A/N: I apologize if that last Chapter seemed a little bit boring, but all that chatting and planning had to be gotten rid of before we began the fun activities. Now that it's out of the way though... well, let the fun begin.
Chapter Three- The Boy Who Lived
Hitsugaya POV
I spent a few minutes getting my stuff set up around the small room and getting changed into clothing that would make me less noticeable after Dumbledore left, it was nice and quiet in the room, but I could still hear what was going on in the Dursley household to make sure Potter wouldn't need my help. For the most part I would probably spend my time sneaking around on rooftops to keep an eye on him, especially during the night time when he's asleep and the chances of something going wrong were high. I could only hang out on the rooftops during the night though, Potter is a wizard, and therefore he can see me. That means that sitting outside his window in broad daylight is just asking for trouble. I'll have to get creative to figure this one out.
As far as I knew it was about ten o'clock at night right now, which was disorienting to say the least since the time was complexly different than that of the Soul Society. I could hear Mr and Mrs Dursley head up to bed, and a loud snoring noise coming from another bedroom. I highly doubted that noise was coming from Potter, since snoring that loud could only come from someone that weighed a lot.
Eventually I figured I had better go up to keep an eye on Potter. The entire neighbourhood was asleep from the sounds of it, so I quietly slid open the door. Climbing up onto the roof I peeked into all of the ground floor windows, there were no bedrooms there so I moved up to the second floor. I didn't feel like wasting the reiatsu it would take to fly, so I just jumped up and pulled myself over the window ledge to look in. This was a boy's room, but I highly doubted that it belonged to Harry Potter. The boy sleeping in the bed was so huge I doubted that he could even walk properly, let alone fend off dark wizards. He was snoring so loudly and had such a stupid look on his face that I actually had to work really hard to keep myself from breaking out into a fit of laughter.
I swung myself over to the next window and looked in, it was just a bathroom. I could smell the cleaning chemicals from out here, actually, it's a wonder that the people in that house haven't died from poisoning yet. I would have passed out if I had to spend more than ten minutes in there.
I jumped over to the next window, feeling a little bit like a stalker and not caring. After all, I was just doing my job and protecting these people. If they were to have a problem with it (which they won't, because I don't plan on getting caught) then I would just tell them to suck it up. It was either me peeking through their windows or the hollows, and when a thing wearing a white mask with a hole in its chest looks through their windows I can guarantee that they'll want me back immediately.
The next room contained a master bed with two people laying in it. One was a thin, twig like woman with a scowl etched onto her face even in her sleep. The other one was a pudgy man with a moustache, he was muttering to himself with an irritated expression on his face.
I fell pretty bad for Potter, actually, it must suck for him to have to put up with these people for an entire summer while he knows his friends are off having fun without him.
Eventually I found a boy who must be Harry Potter. He was a thin, bony child with messy brown hair. I could see a pair of round glasses sitting on the bedside before him. His hands were clenched and he was twitching back and forth, he turned towards me and I saw that he had a thin, lightning bolt scar running down his face. He twitched again and mumbled, "Cedric, no. We have to get out of here, that's- Cedric!" I sighed; he was obviously having a bad nightmare. Then again, anyone who's seen the kind of stuff he has would have a nightmare.
I looked around his bedroom, clothing and spell books were scattered everywhere. The only thing that he appeared to be taking care of was a shiny looking broomstick sitting in a corner, although why he was keeping that in good condition was a mystery to me. Maybe brooms had some kind of wizarding power. The white snowy owl sitting in a cage in the corner of the room looked at me and let out a screech.
I quickly dropped down onto the ground, pressing my back against the wall under his window. I heard Potter sit up with a gasp. There was a scrambling noise as he reached for what I assumed were his glasses and a wand. His reaction time was good, I could say that much for someone who had just woken out of an obviously deep sleep.
I heard him get up and say, "What is it, Hedwig? Do you want out again?" I heard him go over and unlatch the cage, but the bird stayed there, just making a chirping noise. "Well," I heard Potter say, "If you want out the window is open." I heard him take off his glasses and roll back into bed. Cautiously I made my way up again, this time going to the roof above his house. I would analyse his spiritual pressure later, all the magical objects in the room- even the owl- were emitting a faint reiatsu that was interfering with my attempt to see if he was a horucrux.
I pulled out my Soul Phone and sent a message to Yamamoto:
Dumbledore Albus has informed me that you have a
tube that I can send messages in.
Please confirm.
