Haru could simply not concentrate today in Transfiguration Class. It wasn't because the teacher was boring, far from that. Haru really liked Mizorogi and found him quite interesting. She wasn't able to concentrate because she was distracted by something, no, by someone.
Tokaku was sitting next to her, on her right side. Not that she was distracting Haru, rather than her presence so close was a distraction for her. Unlike Haru, Tokaku was listening to Mizorogi's explanation. Haru couldn't help but discreetly glance at her. It was like Tokaku sat next to her willingly, more that there wasn't any other seat, but Haru was still happy about it.
Haru had noticed that Tokaku was a good student, always listening and good in every class. Despite that, Tokaku was often mistrusted by the teachers, almost as much as by the students. Mizorogi was nice with all his students, but Haru could see that he felt uneasy when talking to Tokaku, without disrespecting her. This reality made Haru sad, she wished people wouldn't judge Tokaku like that, especially since she's a good student who followed the rules. She wasn't even a delinquent.
"Human Transfiguration is one of the most complex forms of transfiguration," Mizorogi explained with enthusiasm. "Can someone name me a form of human transfiguration?"
Shiena, who was sitting on the left side of Haru, raised her hand.
"Yes, Kenmochi-san?"
"Animagi, the capacity to change into an animal."
"Good answer! 10 points to Hufflepuff!"
Shiena smiled with pride, and the other Hufflepuff students looked satisfied. Even Mahiru, who was next to Shiena, smiled weakly.
"I'm glad you talked about animagus, because we have in this class a documented animagus who accepted to give a demonstration. Namatame-san, may you show us?" Mizorogi asked.
Everyone turned to gaze at Chitaru. The latter was sitting next to Tokaku. She rose up, giving off a humble vibe, and joined the teacher in front of the class. Then, Haru witnessed something incredible. Chitaru had transformed herself into...a lion! At first, Haru was surprised because the lion Chitaru seemed to have a mane, something only male lion had, but she then realized that it wasn't a mane. The lion had Chitaru's haircut, which made it looked like she had a mane.
"Being a full animagi, and documented, it's truly amazing. 20 points to Gryffindor!"
Everyone cheered, even the Hufflepuff students. Haru noticed that Shiena was blushing a little. Chitaru then took back her human form and went back to her seat, and Mizorogi continued to talk about animagi, while Haru found herself still distracted by Tokaku's proximity.
"It's such a shame you don't have Transfiguration with Gryffindor, Shuto. We had the chance to see Namatame turned into a lion, she's a real animagus!" Shiena exclaimed with admiration. "She was so cool! Ah, if only she was in Hufflepuff instead, I wouldn't mind..."
"I see, so the rumour about her is true. And if I were you, I would avoid talking too loud about Namatame-san," Suzu said.
During lunchtime, Haru, Shiena and Suzu were eating together at the cafeteria, where there was no assigned table like in the great hall.
"Uh? Why? You don't have any restraint when it comes to talk about Kaminaga," Shiena complained.
"No bad things happened to those who appreciate Kouko-chan, unlike with Namatame-san. Many girls who said out loud that they liked her ended up at the infirmary, sick or afflicted with severe acne. Ichinose-san, where you sick recently, since our last Potion Class? Your skin seems fine."
"I wasn't sick and...thanks? Why are you asking that?" Haru asked.
"Just to be sure you're alright. Most victims were in Gryffindor."
"So you mean...Namatame has a yandere secret admirer who attacks girls who are too close to her?" Shiena asked, a little bit worried.
"Perhaps, or it's just coincidence. Anyway, just be careful when you talk about Namatame-san, same for you Ichinose-san."
Shiena continued to eat her lunch, looking both worried and disappointed.
"So there are rumours about Namatame?" Shiena asked.
"Not very much. I heard that she's part of a magical dojo, who mix combat and magic. For example, they often transform their wand into a magical sword. That could be why she managed to become an animagus, she was trained at the art of transfiguration since a young age," Suzu replied.
"That's impressive, but...what kind of family are the Namatame?" Shiena asked.
