ii. The Stresses of the Sorting Ceremony
(In which Tobi really should have brought a map and Hermione might just be on to something.)
It was ironic, but it was the disappearance of his identity concealing mask that let Obito go unrecognised as the Akatsuki searched the train for their remaining members. Considering the circumstances, Obito didn't mind this one bit.
It hadn't taken him long to gain his bearings. He had been teleported and transformed along with the rest of the organization to a train full of civilian school children, somewhere along the line their trademark Akatsuki cloaks had been traded in for school uniforms, and it was likely that they were meant to attend school along side the actual students - something that wouldn't have interested him in the least if it weren't for the fact that this 'Hogwarts' they were headed to apparently taught magic.
Not ninjutsu or genjutsu, magic. Obito hadn't been aware that there was such a thing, but in five minutes in the train's corridor he'd seen enough flying books and dancing teacups to make him believe it was true.
This of course opened a lot of possibilities. If these were students and they could do things like this, just what could a fully trained wizard do? In any discipline there were basic techniques and dangerous, complex ones, and Obito would bet his money this magic was no different. And of course, the only logical thing to do when faced with an untapped wealth of new powers and techniques? Find the strongest and most destructive ones and take them for your own.
Obito had no question that Pain would be doing the same, but even for their magnificent leader keeping eight missing nin undercover was going to be a handful. For now the best course of action for Obito was to separate from the group; until Zetsu showed himself he had no obligation to make himself known. He'd let them draw all the attention towards themselves while he flew in under the radar, and then when the time was right he'd reveal himself (with a spectacular entrance and a well timed joke, of course.)
His mind already overflowing with possible gags, Obito transformed into an eleven year old version of himself before putting on the best cheesy, disarming grin he could muster and sliding open a compartment door at random.
"Hi, I'm Tobi! Can I sit with you?"
Harry wasn't sure what to make of the hopeful, too-innocent-to-actually-be-innocent face he was met with when the compartment door was opened for the second time that train ride. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to deal with gawking students until at least until the entrance feast, but he supposed that was asking too much.
"Well, er... actually..." he glanced at Ginny and Neville, who very aware of the downsides of their friend's fame. Neville just gave Harry a sympathetic look, while Ginny attempted to back Harry up, getting as far as opening her mouth before she was cut off by an airy voice from the corner.
"Yes, alright."
The three Gryffindors turned to the Ravenclaw in the window seat, wanting to protest but biting their tongues because Luna had been there first, after all. With a happy 'whoo alright!' the first year quickly made himself at home beside Luna, and Harry resigned himself to hope that maybe this kid was muggleborn and had no clue who he was.
"Thanks!" said Tobi just a little too loudly, and Harry started mentally preparing himself for the longest train ride he'd ever had. "Finding a seat's impossible out there! I tried asking some of those green guys and they looked like they wanted to eat me." Tobi grimaced comically at this, his every movement and expression exaggerated.
"I'm glad you escaped unharmed, being eaten doesn't sound very pleasant," sympathized Luna. Ginny barely managed to hold back a laugh here at just how serious Luna sounded.
Luna held out her hand for the younger boy to shake, introducing herself. "My name is Luna Lovegood. I know what it's like to have a hard time finding a seat too, so don't worry. I think most people just don't realize how it feels to be left out, so they exclude people without thinking. It's still awfully rude of them, but they probably just don't know better."
Oh. Luna really did have a knack for laying out uncomfortable truths with brutal honesty, didn't she. Now feeling suitably guilty about having wanted to send the kid away, he gave him a small smile he hoped looked welcoming.
Ginny and Neville seemed to get the 'don't make the kid feel left out' memo as well, and made polite conversation with him and even shared some of their snacks from the food trolley. Tobi, in true first year style, seemed enthralled with everything they said, no matter how mundane. He was particularly taken with Neville's toad Trevor, who he claimed reminded him of his old teacher's pets and he thought was really cool. (This seemed to please Neville, who gave Tobi his last chocolate frog.)
It was all quite peaceful until the door opened for a third time, this time to Hermione and Ron, fresh from their prefect duties.
"I'm starving," said Ron, flopping onto the seat the moment he'd stored Pigwidgeon on the rack with Hedwig. Harry tossed him a chocolate frog, while Hermione started in on her report, business as always.
"Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each house, a boy and a girl from each. Malfoy's Slytherin's of course-"
"Hey!" complained Ron, mouth full of frog, "I wanted to tell Harry that, where's your sense of suspense?"
Hermione gave him a withering look before continuing. "As I was saying. It's Malfoy and that troll Parkinson for Slytherin, Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott for Hufflepuff, and Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw. But that's not important. We learned something else while we were out patrolling the hallway."
Harry couldn't imagine what could be more important than his arch rival Malfoy making Prefect, but given the look on Hermione's face he didn't think it wise to argue.
"The Head Boy and Girl couldn't tell us a thing about it," started Hermione seriously, "But in addition to the first years, somehow this year we're taking in even more new students, and these ones look like they're old enough to be in their fourth or fifth year!"
"Yeah!" added Ron, suddenly interested in the conversation. "And one of them's blue!"
Ginny pointed out that Ron had been blue before too, thanks to Fred and George, and Ron tried his best to explain how that was completely different, while Hermione sat staring at Harry with an expectant look. When she got no response she gave an exasperated sigh.
"It's not normal! Wizards don't just do exchange programs the way muggles do, don't you remember how much of a big deal the Triwizard Tournament was? Wizards are secretive, Harry, they don't let just anyone come and see their schools. We haven't admitted a foreign wizard into our school in over 1000 years, so why now? There's something strange going on here, I know it."
Ron rolled his eyes, unwrapping a pumpkin pasty. "I already told you Hermione, you're overreacting about this. How dangerous can a few fourth years be?"
Hermione was right, it did seem odd, but at the same time Ron had a valid point as well. Harry had a hard time imagining that Voldemort would send a handful of fourteen year olds after him.
"Well..." started Harry, trying to be reasonable about the situation, "If they're going to Hogwarts then Dumbledore has to know about it, right? There's no way he'd let them come if there wasn't a good reason for it." Or if he didn't think he could handle them if they were a threat, Harry added mentally.
"Even Dumbledore's not perfect Harry," Hermione frowned, frustrated that she wasn't being taken seriously. "I trust him, but what if something slips past him like last year? You almost died, Harry. Cedric did die. We can't let him do all the work for us, we have to think for ourselves, too. Now that You-know-who is back-"
"Um, hey guys? Sorry to butt in and all, but you keep saying 'You-know-who', and I don't know who. Who are we talking about?"
All attention turned to a very curious Tobi, who everyone had forgotten was even there.
"Maybe we should talk about this later," suggested Neville.
"He's going to find out about it anyway," Ron pointed out.
"But dropping this kind of news on a muggleborn right when they learn they're a wizard is kind of cruel, isn't it?" worried Neville. "We'll have him scared out of his pants before he even gets to school."
"I won't be scared! I saw Senpai without his makeup once, and I didn't even scream!" piped Tobi, but no one paid him any attention.
"Good," said Harry. "He should be scared. Keeping him in the dark about this would be pointless. He needs to know so he can defend himself when Voldemort makes his move."
"Voldemort, is that You-know-who's name? It sounds kind of cheesy, he should look into updating his image..."
Everyone flinched at Harry's use of the name and again when Tobi repeated it. They all knew Harry was right, it had to be done. Tobi may be naive, but it was clear he was going to keep asking questions until they answered him. Biting the bullet, Hermione tried to explain.
"Yes, Tobi, that's his name. Most wizards won't say it because it brings back memories of all the horrible things he did while he was in power." The next question on Tobi's face clearly read 'what kind of horrible things?', so Hermione hesitantly continued.
"You see... Voldemort believed that only witches and wizards with no muggles in their family tree were worthy of having magic. So he... did things to muggles and muggleborns, and anyone who sided with them. He killed and tortured people, Tobi. A lot of people. No one could stop him.
"But then fifteen years ago one of his curses backfired and he disappeared. Everyone thought he was dead, but he wasn't. Then last year he came back, and now he's out there somewhere right now gathering followers, and it's only a matter of time before he makes his move again." Hermione watched Tobi carefully as she finished, unsure about what kind of reaction he would have.