As much as Dumbledore seemed like a nice enough man, I wanted to make sure Yamamoto really had the twin for that tube. It would be a grand mistake on my part to not check and then find out that I had been sending private messages concerning my mission to Dumbledore.
There were a few minutes of waiting where I debated whether or not to go get that map and begin an escape route. Then I realised that I had absolutely no paper here to write on. I was going to have to wait until that Hagrid fellow got here and took me to buy supplies before I began sending reports and making plans. Sighing, I leaned back and closed my eyes, sensing the spiritual pressure around the house. There was nothing at all except for the faint reiatsu of humans and animals. Potter's house was the most spiritually rich thing around, which wasn't surprising considering that he lived there.
I was about to start meditating with Hyorinmaru when the Soul Phone buzzed, startling me out of my half-trance. I opened it up and a message appeared on my screen.
I have such a tube.
I expect your report no later than tomorrow night.
Good luck, Hitsugaya Taicho.
I nodded, half-relieved and half-disappointed. I was relieved because at least this meant Dumbledore wasn't lying to me. I was disappointed though because if he had been lying to us then it would have been a wonderful opportunity to screw with him and send him false messages in the tube while communicating with Yamamoto on the Soul Phone.
I spent the entire night up on the rooftop just staring at the stars and patrolling for enemies. Even though the night was clear the stars in this city were depressing, the light coming from all the houses cars and streetlamps blotted them out. The Soul Society had none of those things, and the sky always looked like it was alive at night with flashing bursts of colour and spiritual energy. The sun was just starting to rise, so I looked around cautiously and prepared to jump down, hoping that no one would see me sneak back into my underground room.
Something stopped me from going through with my plan though. There was a kind of whooshing noise and all of a sudden I felt the spiritual pressure of an unknown wizard. I leapt from the roof and darted towards it using shunpo. A huge man stood there, wearing a huge brown jacket that was covered in pockets. He had a long, messy brown beard with hair that matched. He frowned and scratched his head, looking at a map, "Dumbledore said the kid would be around here somewhere. Damn. I hope Harry doesn't see me, he's having a hard enough time as it is..."
Walking up behind him I said, "Then I suggest you stop standing in the middle of the street, especially considering you're standing right outside his house. As for this kid you're looking for, I should hope you're not talking about me since I am most definitely not a kid."
The man turned to look at me, his mouth falling open at my appearance before he snapped it shut and spoke, "Then let's go for a quick stroll down that way, we've got a few minutes before the Portkey goes again."
I nodded easily and followed him, "Are you Hagrid?"
He nodded, "I'll take it you're Toshiro Hitsugaya then?"
"Hai."
"You look an awful lot like a kid to me."
I gritted my teeth, "Looks can be deceiving."
He chuckled, "That's true, I suppose." glancing at his watch he said, "It should be going soon now, grab onto the boot, Toshiro. Unless you want to get left behind, of course." he held out a small leather boot and I grabbed onto it, not believing at all that it would work and hoping that no one back in the Soul Society would ever get wind of this. I must look like a complete idiot right now, standing in the middle of the street in broad daylight while sharing a rotten old boot with a giant.
"I have no intention of getting left behind." I muttered under my breath, "And my name is Hitsugaya, not Toshi-" I didn't have time to finish the familiar sentence, because there was a sharp jerking feeling and suddenly we were falling through blackness. Eventually we landed in the middle of the city. I frowned and looked around me, seeing a huge clock tower I realised we must be in London. We walked down a side street that was rather sketchy and came to a bar known as the 'Leaky Cauldron'.
The first thought that popped into my head was 'What a pathetic name'.
The second was, 'How is this place not falling down around my ears'.
The Leaky Cauldron was an old run-down pub. There was dust everywhere and barely any light shone through the dirty window. Despite that though, there were quite a few people dressed in strange robes sitting around drinking and talking. The man in the bar looked up, "Hagrid." he said by way of greeting, giving us a rather toothless smile, "New student? He looks a little young to be going to Hogwarts."
I gritted my teeth and tried my best to ignore the insult. Despite my best effort though, the temperature still dropped several degrees.
"He's a transfer student from Japan; He'll actually be in Fifth Year."
"I take it your schools are tougher then?" he asked with another smile, turning to me.
"I don't know yet," I said, "I haven't seen what Hogwarts is like yet."
Actually, what I wanted to say was, "Unless Hogwarts has full on battle classes where the students go out in groups of three and kill hollows, and pass and fail is measured in whether or not you survive, then yes, I would say our school is harder. Not to mention students in the Shinigami Academy are often adults- which results in a large amounts of drinking and swearing- and quite a few other people are completely and utterly insane, making studying harder for those of us who want to get the hell out of school."