"Um, I'm not quite sure. The dojo's name is Namatame, so it's probably a family dojo..."
"You've got that wrong, Shuto-san."
It wasn't one of them who said that. Haru noticed that it was Nio, who sat next to her at their table.
"Oh, is that so, Hashiri-san? Do you know about the Namatame family then?" Suzu asked, not offended but curious.
"Hehe, how ironic, the squib know more than the pure-blood," Nio replied. "Very well. Namatame-san is technically adopted. She was an orphan, and the leader of the Namatame dojo took care of her since she's a baby. Oh, and she's apparently a pure-blood."
"What!? Who? Namatame?" Shiena exclaimed, surprise.
"Yes, she is. The leader is a half-blood. According to her student profile. But her parents' identity is confidential. According to rumours, they were criminals, and they lost their daughter because they ended up in Azkaban, the wizard prison. Perhaps they are dead now."
"What...wait, the school have our blood statues in our profile?" Shiena reacted. "And how do you know that?"
"I'm part of the staff here, I saw some of the student profiles. I guess it's to have as much information about the students," Nio replied.
"Ah, I see...um, well, Namatame wasn't raised into a pure-blood family, so it isn't that surprising," Shiena said, as if she needed to justify herself.
"Kenmochi-san, should I remind you that I come from a pure-blood family?" Suzu said calmly.
"Uh...yes...but you, you are...nice. So...how is your family, Shuto?"
"Well, both my parents were pure-blood, but they never cared about it. They were perfectly fine with me having a crush on a muggle," Suzu explained.
"You have a crush on a muggle?" Shiena asked.
"I had, but it's a long time ago," Suzu replied.
Shiena added nothing to this, she looked too confused and puzzled about what she heard to say something.
"Well, it was fun gossiping with you, but I have work to do. Seeya!" Nio said as she walked away.
The three of them finished their lunch and split up to go to their next class.
"I'm sure you all know about the two wizard clans who were rivals, both dark magic practitioner. There was the Azuma of the east, a pure-blood family specialized in duel and curses, and the Kuzunoha of the west, a family who adopted muggle-born kids and train them, specialized in charms and transfiguration," Accidia, the History of magic teacher, explained.
Haru was taking notes. Accidia was a good teacher, and despite her stoicness, she explained history almost as if she had live all the events she taught them about. Gryffindor had this class with no other houses, but Nio was also present. It was one of the classes she was allowed to assist.
As Accidia was explaining the history of the Azuma and Kuzunoha clan, everyone almost was glancing at Tokaku, who didn't seem to care. Nio was grinning for a reason Haru couldn't know, and she noticed that she wasn't taking any notes, just like Tokaku. It was the first time the blue haired girl wasn't taking any notes.
"Unlike popular belief, the Azuma clan wasn't pure-blood supremacist, even if they valued their pure-blood and didn't allow marriage with muggles. As for the Kuzunoha clan, even if they only adopted muggle-born kids, they weren't muggle-born extremists. They just considered that Muggle-borns, with both magical and muggle knowledge, had more potential. But both of those clan used their own blood-statues to either bring the pure-blood supremacist or muggle-born to their own army during the wizarding war when they took over Mahoutokoro and tried to do the same with the Japanese Ministry of magic."
Haru remembered that Suzu told her something similar the first time they met in the magical bus.
"But before them, a long time ago, there were two other rival clans, and a lot of people consider that the Azuma and Kuzunoha are their counterparts in term of rivalry. It was the Bachi and Hiari clans. The first one was majority half-blood, allowing themselves to marry with muggles. They didn't value blood purity as long as they can continue their family. According to legends, they were able to communicate with their pheromones, just like bees. The Hiari clan, on the other hand, they were really proud of their pure blood, and even went as far as incest to keep it...pure. According to the same legend, they had a similar ability as the Bachi clan, but with all the inbreeding it became weaker, and they become more unstable, violent. Both clans were fighting to have control over the Japanese wizarding society, and they eventually exterminated each other. No descendants of those clans are known today, so it's believed that those clans are really extinct."
