Chapter 2: Leaking Kettles and Diagon Alley

A/N: Updates will be every two weeks or so except for December. I will try to post Chapter 3 before the 14th, but please be patient because we have to move before the 14th of December so my house is in chaos. After that the next update will be in January.

A big thanks to my beta SimplyFalling211 again. You are amazing!

Zanpakuto talking

Character thinking

Foreign Language

Fifteen minutes later Hitsugaya Toshiro stepped out of the Senkaimon. The humid English weather clawed its way down his throat, choking him. Kuchiki Rukia was the only person who looked as ill as he felt. She paled even further, and her black hair stuck to her face and neck.

He looked around him, at the hasty mortals who continued about their business as if six people hadn't just appeared out of thin air.

"Are these people really that unobservant? We're in gigai; surely they must have noticed something?"

Hyourinmaru snorted, blowing icy breath out of his maw, and shifted in his ice nest but offered no comment.

Out of the corner of a teal coloured eye, he saw Cifer-taicho raise a single black eyebrow in the humans' direction and shake his head. Urahara had that damnable fan covering his face again, so he couldn't determine if the man was as confused as they were or merely amused. It was most likely the latter, knowing how the crazy-ex-scientists' mind worked he was probably laughing like a loon in his mind at the mortals. He looked around trying to spot their meeting place with the Deputy Headmistress, a woman named Minerva McGonagall, at some place called The Leaky Cauldron.

Soi Fon voiced his thoughts at the name with a snort "Who would name a business after a defective kettle?"

Before he could deliver his own nasty remark about the name, a shout from Shihoin caught his attention.

"Over here!" She was standing on the opposite side of the street, easy to spot because of her rich purple hair and dusky skin, despite the many humans attempting to block their view.

She was standing in front of the dirtiest, most run down building Hitsugaya had ever seen. They started crossing the street, just as a giant man, easily taller than Zaraki Kenpachi, entered the pub with a small, spindly black haired youth trailing after him.

They entered the grubby-looking pub as the giant man smacked a hand on the youth's shoulder, causing his knees to buckle. He caught the tail-end of the giants' conversation with the bartender.

"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business." Ah, so that would make him Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. The information provided by the Onmitsukido made it fairly easy to identify him.

Hitsugaya looked closer at the boy next to Hagrid. That must be Potter Harry then. He stopped scrutinising the boy as he realised that the pub had gone completely silent.

The old bartender peered at the boy before whispering "Bless my soul. Harry Potter…what an honour."

There was a great scraping of chairs as every person in the pub rushed forward to shake the youth's hand. The Reapers scurried out of the way to avoid being trampled by the many witches and wizards.

Minerva McGonagall was not a happy witch. Albus had ordered her to The Leaky Cauldron to welcome their new transfers students and teachers. So here she was, waiting for an hour already because Albus couldn't give her an exact time at which they would arrive. Amidst the chaos of the entire Leaky Cauldron wanting to shake Harry Potters' hand, she spotted them. Not that she could miss them, everything about them screamed Foreigner.

There were three adults in the group, the most noticeable a young woman with caramel coloured skin and, of all things, purple hair. Golden cat-like eyes scanned the room with barely concealed amusement. She wore tight black clothing with an orange top and cream arm and leg coverings. The man next to her was even stranger. Although he looked fairly young, he carried a wooden cane with him. He was tall and lean, and she could see gray coloured eyes, and strands of light blond hair under the green and white striped hat he wore. His pants and shirt were a dark green, with an even darker coat over it, lined with white diamonds on the bottom. He also wore Japanese wooden sandals and she could see a fan in his right hand.

"They must be the new teachers." She mused. It made sense as they appeared to be the eldest among the group.

The only other adult in the group was by far the oddest. He was younger than the other two, but too old to be a student. He was handsome, with very pale skin and unruly, shoulder length black hair. His eyes were the brightest, clearest green she had ever seen. Underneath them ran two dark green streaks, almost like tear marks, all the way down to his jaw-line(1). He wore dark slacks and a crisply pressed white shirt, with a dark green tie. The top two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned and the sleeves were rolled up slightly.

"That means those three are the transfer students." She thought, looking at the last three people in the odd group. There was only one boy, who had lightly tanned skin and snow-white hair that stuck up in all directions. He was the smallest of the group, standing at only 4'4", with a very slender build. Deep, turquoise eyes scanned the place even as his face remained impassive. He wore dark pants made out of an odd muggle material, and a simple black shirt. She could see leather boots, as dark as his pants, on his feet. The girl next to him was only a few inches taller, her hair was short, barely shoulder length, and so black it appeared almost blue. A thick strand fell right between violet coloured eyes. She was almost as pale as the older male, and very petite. She wore a bright yellow, summer dress with white shoes and a big white bow around her waist.

The last girl also had black hair, cut short at the front with heavy bangs; over one shoulder hung a long braid tied of with a gold hoop. She wore a chocolate-brown skirt that stopped a few inches above her knee, a golden-green, very loose shirt with thin straps hung off of narrow shoulders. She also wore boots, laced up to her knee.

