It was dark by the time they reached Hogwarts. A giant hulking bearded man with a lantern met them at the gates. While the older students boarded black carriages, he guided the first years to a small army of wooden rowboats bobbing at the edge of a lake. The castle loomed overhead, on the far side. Warm lights glowed invitingly from the windows against a cobalt sky.
Students began climbing into boats. Luna stepped into one and sat, hands folded on her lap and a serene smile on her face. Suzume jumped in facing her. She had to remind herself to hold back on the jumping, she was so excited to go.
"Can you see them?" Luna asked.
"See who?"
"The thestrals pulling the carriages."
Suzume cocked her head sideways. "I didn't see anything pulling them."
Luna nodded absently. "They're very gentle. People are afraid of them though."
The boat lurched out into the lake, and began speeding across. Suzume half-wondered if Luna saw something pulling the boats too but was afraid to ask. Her black hair whipped around her face in the cool breeze, and she trailed a finger in the frigid water. Something tugged on it. She yanked her hand back and stared at the black water suspiciously.
They entered through massive wooden doors and were met by a stern looking old woman. She led them all to a giant room with a starry ceiling, lit by floating candles. The older students were already seated. Suzume quietly filed in with the rest of the first years and sat on the bench next to Luna. She stared up at the teachers. Most of them looked like normal people. Normal wizards anyway.
Except the one with black hair. She sank down in her seat. That was the man she'd collided with at the leaky cauldron. Mom was right, it was a good thing she didn't get the Akaihane looks. Hopefully he wouldn't remember her.
A very old, very bearded wizard stood at a podium at the front of the hall. He made a speech about the school that she was too busy trying to tone down her other senses to hear much of. The whole room was a giant sensory overload.
An old hat with a tear near the brim was brought out and set on a stool. Everyone quieted while it sang a song. Apparently the artifact was sentient, or something, and was going to sort them into one of four different houses.
I hope me and Luna get in the same house, she thought fervently.
The older lady, Professor McGonagall, called the first years one by one. Suzume was second, thanks to the A in Akaihane. She dragged herself up the aisle toward the stool, wishing this was something done privately. Or that they went in reverse alphabet order and everyone would be too tired to pay attention when it was her turn. Being the focus of this many people went against every shinobi instinct she'd been born with.
The hat was heavy. It slid over her eyes and smelled like leather, oil, and lots of different people. To her surprise, she could hear it talking in her head.
"Oh, look at this one. Such prestigious bloodlines. The heir of the Akaihane clan, and already accomplished beyond what many achieve in their lifetimes. Yet you thirst for more. To prove yourself. Slytherin is the obvious choice-
Yet, there is a kindness to you Hufflepuff would cultivate. Perhaps you need that kindness to balance such power."
Please, Suzume thought, I just want my dad to be proud. Right now I'm the biggest weakling. I'm not strong enough yet. I'm not even strong enough to find him.
"If it's power you seek, Hufflepuff would only hold you back."
Without further deliberation, the hat roared, "SLYTHERIN."
Applause erupted from the Slytherin table. She timidly made her way to them and slid into an empty spot on the bench. She was gravely disappointed when Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw, and somewhat terrified when both Millicent and Pansy were sorted into Slytherin with her. Draco also triumphantly made his way to the Slytherin table after sorting. At least he wasn't hostile to her. Ambivalence was nice.
Then a name was called that made heads turn and whispers fill the room.
Harry Potter.
Suzume had heard it before, but couldn't remember why he was important or famous. The hat sat on his head for a good long while before it finally pronounced him a Gryffindor. Draco sneered at that. Actually, a lot of the students at her table were sneering.
Eventually the sorting finished, and Professor Dumbledore waved his hands, magically making a glorious feast appear. Her eyes grew wide. Mom and uncle definitely could not do that. He didn't even use a wand or hand seals.
Draco was basking in the attention of their peers. Pansy and Millicent had positioned themselves next to him and were hanging on his every word. It sounded like, "My father," and "money," and "purebloods blah blah," Suzume quietly began eating.
It was okay if none of the students in her house were her friends. Mom had discouraged her from getting attached to other kids. The more attached they were, the more likely they'd find out things about her nobody wanted known. If she could just stay plain and boring in their eyes, that would be perfect. Shinobi worked from the shadows.
After dinner was finished, the house prefect lined the first years up separately and led them out of the hall. He was a tall, pale boy with wispy brown hair.
"Welcome, first years. I'm going to lead you to the Slytherin common room where you will meet our head of house."