Haru felt somewhat uncomfortable when she heard about those two ancient clans, but she couldn't know exactly why. It was strange, given the fact it was the first time she heard about them.
"Since those two clans are extinct, not many people are still talking about them or even worship them, unlike the Azuma and Kuzunoha clans. The followers of the Azuma clan, either pure-blood supremacist or dark magic practitioner, called themselves "blue demons", to show their loyalty to Azuma Aomi, more known as Aoyasha. Those who supported the Kuzunoha were mostly muggle-born extremists, who refused to be called wizards, they viewed themselves as different, as if wizards weren't human like them. They usually identify as magicians, and the most extremists are called Witch Hunter. Some squibs also joined the Witch Hunters, to protest again their oppression in the wizarding world. Even with the defeat of both clans, some people are still identifying themselves as either Blue Demons or Witch Hunters, but most of them are easily arrested and sent to Azkaban. The Kuzunoha clan is believed to be extinct, and since every member was adopted, they had no specific bloodline. The Azuma clan has only one member still alive, and she's sitting with us in the class."
Once again, everyone looked at Tokaku, who still continued to ignore them all. Haru noticed that Accidia showed no sign of disliking Tokaku, she was just stating the facts.
"Many groups and organizations are suspected to be affiliated with the Blue Demons or the Witch Hunters. But in absence of proof, they cannot be spoken about in this class. If you're curious, I'm sure you'll be able to find them by yourself. That will be all for today. For your homework, I want you to write about the Japanese wizarding world and the reason why some people decided to follow either the Azuma or Kuzunoha clans."
The class was over and Haru picked up her stuff. She saw Chitaru leaving with Tokaku, trying to talk with her. Tokaku was remaining silent but did nothing to keep Chitaru away. Haru was relieved to see someone trying so hard to be friend with Tokaku, it encouraged her to continue trying to befriend her.
"Looks like we're lost," Suzu said calmly, as if there was nothing alarming with the situation.
"We're not lost, we...we just don't know where we are," Shiena replied.
"I think it is the definition of being lost," Haru dared to said.
After school, the three friends decided to explore the school a little bit. but ended up, even if Shiena didn't want to admit it, lost.
"We just have to keep walking and we'll eventually find our way or someone and everything will be fine," Shiena insisted.
"Or we could wait until someone finds us, rather than risking to get even more lost," Suzu proposed.
"We're not lost! We're just exploring the school too intensely."
"Hey...there's a door there," Haru suddenly said.
It was the first door they encounter for a while, the corridors being completely empty for a while. Cautiously, the three witches approached the mysterious door. Haru grabbed the handle and slowly turned the handle, looked at her two friends, and opened the door.
It was just a small storage room.
"Well, that's disappointing," Shiena complained.
Before Haru could close the door, Suzu suddenly stopped her.
"Wait. What's...oh, look at this," Suzu said as she was pointing something in the storage room.
Haru looked at it with more attention and discovered that it was a hat. And not any hat…
"It's...the Sorting hat!?" Shiena exclaimed.
Suddenly, the magical hat opened it "eyes" and looked at the three girls.
"You...you disturbed my sleep," it complained.
"Ah, sorry." Haru sincerely apologized, a little bit disturbed to be talking with an object.
The Sorting hat continued to glare at them.
"You three...yeah, I get the feeling you need to hear this. I heard an interesting thing, something you would call a 'prophecy'...Something each of you will have to face in their own way, and you're not the only ones. I hope you'll share it with the people concerned," the hat began to say. "The successor of the darkest individual from the wizarding world of our time is here, and they will take their predecessor's place when they'll have defeat death."
The Sorting hat closed its "eyes", as if they went back to sleep. Haru, Shiena and Suzu looked at each other, and Haru discovered that her two friends looked just as confused than her about the strange prophecy they had just heard.
What would be a Harry Potter fic without an enigmatic prophecy?
What do you think this prophecy is about? And what about the Bachi and Hiari, and the Blue Demons and Witch Hunters? Don't hesitate to tell me your thoughts and opinions!