True to his word, Tobi didn't look scared about being told there was an evil wizard out there who killed people like him, but the really surprising part was how seriously he was taking the conversation. The stupid grin and naive attitude everyone had seen up until then had disappeared and been replaced another look, one that was world-worn and weary and looked completely out of place on his eleven year old features.
It didn't last long, and after a moment Tobi laughed, going back to his old self. "Wow, that's a lot to take in, huh? I guess I'll have to keep my guard up here."
The rest of the journey was largely uneventful, besides a rude visit from Malfoy near the end. Tobi proved to have an insatiable curiosity, and that first awkward Voldemort question unleashed what seemed like a never ending stream of questions about classes and houses and sorting and Quidditch and the castle and anything else you could possibly think of. Ron made a few snarky comments about the kid being an unbearable chatterbox, but for the most part the older students put up with his questions, taking turns answering them. By the end of the trip Tobi had learned more than he could have ever hoped, and Luna had even given him a copy of the Quibbler for further reading.
Eventually the train rolled into the station and it was time to say goodbye, (much to everyone's relief.) Giving his new friends one last wave, Tobi joined in with the gaggle of younger students, blending seamlessly into their ranks and disappearing.
"He was... nice," said Hermione, watching Tobi's back as he ran off.
"He was something alright," snorted Ron. "I just hope to god he doesn't get sorted into Gryffindor."
"First years and new students, this way please! Line up here!"
Instead of Hagrid, it was a short, stocky witch with short trimmed hair gathering the new students together this year. She didn't tower over the crowd the way Hagrid did, but she her voice was loud enough to make up for it.
Hogwarts' newest students flocked towards her, and sure enough among the pudgy eleven year old students were a handful of taller, older looking ones. The first years were giving them as wide of a berth as they could manage on the platform, and one or two of them looked just about ready to topple over onto the tracks in their attempt to distance themselves from their scary upperclassmen.
Once the woman was satisfied she'd rounded up the last of the students she was to deliver, she introduced herself.
"Good evening and welcome to your first year at Hogwarts. I am Professor Grubbly-Plank, and I will be guiding you to the castle tonight. Now let's not waste any more time, off we go." And with that she began the trek towards the castle with her hodge-podge pack of students trailing behind her.
"Damn, no wonder people were talking so much shit about us on the train," said Hidan as they squelched through the mud. "We're at least twice as tall as the rest of these kids. Besides Deidara and Sasori I mean, they're so tiny they blend right in."
"Pity your brain never caught up to the rest of your body," retorted Sasori.
Deidara snickered appreciatively. "I bet that's not the only thing that never caught up, un."
Hidan's angry shouts of 'What did you just say about my dick?!' were cut off by Professor Grubbly-Plank's admonishment of, "No fighting!"
Before long the group reached the edge of the lake where a fleet of small boats was tied up.
"Everybody in, four to a boat now. Keep low, careful not to rock them..." The professor watched carefully to make sure that everyone followed her directions and got in their boats safely.
As anyone who has completed fifth grade math can tell you, nine is not divisible by four, which meant one person would have to be in a boat with first years. Hidan happily volunteered for this job, much to the horror of the three first years he ended up with.
"Is leaving Hidan on his own like that going to be okay?" asked Yahiko to Konan as the boat they were sharing with Nagato and Itachi pushed off into the lake. Konan only smiled wryly, not answering with words.
To no one's surprise, Yahiko's fears were proven correct when halfway through the voyage there was a huge SPLASH and suddenly Hidan was the only person left in his boat. Professor Grubbly-Plank interrogated the sopping wet students once they had landed safely on the other side of the lake, but the first years insisted rather vehemently that it was an accident and that Hidan had nothing to do with it at all, so she begrudgingly let an incredibly smug looking Hidan get away with only a warning.
She counted them one last time to make sure none had been left behind, before leading them through a set of large oak doors to a hallway where a tall, stern looking woman was waiting for them.
"Here you are, Minerva, all accounted for," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, rather proud of herself considering the resistance she'd dealt with. In a whisper she added, "Watch out for the one with silver hair, he's a troublemaker."
"Thank you, Wilhelmina. I'll take them from here," replied Professor McGonagall, who with a call of 'this way' began her trek through the castle to the Great Hall.