Suzume followed, quiet and obedient. Draco wiggled and elbowed the other kids jokingly. She could hear him say, "Professor Snape is one of my father's associates." That made sense to her, seeing as Mr. Malfoy was on the board of governors for the school.
The prefect gave them the password, and they entered the Slytherin common room. It was very posh for a dungeon, with high ceilings, dark polished woodwork, and luxurious green and silver tapestries draped around the room.
Her heart sank when she saw her head of house. Professor Snape was the same man she'd run into. He stood with his arms folded, swathed in sweeping black ropes. Lamplight illuminated his sharp features as he stepped out of shadow. Suzume shivered under his penetrating gaze as it swept over them.
"You have been sorted into the greatest house Hogwarts has to offer. Use your time here wisely and you will be propelled to heights of greatness. Squander this opportunity, and you will forever regret it." His silky voice lowered. "Also, each year Hogwarts holds a competition between houses for the House Cup. Slytherin has won it for the past six years. I will not tolerate any behavior that would put our standing in jeopardy." His black eyes suddenly fixed on Suzume, "Behavior, such as running in the halls."
She swallowed uneasily. Pansy and Millicent looked sideways at her and giggled.
Professor Snape clarified a few more rules and expectations, then sent them to bed. Suzume climbed the stairs to the girl's room with a heavy heart. Somehow she'd made a bad impression on her professor even before starting school.
Upstairs each girl had a poster bed with deep green and silver draperies. Suzume found her trunk at the foot of one. Millicent Bulstrode's was right next to her. She changed into a white nightgown, packed her schoolbag with the books she'd need for classes in the morning, and slid her legs under her blankets.
Pansy and Millicent were sitting on the next bed over, giggling. Pansy was busy admiring her wand and telling everyone within earshot about how she'd been so fortunate to get a unicorn hair core. "They make the most loyal wands imaginable," she sighed, cradling it against her cheek.
Millicent reclined in her bed, with an open book of wandlore. She fixed her beady eyes on Suzume. "Hey Suzume, what's your wand core? I'll look it up in here."
Twisting her hands around the wand handle, Suzume stared at the floor. "Crow feather," she said in a tiny voice.
"Crow," Millicent repeated. Both girls stared back at Suzume. "Crow, as in those terribly common, completely unmagical black birds."
Pansy sniffed, "And here I thought you went wand shopping with Draco. Mr. Ollivander would never use such a vulgar core."
"It's not even in my book," sniggered Millicent.
The two girls nattered back and forth about Suzume for a bit longer until they dissolved into flapping their arms like wings and cawing at her. Miserable, Suzume turned over and pulled the blanket over her head. Maybe they were right. The moment the wand had chosen her was the only point it showed any inkling of being magical. It still felt warm, and nice, but she hadn't been able to conjure up crows again, or do much of anything for that matter.
Eventually one of the prefects came and made some explicit threats about getting Professor Snape if they all didn't shut it and go to bed.
Suzume lay awake in bed, listening to her housemates' breathing fall into the steady rhythm of sleep. She desperately wanted to talk to mom. Or uncle. Even Tsuchibue would work.
Tsuchibue could take a message back for her. Not in here though. She could only imagine the reactions of the other girls if they heard his voice in the girl's dorm. Not in the common room either. What if someone came out while he was there? She sat up, pushing the blankets off.
She was a shinobi. Mom and Uncle Hayato were fighting epic life and death battles at her age. She could sneak in and out of the Slytherin dorms, no problem.
Her feet slipped into the soft sandals at her bedside. She picked up her wand, then decided to leave it on her pillow for safekeeping. Peering around, made herself quiet and felt for people's chakra as best she could. Everyone seemed asleep.
The common room felt empty. She went through, nonchalant to a casual observer but inwardly tense, ready to dart into shadow at any moment.
Outside the Slytherin dorm the long hall was empty as well. And dark. The dark was welcoming. It concealed her as she walked, and reminded her of something mom used to say. A true shinobi protects from the shadows. The passage smelled of damp stone. Not a fresh smell, but not a bad smell either. Her white nightgown rustled around bare legs in a sudden draft of fresh air. Someone had opened a door, somewhere ahead.
Suzume enhanced her movement with chakra, free to do so finally. She darted down the hall and flattened herself behind a pillar. Then waited. Whoever it was went a different way. She could feel them. She didn't know the grownups in the castle well enough to know which one it was.
She made it through a maze of hallways, past the dungeon where potions class was held, up a flight of stairs. It was her intent to get outside before summoning Tsuchibue, but the castle seemed so quiet, so desolate, and she wasn't sure if maybe it locked against outside entry once someone exited.
