Chapter 1
Kusuke Makes A Hat Scream
"Would you look at that?" Izuma-sempai said in awe.
The castle was pretty impressive, Kusuke supposed, for European architecture. Kusuke had little appreciation for anything not Japanese, but not the young man striding beside Kusuke down the paved road toward the looming castle.
Natori Izuma was Kusuke's sempai. For non-Japanese readers, a sempai is a more experienced person in the same field as the speaker; the term signifies that the addressee is highly respected by the speaker, either because of age or station. Similar to business: every business has an owner, but the person who trains a new hire is usually a more experienced workman, who would be the new hire's sempai. Izuma-sempai was nine years older than Kusuke, and had been given the unenviable task of teaching Kusuke the ways of the samurai since Kusuke's father could not. Izuma-sempai also harbored a passion for foreign architecture, particularly 'Gothic' style architecture, whatever that was. Kusuke had tried asking what 'Gothic' was, but ended up getting his brain fried in twelve seconds.
"It's ugly." Kusuke answered.
Izuma-sempai stared at him, eyes as big as goose eggs. "How can you say such a thing?"
"Because it is. Look at it. There's no gardens, no trees, no artistic flair…just stone and wood thrown together. Toddlers draw pictures more beautiful than this castle, this Hogwarts."
Izuma-sempai smirked. "Not all of them. Remember the time you tried to draw Lady Kaduki?"
"…Point taken." Kusuke had been eight at the time, and Lady Kaduki had said it was the most beautiful picture of an ogre she had ever seen. Kusuke hadn't been able to raise his head for a month.
Izuma-sempai laughed and patted Kusuke's shoulder. "Don't worry, what you lack in art you make up for with you fighting." And he would know—Izuma-sempai was Kusuke's sword instructor. "By the way, you still have it, right?"
Kusuke's hand instinctively went to the hilt sticking out of his gi. "Yes, Sempai."
"Remember, that's a family treasure. Your father made that sword, Kagekiri, just after you were born. It cannot be replaced."
"Yes, Sempai." The sword itself looked odd, and if Izuma-sempai himself had not said that his father had made it, Kusuke wouldn't have believed it. The sheathe was a mere six inches long, but had the Spacial Expansion Charm on it so that the sword itself was full-length. Kagekiri's blade was pitch-black and covered entirely with an etching of a demonic battle. The cross-guard was a circle with a single slash through the center, and on the hilt, rising up from the white cloth wrappings, was 保護する物 in gold, meaning 'protector.' Kagekiri was said to have odd powers, the first of which was Kusuke was the only one who could touch it safely; everybody else was seized by pain that, it was said, was worse than the Cruciatus Curse. The only way for others to touch it is if it was wrapped in white silk soaked in sacred sake.
As Kusuke fingered his newly acquired sword, he thought about his father. Sasuke Nikada was a legend among Japanese wizards. His power was said to be so great that when Asunama-sama, a lord in the neighboring province of Iyo, found his daughter kidnapped by a herd of Ushi-oni, Sasuke volunteered for the mission, and slew the entire herd of 2,500 single-handedly, using only his katana. He was considered the Japanese Albus Dumbledore.
When Mikaboshi rose to power and threatened to sink Japan into darkness—
Kusuke was pulled out of his thoughts when Izuma-sempai and he reached the boundary gate and found a stooped figure standing just inside, holding perhaps the mangiest cat Kusuke had ever seen.
"And just who might you two be?" His voice was incredibly grating; Kusuke immediately wanted to hit him with a Silencing Charm.
"Natori Izuma and Nikada Kusuke. Professor Dumbledore is expecting us."
The man eyed the two of them. "Identification?"
Kusuke rolled his eyes. "You asked for it."
Kusuke made to draw his sword, but Izuma-sempai grabbed his hand, keeping the blade well in its sheathe. Kusuke got glimpse of an expression Izuma-sempai rarely used: anger. His eyes said it plainly: You know better.
Kusuke could barely nod. Izuma-sempai was one of the only people Kusuke did his best not to get mad. The phrase 'never tickle a sleeping dragon' applied in Izuma-sempai's case.
Izuma-sempai released Kusuke's hand, and Kusuke relaxed as Izuma-sempai reached into his sleeve, pulled out a folded piece of parchment, and slid it through the bars. The man read it and handed it back, seemingly satisfied. He knocked on the gate three times, and Kusuke felt the magic sealing the gate shut weaken enough for the gate to open.
"Argus Filch, I presume?" Izuma-sempai asked.
"That's right." Filch said with the ugliest toothy grin Kusuke had ever seen. "Come with me."
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"Here they are, Professor." Filch said to a stern-looking older witch waiting for them just inside the Entrance Hall.