Up staircases, behind paintings, and through secret passages they went until finally they were led to a large open hallway and ushered into a small room beside a set of enormous doors. They could hear hundreds of muffled voices from the next room, it seemed that was where the rest of the school was waiting for them.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat for attention before addressing the students. "Welcome all of you to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall. In a moment, you will all be sorted into your new houses. Your house will be your family while you are here at Hogwarts, and you will earn or lose points for your house depending on your behaviour." She paused here to give a firm look of warning to Deidara, who had rather roughly pushed a smaller student away so he wouldn't have to stand by Itachi. "The four houses are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. Each house has it's own unique strengths, and I hope you will all be a credit to the house you are sorted into."
A moment after she finished a scraggly looking man followed by a cat lurched into the room, and whispered a message into her ear. She nodded and he hurried off, leaving her once more with a room full of apprehensive students.
"We are ready for you now. Please follow me."
Whoever had designed this castle knew a thing or two about making the layout so potential intruders would have a hard time invading, thought Obito. He knew going in that the castle was going to be something of a maze, but he had thought that was just civilians exaggerating. He had no idea it was going to be this bad.
On the bright side, it made slipping away without McGonagall (and more importantly the rest of the Akatsuki) noticing amazingly easy; but on the down side it made finding anything nearly impossible. He had planned to look for the library first, but right about now he thought he'd settle for even finding a bathroom.
Figuring he could cover more ground with longer legs, Obito released his transformation and went back to his normal self. (That is, his fifteen year old self. Not exactly normal, but better than being eleven by far.) He was just about to turn around and try going left at the last turn instead of right, when he heard a voice behind him.
"You're a long way from the Great Hall, aren't you?"
Obito froze, his sharingan swirling into action. Someone had snuck up on him. How? He hadn't heard anyone in the hallway behind him, and there was nowhere for anyone to hide. Slowly turning on the spot, Obito was met with the very last thing he'd been expecting.
A ghost.
He was large and jolly looking, transparent, and floating in the air partially embedded in a wall. Well, that explained how he showed up out of nowhere, but even with that answer Obito wasn't sure what to do. Would genjutsu work on a ghost? Could he hurt it? Could it hurt him? What was it capable of? Would anyone miss it if he used Kamui on it?
The ghost laughed, apparently taking Obito's silence for shyness. "It's alright, it's easy to get lost in the castle your first time. You're one of those new students everyone's been talking about, yes? Come now, let's get you to the Great Hall before you miss the sorting. Maybe you'll end up in Hufflepuff, that's my old house you know..."
Obito figured he had two options here: he could run away and draw attention to himself, or he could go along with ghost's assumptions and search the castle later as a student. The first wasn't much of an option at all honestly, so he made the only real choice he could and allowed the babbling ghost to lead him back to the Great Hall and the awaiting feast.
McGonagall was on her fourth name when the Fat Friar came flying through the doors.
"Hold on Professor, don't start the sorting quite yet, you lost one in the halls!"
The doors creaked opened behind him, and in walked a very sheepish looking Tobi. Every face in the hall turned to him, wanting to see the boy who'd got lost on his way to the sorting. Not exactly the kind of entrance he'd planned to make.
"I found him all the way down by the kitchens, imagine that! It's lucky I was down there anyway to check on the feast, who knows when we would have found him!"
McGonagall looked surprised, but remained calm despite the whispers that were breaking out amongst the students. "The sorting has already started, Friar, but thank you for bringing the student back unharmed." She turned to Tobi. "Stand in the line with the others, please."
Everyone was gawking at the new student as he joined the other new students waiting to be sorted, but none more than the group at Gryffindor table.
"Is that... Tobi?" asked Ron incredulously.
"It has to be," Harry replied, doing his best not to gawk at the boy.
Tobi caught them looking, and gave them a smile and a wave. He was taller and older, the right side of his face was covered with an odd, swirled scar tissue, and he seemed to be missing an eye, but there was no doubt about it. It was definitely Tobi.
"I told you something was suspicious about the transfer students," whispered Hermione knowingly.
Deciding they had been held up long enough, Professor McGonagall called for attention. "Everyone, settle down now, we still have sorting to do."
Among the students waiting to be sorted, Tobi was scratching his head and giving his friends a dopey smile.
"Heh heh... sorry I'm late... Has anyone seen Zetsu, I can't find him anywhere."