Weighing the risk in her mind, she finally settled in a little portcullis upstairs and bit her finger. A spot of blood appeared on her skin, on top of a layer of bitemarked scars. She made several handseals and whispered, "Kuchiyose no jutsu"
A puff of smoke appeared next to her. A small brown fox wearing a white nightshirt and red fez blinked up at her reproachfully, then grumbled in his startlingly deep voice in mom's native language.
"Why'd you summon me in the middle of the night?"
"Sorry Tsuchibue. I'm just scared." She hugged her knees to her chest and sat next to him, tears welling up in her eyes. The little fox yawned.
"So this is that magic school you were talking about? Seems quiet."
"We're supposed to be asleep right now."
"Yeah, so am I." He gave her a sideways look. "Any other problems besides being a big baby?"
"They divided us into separate houses. The kids in my house are really big into bloodlines and purity, that stuff. They were asking me about my family. About my dad."
"Did you tell them to piss off?" He scratched his ear with a hind leg, making the fez go crooked.
Her eyes widened. "Are you crazy? I am trying to make friends here."
"Well, you don't have to worry about bloodlines. The Akaihane clan is well respected. Technically your uncle is the clan head, and since he has no children that makes you his heir. That, and your grandmother was an Uzumaki."
Suzume frowned, "Nobody knows about all that, it's from a different world. Besides, I don't know what to tell them about my dad. I don't even know his name, or anything." She looked at him in desperation. "You know what's going on. Why did mom and uncle come here to hide? Are they hiding from dad?"
Tsuchibue sighed and closed his lamp-like eyes. "Both of your parents have many enemies, this is the safest place you could be. If the biggest worry in your life right now is making friends at school, then your mother has done very well."
Sudden desperation siezed her, and she asked him again. Even though his answers never made sense. "Do you know my father's name? At least tell me what clan he was from."
"They fanned the flame, once many, now made few by a weasel in their midst." Eyes still closed, he smirked.
Just like every time. Dang fox.
"But what is his name?" she hissed. "If we don't even live in the same world, how can it hurt for me to know his name?"
"Your mother would turn me into a coat," he shivered at the thought. "Look, just make something up if they ask again." His ears suddenly pricked, yellow eyes wide. "Shhhh! Suzume, someone is coming."
She froze in terror. The creepy old caretaker's cat peered around the corner at them and meowed. She could hear him close behind, grumbling under his breath about voices in the hall.
"Leave before someone sees you," she whispered frantically. "I'm already in huge trouble if he catches me!"
"Then hide, or transform or something. You're a shinobi," he whispered back. Then in a small puff of smoke, he vanished.
There was no way she'd escape unseen down the long hall. She was sure she could outrun the old geezer, but if he saw her face it wouldn't make a difference. There weren't many places to hide. If she'd been smart enough to wear her black robes, maybe she could have climbed up flat against the ceiling. People never looked on the ceiling. But white nightgowns were too obvious.
That left transform. But who wouldn't get in trouble? Real panic set in, he was moments from coming round the corner. She made the seals, and whispered, "henge", with the last grownup she'd seen focused in her mind.
The old man rounded the corner before the smoke had a chance to clear. Suzume straightened up, smoothing out freshly transformed black robes.
"P-pr-professor?!" came a strangled voice.
"Who is it this time Filch? One of the first years?" The deep voice was oh so familiar, and oh so irritated. Dread washed over her. It was too late.
She'd transformed into her head of house.
He rounded the corner just in time to see a doppelganger of himself staring back, with a completely dumbfounded look on its face. If the real Professor Snape was surprised he didn't show it. Suzume barely recovered in time to dodge a yellow flash of light that sizzled hot against the stone beside her.
She dashed down the hall. Another spell caught her by the heels, momentarily slowing her as if she was slogging through tar.
It was like a bad horror movie, running away in slow motion as her pursuer bore down. He snarled out another spell and made a slashing motion with his wand. Her sleeve slashed open like an invisible sword had cut it. Searing pain lit up her arm.
Eyes wide, raw desperation twinged her brain, and suddenly she could see it holding her back. She stared at the mass of green light clinging to her legs, the spell, and quickly discerned a way to pivot her foot just so, concentrate her chakra to the area, and-
She was free.
Professor Snape had nearly caught up, his face contorted with rage. She managed to get around a corner. It wasn't easy to dodge his spells now, but at least she could see them flying at her a little more clearly.
Suddenly another teacher appeared in front of her, at the far end of the hall. Spells flew at her from both directions.
There was only one thing to do. Suzume scrambled to the nearest window, put a shoulder to the glass, and jumped.