He chuckled, "He's a smart one Hagrid."
We walked out of the room, leaving without any trouble, but then one woman said, "I don't know why his parents are letting him go there. Especially when they have a perfectly good school in Japan. Everyone knows Dumbledore has gone off his rocker, and he'll only bring Hogwarts down with him if he keeps on believing that delusional Potter boy."
Hagrid got an absolutely furious look on his face and made to turn around. I grabbed onto his arm, stopping him and holding him in place. His eyes widened at how strong I was. "Wait." I told him quietly, "You're a known supporter for Dumbledore. They won't listen to you at all. Let me handle this, and whatever you do, don't interfere."
Pitching my voice louder I said, "What do you mean? Who's this Potter boy?"
The woman spoke again; she wore pink clothing and looked a lot like a toad. Her voice was sugary sweet and I got the impression she was more dangerous than any hollow. I also got the impression that someone; most likely the Ministry, had hired her to spread discontent over Dumbledore.
God, I hate politics.
"Harry Potter," she said, her voice clouded with thinly veiled disgust, "Is a good for nothing liar. He somehow cheated and got into the tri-wizard tournament underage. Then when he and another competitor go to the end he killed that competitor so he could win. Then to top it all off he said it was he-who-must-not-be-named that did it. Potter is just a delusional little boy who suffers from lack of proper parents and wants attention. He's been Dumbledore's favourite for a long, long time. He's just indulging the boy, and everyone knows it. The Ministry of Magic has been trying to get Dumbledore out of Hogwarts for ages; they know he's been biased towards the students. They want him gone."
I tried to look thoughtful for a while before replying, "Surely your Ministry has ways of telling what the last spell cast on a person is and who cast it? I know our government does. I think the bigger question is why didn't they do that to clear it all up. Did they do it?"
The toad woman shook her head, "No. It was so obvious Potter was delusional that it was deemed unnecessary."She seemed faintly nervous about something.
I frowned, "That doesn't make sense. If they really wanted to find out the truth then all they had to do was cast that one spell. Now, try thinking of it this way. Who has the most to gain from he-who-must-not-be-named being dead for good? I'd say it would be the ministry. They're politicians, and for something this big to have happened under their watch; well, they'd be in pretty big trouble. Let's face it; the chances of a baby actually killing a fully grown wizard are slim. The fact that the ministry confirmed that he was dead seems like a pretty big mistake to me. And now they're trying to cover it up. You all know what it was like though, this guy was evil; everyone fears him to the point where no one even says his name. The ministry is trying to use your fear of him to make sure you never want to believe he's back, so they can clean up their mess in secret. You know what I think though? I think it's better to look a little paranoid than to be dead. Just take a few precautions, that's all anyone has to do. Then wait to see what happens. I think that, whether it's true or not, you at least need to do that." I let my eyes travel over them as if I were giving a pep-talk to my squad before a big fight. They were hanging off of my every word and the woman looked absolutely horrified. I had them, and she knew it.
"Why would the Ministry take a chance with something so serious? Are they so blinded by power? There's a point where people need to take a stand for something themselves. You can take that stand, if you get twenty people to do it, then soon they'll have all their friends doing it, then they'll have all their friend's friends doing it. You don't need to live in fear like the Ministry wants you to; you just need to be prepared." I shrugged, "But that's just my opinion of course." And with those words Hagrid and I turned and walked out of the room into a dingy back alleyway.
"Wait a moment," I murmured to Hagrid, "I need to know if that worked, or if I need to find another argument."
I stopped and closed my eyes, standing outside the door and listening. The toad woman was the first to speak, her poisonous sugar voice easy to pick out. "Well, he was a strange child. Did you see his hair, I bet he spends hours bleaching and gelling it. And his eyes, they were so cold. I bet he's crazier than Dumbledore and Potter combined."
"Oh, shut up Dolores. We all know where your loyalties lie." I paled, that woman was the Umbridge person Dumbledore warned me about. That woman was going to Hogwarts. Damn, she's going to make my life harder now. Oh well, the day I can't deal with a toad is the day I'll have to resign.
Oh, somehow I don't think you'll be resigning anytime soon, Master. That was bloody brilliant. The look of horror on her face... priceless. Who knew you were so good at that?
You of all people should know that you can't persuade a squad of two hundred fighters and a drunken Lieutenant to follow you orders- especially when you look as young as I do- without learning how to manipulate the hell out of people.
You know, sometimes you're one scary little kid.