The small snowy- haired child spotted her, just as she was rising to greet them, and said something to the ebony haired man next to him. He glanced over at her before turning to the rest of his companions. They all turned to look at her, and then made the dangerous trek to her, shoving their way through a crowd of overly eager witches and wizards. They finally reached her, although they looked slightly more ruffled than before.

She stood and brushed non-existent dust off of forest green robes. Aware of the customs she bowed to them before straightening, and saying "Welcome to England. I am Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts. The Headmaster sends his deepest apologies for not being able to welcome you himself; he hopes you enjoy your time here in The Leaky Cauldron."

The man with the bucket hat snapped the fan in his hand open before answering her "Hello! Thank you for going out of your way to meet with us." She could tell he was smirking at her from behind that fan.

"I am Urahara Kisuke (2). The lovely lady on my right is Shihoin Yoruichi. We will be the Eastern Magic teachers for the year. Let me introduce you to the rest of our little group."

He snapped the fan shut and pointed it at the black-haired man on his left "This is Cifer Ulquiorra. He will be the main guard for Hogwarts."

He motioned for the youngest three to move forward which they reluctantly did, one of the girls ducking under the fan-waving hand. "These kawaii children will all be starting as first years at your school." He pointed at the girl who had ducked under his fan first "This is Soi Fon, and the girl on my left is Kuchiki Rukia." The girl with the yellow sundress curtsied at her.

"And this" He waved his fan at the only boy "is Hitsugaya Toshiro."

She nodded at each of them and smiled at the children. Only Rukia smiled back, the other two just blankly looked at her. She cleared her throat to try to ease the tension "Well then, it's a pleasure to meet all of you. We have much to do, so if you all will please follow me."

She led them through the throng of witches and wizards, still surrounding poor Harry, to the back of the pub into a small courtyard with only a trashcan and a few weeds. She tapped the brick three times that was three up and two across from the trashcan. It wriggled and a hole formed in the middle, growing steadily bigger, until a large archway stood where a wall once was.

She smirked inwardly at all the stunned faces surrounding her "Welcome," she fought back a chuckle, "to Diagon Alley.

Against his will, Hitsugaya felt his mouth fall open at the sight of Diagon Alley. The Alley was filled with witches and wizards in robes of all colours. Shops lined the cobbled street on either side, some advertising the most ridiculous things. Hyourinmaru was laughing at him so hard it echoed on the inside of his skull.

"Please follow me." Minerva McGonagall's voice snapped the Reapers out of their shocked state.

He closed his mouth, and attempting to ignore the irritating reptile, followed the witch into the busy alley. They passed a shop where some children were admiring a broom of all things. Hitsugaya barely heard McGonagall announce that they needed to go to a place named Gringotts first. They reached an enormous white building that towered over the smaller shops. A small creature stood beside bronze doors.

As soon as they had passed Minerva whispered, "Gringotts is run by Goblins. They don't take kindly to foreigners. Please hand me your key, and allow me to deal with them." They stopped in front of another set of doors, silver this time. Shihoin gave the witch a tiny golden key. On one side the Shihoin crest was etched into the key.

Hitsugaya read the words on the silver doors with slight amusement.

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there

If any one of the Reaper party wanted to take something from Gringotts, he was sure that the goblins wouldn't even come close to stopping them.

They entered a vast marble hall, filled with even more goblins, and countless doors leading off the hall. Minerva stopped at one of the counters and spoke to the goblin. He nodded when she showed him the key and motioned for another goblin to come forward.

She walked back to them and spoke to Shihoin, "They request you please come with me to get the money, but that the rest of your party stay here." Yoruichi nodded and grinned at them over her shoulder as she followed McGonagall and the goblin.

Yoruichi was surprised at the narrow stone passageway, lit by flaming torches. It sloped down steeply, and she could see small railway tracks. A small cart came hurtling up the tracks as the goblin whistled, she and Minerva got in and it sped off. They finally stopped, after uncountable twists and turns, in front of a large black door. The Shihoin crest was etched onto the door in gold. The goblin opened the door and she heard Minerva gasp. The room was filled from floor the ceiling with gold. Shields lined the walls, polished to look like mirrors. There were heaps of golden coins scattered around the floor. Daggers in sheaths studded with jewels were encased in a glass case at the far wall. Crystal goblets were piled on the floor and she had to step carefully to avoid breaking something.

Yoruichi filled the black bag she had with her with the golden coins. They got back in the cart and after a few minutes and even more dizzying turn, they were finally back.

She approached her comrades with a grin that made them want to make a run for it. She giggled, then pounced on Kisuke squealing, "Shopping!"

The rest of the Reapers shuddered, but followed the were-cat into the Alley.

Next stop, Wands! Thank you for reading! Please remember to click the very pretty, shiny review button and tell me what you think.

(1) I removed his bone-mask-helmet- thingy. He's in a gigai, bear with it.

(2) I know they are in England but I can't type their names the other way around. It doesn't sound right. So for the fic assume that the older wizards aren't idiots and we have Hermione for the kids.