"Thank you, Mr. Filch." She studied Kusukeas Filch walked away, but not in a sneering way; more like she was trying to determine if he was worth the school. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Nikada-san. I'm Professor McGonagall, and Assistant Headmistress."
Kusuke was surprised by the honorific. Usually foreigners were ignorant of how to properly address Japanese. Kusuke responded by bowing. "McGonagall-sensei. This is my superior, Natori Izuma-san."
Izuma-sempai bowed also, and McGonagall led them to the Grand Staircase silently. Kusuke was intrigued by this woman…few respected Kusuke's culture as she did.
"I understand that you will be enrolling as a new student this year." She said as they started to climb. "I shall inform you now that if you are in my house, I will not tolerate the wearing of your sword."
Then again…
"Furthermore, Hogwarts has a strict dress code that you will be expected to adhere to. No hakamas."
"A samurai's hakama is a symbol of his station." Kusuke argued.
"But here you are not going to be a samurai, are you?" McGonagall countered. "Unless I'm mistaken, you are attending here as a student, and as far as I am aware, Hogwarts does not admit samurai as students, since they are taught in their own country."
"She has a point." Izuma-sempai said with an apologetic smirk.
"…Indeed."
"Ah, here we are."
McGonagall had stopped in front of a gargoyle just off the Grand Staircase on the second floor.
"Gummi Bear."
Kusuke stifled a snicker as the gargoyle sprang to life and leaped aside, revealing a moving spiral staircase. Apparently not planning to step on, McGonagall eyed Kusuke and Izuma-sempai and beckoned them aboard. Kusuke bowed his thanks and stepped up.
Shortly he found himself facing an ornate wooden door, from the other side of which he heard two voices: an old, sagely man's voice, and a much younger female voice, which was unmistakably familiar.
No way.
Kusuke knocked, and the door swung open.
"Midori-chan!"
Indeed, his friend was standing in the Headmaster's office, but she wasn't wearing her hakama. She had changed into a black skirt and sweater-vest over a white cotton shirt. She wore a red-and-gold striped tie around her neck and a black cloak around her shoulders.
"Kusuke-kun! I was wondering when you'd get here!"
"Why are you here?" Kusuke asked. "I was assigned this mission alone."
"I'm on a separate mission. Dumbledore-sensei wrote to Kaduki-sama twice."
Kusuke looked at the old Headmaster. "Twice?"
"I believe in your culture," Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling, said from his high-backed chair, "It is customary to introduce oneself before conversation, correct?"
After rather hastier than usual introductions, Kusuke repeated his question.
"Ah yes. You see, I have two reasons for a Samurai Wizard to attend Hogwarts this year, and so I requested to separate Samurai Wizards. You are one, Midori-san is the other."
"Well, I know why I'm here, but why her?"
"Do you truly?" Dumbledore asked. "Forgive an old teacher, but perhaps you can confirm why you're here."
"…There has been increased Death Eater activity recently in Britain. First was the attack at this school two years ago by a known former Death Eater, then rumors of another former Death Eater infiltrating the school last year, then just recently the mob attack by figures wearing Death Eater robes and the Dark Mark appearing in the sky. You wrote to Kaduki-sama asking for my help in investigating these events."
Dumbledore smiled. "Very good, Natori-san, you keep up with events very well."
"I make it my business to know whatever I can about Voldemort and his followers. But you were rather vague in your letter to Kaduki-sama: all you said was 'investigate'. Exactly what does that entail?"
"…" Dumbledore got up from his desk and approached one of the many spindly-legged tables scattered around his office. Drawing his wand, he gave the small silver device atop the table a tap, and it whirred to life. Purple, green, and gold smoke began issuing from the device and the three different colored smokes began dancing with one another.
Kusuke's eyes went wide, something that Dumbledore did not miss. "You know what this is?"
Kusuke nodded. "A Dream Eater. It can tap into a person's dreams, no matter where they are, and visualize them. But it has to be close to someone first so that it can pinpoint where they are for extraction."
Dumbledore nodded. "Invented by Morgan La Fey in the Dark Ages, only one ever exists; thus is its nature. I discovered La Fey's notes for it in my youth and rebuilt it, and it has helped me battle Voldemort, and other threats, ever since. It cannot penetrate a Dark Wizard's dreams, unfortunately—a safety feature La Fey installed in case it was ever stolen. But there is one wizard whose dreams are truly invaluable. Can you guess whose?
Kusuke shook his head.
"Harry Potter."
Dumbledore tapped the device again, and the three colored smokes formed a ring. The ring filled with haze, and Kusuke saw what Harry Potter had once dreamed…
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"Voldemort…" Kusuke said when it was all done and the machine was turned off. "And a mouse-ish man…"
"He is too weak now," Dumbledore said, but he has a plan to be revived. That plan revolves around Harry Potter. I need you to discover that plan, and twart it."