I'll ignore the 'little kid' part and take that as a compliment.
There were several more catcalls sent towards the ministry member, and I heard her chair scrape as she fled from the room. A smile grew on my face at that. Then, only adding to my delight, I heard all the people in the pub start talking about what precautions they were going to take. Then, really, really adding to my delight, they started planning meeting where they could discuss what needed to be done about finding out the truth.
Hagrid turned to look at me, "That was bloody brilliant. How did you do that? You're just a kid."
I sighed, gritting my teeth, "I. Am. Not. A. Kid." I grated out, "I am older than you are, and I have seen things that would send you running. So I ask you to please stop calling me a kid before I lose my temper."
The temperature around us dropped a few degrees.
Hagrid nodded, "Fine. But that still asks the question. How did you do that?"
"Dumbledore hasn't been thinking outside the box, where I come from we do things differently than he does. If the government does not listening, then you get the people to listen to you. The ministry members are all people, after all. Eventually they will jump on board. Dumbledore cannot fight of Voldemort with the Order of the Phoenix alone. You learned that last time. He needs everyone. Secret societies only get secretly run over and destroyed."
"Yes, but anyone who fights Voldemort ends up dead. In telling them to prepare you've put those people in a lot of danger."
I met his eyes squarely, "And your point?" I asked coldly.
"That doesn't bother you?"
I shook my head, "I am not a teacher like Dumbledore, nor am I a politician like Umbridge. I am a warrior. My job is to fight and kill and protect those around me. I can already tell you people aren't like me. You would not coolly calculate the possibility of beating Voldemort; they would either charge or turn and run. I know that when you're up against people like Voldemort you need to be smart, you need to have resolve. And most of all, you need to have an army. And no, I don't mean an army of people who have no attachment to the cause, I mean you need anyone who you enemy is targeting to be prepared to fight him, to come to battle without a moment's hesitation. Dumbledore, in his desperate attempt to protect everyone, did not realise that this is everyone's fight. Since Voldemort will target everyone, than everyone needs to become involved. Guarding an entire county with an organization of twenty people will not work. To guard an entire country, you need an entire county. Those people in the room discussing how to protect themselves may not be many, but they are a start."
"Then we should get people who know how to fight, not people off of the street."
I raised an eyebrow, "And what exactly is the Order composed of? People off of the street. I'll tell you this right now, Hagrid. In the Soul Society none of you- not even Dumbledore- would be considered powerful fighters, or even a minor threat. I would not even be here now if it weren't for the fact that Voldemort split his soul several times, breaking our laws and requiring someone high level to perform a Soul Burial. We would have sent a squad of minor fighters, or maybe a sixth or seventh seat. Besides, if he gets his way Voldemort will kill them all anyways. Not one single wizard in that room was a pureblood, and therefore they'll all die. Might as well give them a fighting chance. This is their war too- in shutting them out you do them a great dishonour. You're basically saying 'You're too pathetic, so stand back and let the big boys take care of this'. You're not the only ones with a lot to lose, and you should never, ever forget the power of a group of people who have everything to lose."
"You say Squads, Dumbledore told us you were a Shinigami from the Soul Society, but he didn't tell us what rank you were. We assumed your society had no ranks... but from the way you're talking that is not the case."
I smiled grimly, "No. It's not. The Soul Society is under constant attack by people who want to take over the universe and become gods. Because of that the Soul Society is run by the military; the Shinigami. There is a king, but he is just a figure head. There was a council, but they were murdered by Aizen- one of those people attempting to exceed God. That leaves the Gotei Thirteen, the Stealth Forces and the Kidou Corps. Both the Stealth Forces and the Kidou Corps are part of the Gotei Thirteen; they just aren't part of the thirteen squads."
"And the rank within the squads?"
"Each squad has approximately two-hundred fighters in it, but the numbers vary depending on the squad. There are ten seated members in the squad. From tenth seat to third seat their power levels are similar, they handle the day to day affairs for the squad. They may or may not have achieved a Shikai level of fighting. Then comes the Lieutenant, or Vice Captain. They all have achieved Shikai and they have completed an exam stating they are worthy of being second in command of a squad. Then, after a Lieutenant there is a Captain. The Captains are immensely more powerful, they have achieved a level after Shikai- the Bankai level. Very, very few people have ever achieved this. It requires you taking complete and total control of you Zanpakuto spirit and merging it with yourself to use their powers."
"And your rank?"
"Captain."