Most of the others only gave Tobi a cursory once over before focusing back on the sorting, but Itachi watched him long after the others had lost interest. Tobi could feel himself faltering under the intensity of his gaze, so he attempted to escape by sidling around to where Deidara stood.
"Hey Deidara, I think there's something wrong with your shirt!" whispered Tobi, tugging on Deidara's sleeve.
Deidara raised an eyebrow, barely sparing Tobi a sideways glance. "What are you talking about?"
"You can't see your stomach in it! Don't tell me- did you get fat?!"
Tobi was only saved from Deidara's wrath by Professor McGonagall calling the blond up to the stool for his turn to be sorted.
Deidara was barely suppressing his anger as he made his way up on the stage, muttering and cursing about how Tobi was just too lucky for his own good. He pulled the hat onto his head a bit more violently than was strictly necessary, and nearly toppled the stool with the force he sat himself down with.
There was whispering amongst the students as they wondered where the first of the mysterious older students was going to be sorted. It took a minute, but after a bit of deliberation the hat declared, "SLYTHERIN!"
There were cheers from the table decked in green, and Deidara made his way over to sit with his new housemates, but not before making the 'I'm watching you' motion with his fingers at Tobi.
The crowd didn't have long to wait before the next Akatsuki was called, and in record time Hidan was put in Slytherin as well.
Then was 'Hoshigaki, Kisame'. The whispers started up again now, but considering he was the only blue skinned person in the hall that wasn't too surprising. He was put in Gryffindor, much to the glee of the Weasley twins.
There were a few more normal first years called before it was Kakuzu's turn at bat. He was placed in Slytherin, and looked downright livid when he realized he'd been sorted into the same house as Deidara and Hidan. Then came Konan who became the first Ravenclaw of the group, followed by Nagato as the first Hufflepuff, and then Sasori in Ravenclaw as well. When it came time for 'Uchiha, Itachi', the hat took its sweet time deciding, but eventually it settled on Hufflepuff.
It was right about then that Tobi realized what was causing that sinking feeling of dread that he felt when Itachi was called. They had already passed the letter 'T'.
His fears were confirmed only a moment later when McGonagall announced, "Uchiha, Obito".
It might not have caught the attention of the student body, but the use of the surname 'Uchiha' didn't escape the notice of the Akatsuki. Nor did the fact that it was 'Obito' and not 'Madara' that followed it. As Tobi stepped forward he could feel the distinct feeling of nine pairs of eyes piercing into the back of his skull.
Great. Just what he needed.
"All that work keeping my old identity secret just for a talking hat to ruin everything," he grumbled under his breath as the hat was placed on his head.
"I'm sorry the reveal wasn't quite as grand as you'd imagined," came a voice from inside his head.
Huh, they weren't kidding about the talking hat. Obito had been told about how the Sorting Hat worked on the train, but he couldn't help but be a little surprised upon actually hearing it. A hat that read minds... these wizards really came up with some interesting stuff.
"I guess this means you're going to probe my memories and decide my place based on that. A bit invasive, isn't it? Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to read people's minds without permission?"
"I've found that people don't mind if they have nothing to hide," said the hat, and Obito had to admit it had him there. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go ahead."
"Suit yourself. Don't blame me for anything you find there." And with that, Obito felt the hat's strange tendrils of foreign magic sifting through his memories.
"Hmm, now let's see... Oh my, taking over the world? And stepping on so many people to get there. It's been years since I saw ambition like this, and that's not a compliment. But that's not my place to judge... you certainly are effective in getting what you want, aren't you? There's a frightening level of dedication to your ideals here, or should I say, Madara's ideals... Hmm, but isn't this interesting, this girl here, from your past-"
That was enough for Obito, and he cut the hat off mid sentence before it could touch a sore spot. "To be honest, I don't care where I go as long as I don't end up with Itachi and Pain."
The hat barked in laughter at this. "You mean in Hufflepuff? Boy, you don't have a single Hufflepuff bone in your body, no need to worry about that. You've got some strong Gryffindor traits there, buried deep, but with the path you've chosen to follow right now you're much better suited for SLYTHERIN!"
The last word was shouted aloud for all to hear. As Obito removed the hat from his head, he couldn't help but wonder just how he was going to talk his way out of this one.