"Sensei?" Midori asked. "Wouldn't it be easier and less risky to destroy him now?"
"Indeed." Dumbledore answered. "However, to do so would leave Voldemort's plan still in play, and a well-laid plan without a leader is even worse than one with a leader."
"A ship can do much more damage without a helmsman than with."
"Exactly. Once the plan is foiled, we will find Voldemort and kill him. Until then, though, for the safety of the students here at Hogwarts, especially young Harry, we must meet Voldemort's threat and remove it."
"You still haven't explained why Midori-san is here." Izuma-sempai said from the door. Kusuke jumped; he'd forgotten that Izuma-sempai was here.
"That is simply a matter of foresight." He went back to his desk, but rather than sitting in the high-backed chair, he retrieved a very, very old hat. "Kusuke-san?"
Kusuke approached, and Dumbledore placed the hat on his head. It slipped over his ears, and Kusuke heard a voice whisper in his ear.
"Interesting…much older than I'm used to sorting…let's see…my, my, what courage lies in your heart, yet tempered by a cold calculating mind…such power lies within you, very impressive…inherited by your father, eh? And determination…such a fierce determination…I wonder where you should be? I suggest…SLYTHERIN!"
The last was yelled out loud, and Kusuke thought it was over, but at the last second, just as Dumbledore was about to pull the hat from Kusuke's head, the hat then yelled, "Wait!"
Kusuke could almost feel the hat sifting through his mind. "What is this? A room in your mind that I cannot reach? I have never seen such a thing…yet the lock is loose, and I can see just a tiny bit inside…
"AAAAAHHHHHH!"
The hat released an ear-splitting scream, and Kusuke had to rip the hat off his head simply to get the voice away from his ringing ear. He threw it to the ground where it continued to scream, albeit softer by the moment.
"What happened?" Dumbledore asked.
"I…I don't know…" Kusuke's heart was hammering, and not from the hat's scream. When the hat had pried open that door, Kusuke felt something…something powerful…and evil…
Kusuke realized that he was breathing hard and in a cold sweat. He also realized that Midori was hugging him, and Izuma-sempai was kneeling with a hand on his shoulder.
Dumbledore summoned the hat with a Summoning Charm, and lowered the still-whimpering hat onto his own head.
"Are you ok?" Izuma-sempai asked intensely.
"Y-yeah…I think so…" For some reason, Kusuke realized that his hand was clamped over Kagekiri's hilt. When he noticed it, he released it.
"…The Sorting Hat's gone silent." Dumbledore said after he pulled the hat off his head. "It won't say a word about what happened." He stared straight into Kusuke's eyes, and Kusuke got the feeling that he was being scanned. So Dumbledore was a Legilimens? Interesting. Kusuke's first instinct was to use Occlumency, but he realized that he didn't have the strength. "Any idea what happened?"
"…It…it found something in my mind…a locked room, it said…"
Midori and Izuma-sempai exchanged shocked looks.
"It said that the lock was loose enough for it to peek inside, and then it started screaming…"
"Come on," Izuma-sensei said, "you need some rest. Long journey…" He hoisted Kusuke up and wrapped Kusuke's right arm around his shoulder to help provide support, then he spoke to Dumbledore. "We'll have his supplies ready by the start of term."
And they all vanished…
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Ok, before people start getting on my ass over this, I'll go ahead and explain since I doubt I'll have a chance to later. Izuma's method of vanishing at the end of this chapter is through dormant Portkey that he activated to take them all back to Tosa, kind of like a reverse homing beacon. If I were a wizard, I would always keep a supply of small, coin-like disks that can be activated to immediately teleport me to a pre-determined place as a quick means of escape in case Disapparition is impossible, and that's where I got this idea.
Now a list and explanation of Japanese honorifics:
-sama: very high respect; equivalent is 'Lord' or 'Lady'; technically speaking, both Azuma and Orihime Kaduki should be addressed as 'Kaduki-sama', but since English has no way of differentiating gender through that honorific, I decided to use Kaduki-sama when referring to Azuma, and Lady Kaduki when referring to Orihime
-san: rudimentary respect, usually used when speaking to someone either not familiar with or with whom you have a moderate amount of respect for; equivalent is Mr. or Mrs.; also, some dialects use –han in place of –san
-kun: friendly honorific used for either a close male friend or a younger male; sometimes also used with tomboys, but to do so can sometimes be viewed as an insult
-chan: same as –kun, but with females; again, can be used with boys, but usually refers to the boy as overly effeminate
-sempai: already explained
No honorific: in Japanese, no honorific is only used between two people who are very well acquainted or intimate; to use it with anyone else is a huge insult