Hagrid's mouth fell open, and I relished in the look of surprise on his face. I never got tired of that look on someone's face, especially since it meant that they couldn't underestimate me anymore. Hopefully now he'll stop calling me a kid, "Damn, that's pretty impressive. For someone your size too."
I gritted my teeth and decided to ignore it; he was obviously a lost cause. Besides, it would probably be bad for my cover if he started being respectful to me in front of a crowd of students. That and he kind of reminded me of Jidanbo, a gatekeeper who I had befriended when I was a child. He never addressed me as Captain, and since he knew me well before I was one he was one of the few people I never scolded for it.
Most of the time. Sometimes I snapped at him because it was a gut reaction. After years spent chewing Hinamori and Matsumoto out I couldn't really help myself.
Anyways, I was starting to wonder how long we were going to be standing in an alleyway when Hagrid pulled out a scruffy pink umbrella and started tapping bricks on the wall. I wondered idly what he was doing, but then the bricks spun out of the way, revealing a long narrow street that lined with peculiar shops and filled with people in bright robes. I kept my expression calm, but my thoughts were racing. This place was spectacular.
Hagrid looked around, "Well, it's off to the bank first. Dumbledore said to give this to you..." he trailed off, rummaging around in his jacket, "Aha! Here it is," he pulled out a tiny key. "This will open up your vault and let you get out money. Your stuff is contained in vault number six-hundred and twenty two."
He passed it to me and I took it, nodding my thanks. The two of us continued down the walkway until a large stone building that had 'Gringotts' written on it. Hagrid walked inside and I followed him as he walked over to the nearest tunnel. The creature standing behind the desk was short, ugly and very angry looking. He frowned at me, and Hagrid said, "Mr. Toshiro here would like to access his vault." the goblin nodded.
"Vault number?" he asked, wrinkling his nose at me as if I were a piece of dirt.
"Six-hundred and twenty two."
"Yes, yes." he said, gesturing for another one of his race to come over he said, "Kreshnak will lead you to your vault."
'Kreshnak' gestured for us to follow him and we did so. He led us to a cart like thing and we both climbed in. It started whizzing around a track, heading downwards into the depths of the Earth. Even I couldn't see the bottom, there was nothing but darkness. I felt Hyorinmaru take a glance out of my eyes.
Fascinating. Can you feel the spiritual pressure coming from down there? It feels like...
He was interrupted when a huge roar erupted from the bottom of the shaft, shaking the walls around us.
Kreshnak frowned, "Odd. He shouldn't be acting up right now. He hasn't been this way since that foolish wizard tried to smuggle a baby dragon in. He shouldn't be reacting to you coming through his area. Why is he...?" The man trailed off and I paled.
I recognized what that roar sounded like, it sounded almost identical to Hyorinmaru's when he was in a rage. There was only a slight difference between the two noises.
Master, that is a...
I know. Can you understand him?
He thinks you're holding me hostage.
Am I?
Of course not. You are one of the most powerful Shinigami ever, and once you fully mature I wouldn't be surprised if you surpass old man Yamamoto. I am proud to call you master and companion.
That's good, for several reasons that range from the fact that you are one of my closest friends, to I'd be to powerless without you to... I dunno, there's a giant dragon coming towards us and he's probably going to try to incinerate us both and I'm probably going to need your help with that.
Kreshnak was looking at me, his eyes narrowed, "What happens in Gringotts stays in Gringotts, so if you're not entirely human and your presence is causing this problem, then please speak up."
"I believe I am."
"And do you have a solution for it?"
If I get close enough to it can you reason with it Hyorinmaru?
I can try, but it might not work since I am not in my physical form.
"Well... kind of. I can try to talk to it and reason with it, or I could trap it, or I could kill it, or I could just ignore it..." I responded to the goblin's question.
Ignoring it is a really bad idea, Master.
"Never mind, scratch that last one. I've been told it won't work. Hagrid, here's the key to the vault. Can you go get the money out of it with Kreshnak? Kreshnak, is there anything- other than the dragon, of course- that I should be worried about?"
"This place is riddled with deadly traps. I strongly advise against whatever it is you're thinking right now."
Hagrid looked at me, "I know you think you're good, but this is insane."
"Well, if I don't leave then you'd both be incinerated. I would rather have it be just me than all three of us. Besides, if there is a single thing in this bank that can hurt me then I will be very, very impressed. I'll try my hardest not to kill your dragon, I swear. But if it's me or it, then it's going to be the dragon that goes."
And with that I swung one leg over the railing, and ignoring Hagrid's and Kreshnak's protests, I threw myself over the edge and into the ever darkening abyss.
