I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter the both belong respectively to Tite Kubo and J.K. Rowling
"Where the hell are you all coming from!" Harry yelled in frustration, driving his zanpakutō into a Hollow's skull. A savage roar alerted the young reaper to the approach of another Hollow, prompting him to evade its attack with a quick use of flash step, finishing the beast off with his Ain-Soph-Aur attack before it could find him.
After missing his train, Harry was understandably frustrated and the ever increasing number of Hollows in London along with the weather showing signs of turning to the worse, wasn't helping his mood.
"Please tell me that was the last one." Of course the answer was no as he picked up on the spiritual pressure of another Hollow appearing in the city. Thankfully it wasn't in his assigned sector of the city. But still it begged the question of where was his replacement?
"Hey!" a voice cried, alerting Harry to the presence of an afro headed Soul Reaper. "Who do you think you are?!"
"Huh?" Harry questioned, not quite getting what the problem was.
"Yeah you thinking you can go around taking over my mission. Do you know who I am? I am Kurumadani Zennosuke!" he declared, as if expecting Harry to recognize him. "And who do you think you are coming here and killing Hollows in my turf?!"
Now that got a rise out of Harry considering this idiot had been late and still had the nerve to act like he was some sort of elite. But from what he could sense off him Zennosuke only had the power of a low ranking Soul Reaper.
"I'm Harry Potter: Substitute Soul Reaper" he announced, flashing his combat pass.
"Argh not another one!" Zennosuke complained. "First that Kurosaki kid and now you!"
Harry couldn't help but feel reminded of Lockhart, in the sense this Soul Reaper was a man that highly overestimated their own capabilities. Though the fact he at least alluded to being overshadowed by the illustrious Ichigo Kurosaki at least made him the better of the two.
"Look the only reason I'm still in London is because you were late" Harry reminded him, wanting to put an end to this and hurry to the train or at least catch the opening feast.
"Right my bad" Zennosuke muttered, looking very apologetic.
While Harry was somewhat curious as to why the Soul Reaper was late, he was much more interested in getting to Hogwarts. So deciding to let the issue drop for now he opened a Senkaimon and headed on his way.
Harry arrived just in time as he spotted the Hogwarts express pulling into station in Hogsmeade. Sadly, while London was getting ready for rain, Hogsmeade was already practically waterlogged. It didn't take long to find Mick and soon enough he was enjoying the carriage ride up to the castle, while his friends filled him in on the mod soul's exploits. After hearing about what Mick did to Malfoy, Harry wasn't sure whether to laugh or to groan agreeing that Hermione had a point in that the mod soul couldn't solve every problem with punching.
"Blimey" said Ron, shaking his head dry as they entered the castle. "The lake's going to over flow at this rate. I'm…hey!" the redheaded boy complained, glaring at Harry for pushing him.
Before he could demand an explanation a large red water balloon dropped down where he was standing moments ago, splashing some of the nearby students. The following familiar cackle identified the perpetrator as Peeves.
"Sorry" Ron said sheepishly, now understanding his best friend had sensed the poltergeist and had saved him from being further drenched.
"Don't worry about" said Harry, now turning his attention to the ghostly prankster. "Peeves!"
Hearing the voice of the resident Substitute Soul Reaper forced Peeves out of his good time as he was well aware of the fact that Harry could easily send him off to the other side, something the poltergeist was far too fearful to face.
At that moment, Prof. McGonagall came rushing out of the great hall; though she would be credited as the reason the poltergeist left, Harry and his friends shared a grin knowing Peeves simply didn't want to push the Substitute Soul Reaper too far.
With Peeves gone the professor quickly ushered the students into the great hall. After warmly greeting Nearly Headless Nick, Harry and his friends watched as the sorting went off without a hitch, though he did note that Colin brother Dennis had joined them in Gryffindor much to his delight. Hermione also pointed out that their DADA professor was missing though Ron suggested that the weather most likely held them up.
Ginny's theory about Draco's pride proved true as none of the professors bothered Harry about beating up the Slytherin and his goons. Admittedly he was curious about how his school rival had explained away his bruises. But he quickly pushed it out of his mind as Dumbledore stood to give the opening speech.
"I have only two words to say to you" he told them, his voice echoing around the hall. "Tuck in"
"Hear, hear!" Harry and Ron cheered, their empty plates magically filling with food.
Dumbledore may not be his favorite person right now but after spending hours fighting Hollows, Harry was more than happy to enjoy the feast. As for Ron well he was always up for food. Unfortunately, his now developing maturity didn't spread to his table manners, made evident by Hermione and Ginny's disgust at the sight of him stuffing his face with mashed potatoes.
"You're lucky there was a feast at all" said Nearly Headless Nick, floating over. Apparently their groups stronger connection to the spirit world made them better company than ordinary wizards.
"What happened?" asked Ginny.
"Peeves of course" Nick sighed, nearly shaking his head off. "He wanted to attend the feast. But you know what he's like. We held a ghost's council, the Fat Friar was all for giving him a chance. But most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down."
"Thought he seemed upset about something" said Harry. "He's usually more careful about avoiding me."
"So what did he do?" asked Ron.
"Oh the usual" Nick shrugged. "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house elves out of their wits."
"One fight at a time, Hermione" said Ginny, preempting another of Hermione's rants about the care of house elves. "You saw how loyal Dobby was to find help this summer."
