Dumbledore looked at the souls before him. He was well aware of the colony of peaceful hollows in the forest. They took care of any violent hollows that strayed nearby. The Soul reapers were a new twist. Sending mail by thestral was also new to him. "So let me get this straight, one of my students or staff is in possession of a Soul Reaper artifact?"
"Basically. If you can get them all together we'll spot it quite quickly. Once we have it, we can leave." Toshiro explained.
"Does it pose a threat to their welfare?"
"It is used to deal with Hollows. If misused, it may create a problem. How soon can you call the school together?"
Albus truly cared for those under his charge. Artifacts of any nature can pose dangerous. "It will take approximately one hour to gather the students and staff. If you will follow me to the great hall?"
"Thank you for your help Headmaster. When we Identify the person who has it we will need a few moments to reclaim it. Hopefully they will relinquish it freely."
"If they do not?"
"We don't know. This issue has never come about. They will be unharmed, but they will be exhausted from the ordeal."
"I'll have the healer on standby just incase."
………………….
Tonks was disgusted with the defense teacher. He reeked of garlic and stuttered far too much to be understood. The only upside to the class was she had it with the one person in her year she liked. James Moody was a slytherin who never made fun of her. He was polite and kept a civil tongue with everyone. He was one of three students from the snake house that everyone liked, even Gryffindor. "I think I could learn more about defense from a first year than this git."
Moody gave a quiet chuckle. "Like your little hero?"
Tonks gave a small smile, "You two would get along. Neither one of you can deal with bullies in a gentle manner."
James let one eyebrow rise, "Are we implying something Imp?"
"You trounced three sixth years last year because they grabbed me,"
"You told them no. It was something I couldn't let slide."
"That is why you're a friend,"
Moody narrowed his eyes, "I just tolerate you more than others."
Nymphadora just smiled. He had an image to maintain. Blood or not, the son of Alistair Moody would not be seen as 'soft' in public.
………..
Harry and the rest of Hogwarts were confused as they were all herded into the great hall at lunch. Everyone was informed to sit and wait to be addressed by the headmaster. Harry looked up to the staff table and froze. He saw Ichigo stand there next to a Hollow and a soul reaper captain. He hazarded a guess as to what this was all about. Dumbledore stood up and came round the table.
"Your attention please. Today I was notified that one among us has possession of a possibly dangerous object. The owner of the artifact in question has come forward." He flicked his wand at the student body and a glow settled over the great hall. Many of the students gasped and they now saw the three visitors. "This is Ichigo Kurosaki and Toushirou Hitsugaya."
Ichigo stepped forward and began to walk the aisles. "I am searching for Zangetsu. I know one of you is carrying him."
"Zangetsu rests with me."
Ichigo snapped his head to the Ravenclaw table. Harry stood up, "He wants to know what kept you,"
Ichigo moved around and was soon next to Harry. The boy who lived craned his neck to look Ichigo in the eye. A smile crept onto both faces. "Lets get this taken care of shall we?"
Dumbledore stepped forward, "Might I suggest a change of venue? My office is this way,"
The soul reapers agreed. The rest of the student body was dismissed. Susan cast a worried glance at harry as he was led off flanked by the strangers and the headmaster.
The walk to the headmasters office was very short. Having to only navigate three flights of stairs. Toushirou looked at the brilliant red and gold bird. "I see you noticed Fawkes. He is a Pheonix."
The captians eyes widened as he gazes at the mythic firebird. Fawkes gave a proud cry and did a lap around the room. Everyone but the headmaster wached in awe as Fawkes gave his display. "He enjoys showing off for new people."
"Right, Awesome bird but we are getting distracted. All you have to do is take my hand kid."
The Shinigami held out his hand. Harry looked down at the hand and frowned. He took the hand and felt a pull, as if someone was trying to pull his navel out through his hand. The world spun slightly when he felt the presence of Zangetsu leave him.
Dumbledore watched as the stranger began to glow a dark crimson. It began to get hard to breath as the glow deepened. The feeling reached a climax as Harry Potter suddenly let go. The stranger looked down at his hand as the crimson miasma began to pool in the palm of his hand. Ichigo grasped the power and it snapped into a long black blade. He said something softly to himself in Japanese and placed the blade on his back. "You'll feel better in a bit. Come on, up you get."
"That was a very uncomfortable experience."
"I've had worse."
……………
Sirius was currently fighting a horde of doxies. He took a bit too muck glee as he turned them all into rats and roasted them with a charged up flame charm. "Mr. Moony would like to state that Mr. Padfoot is having a bit too much fun with doxies."
The gout of fire ended when Sirius fumbled his wand. HE quickly turned to see Remus Lupin. The years had not been kind to his friend. His robes were torn in places and his face was slightly gaunt. Remus's face broke out in a grin. "I see Azkaban wasn't the spa you always said it was."
"Mr. Moony would due well to remember that Mr. Padfoot was an Auror at one point,"
"I see that the old homestead hasn't warmed up over the years."
"I blame the insane house elf that listened to the painting of my mother."
Remus paused a moment, "You mean the painting of the banshee in the entryway?"
Sirius nodded, "Good old mum. Had a permanent sticking charm on her frame."
Remus looked back at the portrait behind the curtains, his old marauder brain working hard. "I can only think of taking the wall with her if she is so attached to it."
The promise of destruction and ridding himself of a virulent panting made Sirius almost giddy. "Moony, my old friend, let it never be said your anal retentive attention to detail never yielded positive result."
"You and your fixation with ladies arses is what lead you to go after that nundu."
"That is a lie! I was drunk on Jager and she was a veela!"
"Where did you first look Padfoot?"
Sirius got very quiet. "…Shut up Moony."
"Lily warned you,"
"Shut up Moony! Are you going to help me or torment me about Prong's bachelor party which YOU planed?"
Remus smiled. "Help of course. Have you spoken with Harry yet?"
Sirius smiled, "Owled him first thing this morning. Did you know Amelia was looking after him right before Hogwarts? She was also the one to question me."
Remus paused to think back.
Flashback………
Sixteen year old Sirius swaggered into the great hall. "James! I heard that Evans finally gave you the time of day!"
Harry's father grinned. "I promised her that it wouldn't be riddled with pranks or with you tagging along. You can go off with Amy."
Sirius frowned. "She still upset about the whole fire comment?"
Peter chose this moment to jump in. "I'm not a red head and I'm offended. I'm shocked Amelia didn't come after you."
Sirius lowered his head. "She did, but we got past it. I think that this will last. Maybe Prongs was right about this Loo-vay?"
"That's love you untrained mutt. Good for you." Remus said laughing.
The marauders burst out laughing. The managed to calm down after a moment and began with Idle banter. This was interrupted when Joann Peacecraft walked up."Hey Black,"
"Yes? What do you want?" unfortunately all he got out was 'Yes Wha…' when she grabbed a handful of hair and proceeded to kiss the stunned animagus. What was worse was Ameila decided to arrive at the great hall to see her boyfriend kissing another girl. She did the reasonable thing She took aim and fired "DEPULSO!"
End Flashback……….
"Amelia Bones? The one girl you were ever committed to? The one who cast a banisher at you when she saw you getting kissed by Joann?"
"Yep! She held my freedom in the palm of her hands. I would have sweat bullets but I was slightly dehydrated."
"Well… damn."
Well, here is some back story and some progression forward. Stay cool,
