock on the wall and were surprised to find that an hour had passed. Dumbledore stood and bowed politely. "Thank you very much for hosting me on such short notice," he thanked them.

"Wait!" Yuki protested. Dumbledore smiled at him.

"You must be full of questions, Sohma-san, but I assure you they will all be answered in good time," said the old man enigmatically. "We will meet again soon. Are all the arrangements made, Shigure-san?"

Shigure nodded. "Well, then," said Dumbledore, "I must bid you good-bye for now." With that he turned and walked out the door. As the door closed behind him, everyone could have sworn they heard a loud "Crack!" When Tohru rushed to the window, she couldn't see Dumbledore anywhere.

"Well, I guess that about settles it," said Shigure nonchalantly. "Pack your bags, children. We're leaving for England in three days."

"WHAT?"

"Calm down, Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun."

"Why didn't you tell us any of this?" Kyo demanded.

"Would you have believed me? And what would the use have been anyways? We were all still bound to Akito," Shigure reminded him. Kyo opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he was going to protest, but he finally gave up and turned away from Shigure. Shigure grinned somewhat maliciously, and then he turned to Tohru. "I was going to propose we leave tomorrow, but I wanted to give you some time to say goodbye to your grandfather, Uo-chan and Hana-chan."

"Ah," said Tohru, "I suppose I won't be seeing them for a long time." She sighed sadly.

"Not to mention," Shigure continued, "All of the former Zodiac members are coming over for dinner tonight to say goodbye."

Kyo groaned and stomped away to go pack.


I apologize for taking so long to explain everything. It kind of annoys me when people try to write Harry Potter crossovers with other series, and they're like "Okay, a bunch of Japanese kids receive a letter to attend an English magic school, and they accept it and go to live in England without overcoming any linguistic or cultural barriers. Great, let's move on to the romance scenes!" So, I've tried to flesh this one out a little more. This is the last chapter of laying down the groundwork, though, and I promise things will get more exciting next chapter.

Thank you so much to my reviewers and to the people who added me to their Story Alert lists! I'm not one of those authors who will go "I won't update till I have x numbers of reviews!" However, I would really appreciate it if people took the time to review. I put a lot of effort into my writing and I would appreciate knowing that I'm not just writing into an empty void.

Okay, I'm finished rambling! Next chapter, Tohru and the Sohmas arrive in England and the fun begins. Who is that gigantic man waiting for them in a dark pub? Will Tohru's English ever improve? What will they make of Diagon Alley?

Haha, Tohru and the Sohmas sounds like a band name...think Josie and the Pussycats! Or rather, the pussycat and the rat! Oh, I crack myself up. Anyways, see you all next chapter!

Lysi