This seemed to pacify Hermione for the moment as she did see how desperate the elf was when he appeared in her room searching for help during the Fullbringers' capture of Hogwarts.
"Alright so maybe Hogwarts treats them right" said Hermione. "But that doesn't mean there aren't people that take advantage of them."
Ginny decided to quit while she was ahead and just, took it as a victory. Though none of them believed Hermione wouldn't bring it up again at some point. But at least she stopped her from doing something drastic like staging an impromptu hunger strike.
Once the pudding desert was gone, Dumbledore rose to his feet. The hall fell silent as everyone turned their attention to the headmaster.
"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling at the student body. Though if one looked closely they'd see that the twinkle in his eyes seemed to fade for a moment as his gaze fell upon Harry. "Now that we're all fed and watered. I must once more ask for your attention while I give out a few notices."
What followed was the usual listing of forbidden items added to Filch's list. The reminder that the apply named Forbidden Forest was just that forbidden. And of course that the trip to Hogsmeade was only for third year students and above.
"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."
And just like that in a few words Dumbledore had frozen every Quidditch loving student to the bone.
"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the schoolyear, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy. But I'm sure you will enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure to announce that this year at Hogwarts…."
Dumbledore paused as the great deafening rumble of thunder and the banging of the doors to the great hall opening, revealed a stranger in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began walking towards the teachers' table.
Every head in the place focused on the stranger, his form suddenly illuminated by a flash of lightning. Hermione gasped as the lightning revealed the man's face to be covered in scars. Harry couldn't help but compare the man to Head Captain Yamamoto; though the Soul Reaper's face wasn't as heavily marked both men carried marks that spoke of years of combat experience that proved themselves to be powerful and fearsome warriors.
As the stranger passed them, Harry was able to take in more details of the man's face. His nose seemed to be missing a large chunk but what was most striking was his eyes. One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and side to side, independently of the normal eye. To Harry's surprise the eye actually rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so all they could see was whiteness.
The stranger reached Dumbledore, stretching out a badly scarred hand, shaking hands with the headmaster. As he shook his hand, Dumbledore leaned muttered some words that no one could hear. He seemed to be asking a question as the stranger simply shook his head before taking a seat at the headmaster's right hand, completely indifferent to the students' stares.
"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor" Dumbledore said brightly. "Professor Moody."
While normally new staff members were greeted with applause everyone other than Hagrid and Dumbledore was too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance.
"Moody?" Harry muttered to Ron. "Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?"
"Must be" Ron said in a low, awed voice.
"What happened to his face?" Hermione whispered.
"I think I remember Tonks mentioning him once" said Ginny. "He's like a legendary Auror. Makes sense that he'd have some scars."
Moody didn't seem to care about the less-than-warm welcome. Instead he decided to ignore the pitcher of pumpkin juice and took a swig from his hip flask, causing his traveling cloak to slip revealing several inches of a carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, recapturing the room's attention.
"As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months. An event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
"You're joking!" Fred shouted, breaking the tension in that hall from Moody's arrival, setting the students off into a laughing fit.
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley" Dumbledore chuckled. "Though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar …"
Prof. McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.
"Right, maybe this is not the time…no…. where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament…well, some of you will know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."
Dumbledore then explained that the Tournament had begun some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. One student would be chosen to represent their school and compete in three magical tasks. But the tournament eventually was discontinued when the death toll grew too high.
"The heads of Beauxbaton and Durmstrang will be arriving with their shortlisted contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand galleons personal prize money."
"I'm going for it!" Fred hissed down the table, his face lit at the idea of glory and riches. He wasn't the only one as all around the hall students were visualizing themselves as the Hogwarts champion.
That excitement dimmed as Dumbledore continued to explain that as a precaution it was decided that only students who are of age would be allowed to compete.
"I will personally be ensuring that no under age students hoodwink the impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion" said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling as they flickered over Fred and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrong will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. Now it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime!"
As they left the great hall Harry could hear Fred and George discussing how they'd find a way to enter the tournament. Personally Harry didn't really care about the tournament, he had enough responsibilities with his work as a Soul Reaper.
Ron thought the idea of being Hogwarts champion was cool, but he had to admit that an older student would be more suited for the task.
Entering their dorm room Harry was surprised to find he had a surprise waiting for him on his bed.
"What's with the cat?" asked Ron, pointing to the black furred animal sleeping on his friend's bed.
"No idea" said Harry, confused as to what he should do with it.
"Maybe it's someone's pet" suggested Neville.
"Probably just got lost" said Dean, agreeing with Neville.
"Just put it out in the hall" said Seamus, already getting into bed. "I want some sleep."
Well aren't you a fun one Yoruichi thought to himself, waiting to see just what Harry would do.
Harry himself wasn't entirely sure what to do with the cat. From what he could tell it didn't have any tags making him wonder if it was a stray that had somehow made its way into their dorm. Still he would've felt bad just kicking the poor animal out; so he decided to place one of his pillows on the ground and let the cat sleep there for the night.
Hmm, nice to cats that's a point in your favor Yoruichi smirked, getting comfortable on the makeshift bed. Still nothing too strange about his spiritual pressure so far. Guess I'll just wait and see if it changes further. You so owe me big for this one Kisuke.