I do not own Harry Potter or Fate/Stay Night. Those belong to their respective creators and not me. That being said, I can no longer be sued for writing this. Now, please sit back and enjoy this document to your heart's content.
Fate/Ingens Cor
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 10: First Day
Harry woke up late the next morning. He and Saber had spoken on into the night concerning the latter's adventures and the people he had known during his life as a member of the Round Table. The black knight was quite happy to speak about Guinevere and some of his escapades, such as when he learned his own name after defeating the Copper Knight, putting context to Harry's dream of the white knight during his time in Grimmauld Place. It was like a barrier had been lowered between Master and Servant by learning the latter's name. Perhaps it was because Harry didn't consider Lancelot to be a pariah like so many others did, or perhaps it was simply because there was someone who understood why the black knight did what he did during his life.
Harry had tried asking about King Arthur, but that was one subject which Saber seemed to avoid somewhat. He would speak about deeds that Arthur had done, or even about the legendary sword Excalibur, but when it came to talking about the man personally, the barrier which Saber had between himself and others was still in effect. Harry didn't pry though, not wanting to accidentally offend his Servant by prying too much into his personal life. It was well into the wee hours of the morning before Harry was ushered to bed by his Servant. With only a few hours rest, Harry was back in the waking world.
Only a few others were in the room, dressed and ready for the day, although in Neville's case it seemed his tie was working for a rebellion. Most of the other boys in the room were gone, Seamus being one of them. Harry wasn't surprised, since the two had had a heated argument last night about Harry's mental state, the Prophet's constant slandering, and how many people were accepting it as the uncontested truth when it was more like a denial of reality. Saber was of course there, sitting at the window in his astralized state so that no one would be able to see him while he was keeping an eye on Harry.
"Morning," Harry yawned, speaking both to his fellow students and his Servant. He got a few mumbled replies, but it was Dean Thomas who actually went out of his way to talk to him.
"I'd keep an eye out for Seamus if I were you," the soccer enthusiast warned. "He was in a bad enough mood when he left this morning."
"I can't blame him," Harry sighed, scratching his head as he tried to get the cobwebs out of his mind. "I'll try to apologize when he calms down. I'm just so sick of the Prophet writing lies about me and everyone not even questioning it," He hung his head. "I mean, you guys should all know me best by now."
"Yeah, but you have to admit that you aren't exactly a model student," Dean shrugged. As a muggleborn himself, Dean had a slightly more logical head on his shoulders concerning the outside world. Seamus was a half-blood through his mother's side and likely received the same wizard's inborn lack of logic and blind faith in higher powers that seemed to go with the magical society that Harry knew so well. "That Heir of Slytherin thing back in second year and then all that trouble caused during the Triwizard Tournament. Not to mention all those points you, Hermione, and Ron lost during first year. It doesn't paint a nice picture."
"Right," Harry groaned. He had more or less forgotten about his rough history in Hogwarts. In a certain light, he certainly could be painted as a disruptive student. Rita Skeeter sure gave it her best shot with all of the fake articles she wrote during Fourth Year. Draco Malfoy and Snape would both dish as much dirt about Harry being the little brat as the Ministry wanted to hear just to get at him in their little vendettas. Harry knew that he was innocent of any wrongdoing, or at least had been doing the right thing at the time, but with so much circumstantial evidence to the contrary, or someone just making up scandal to go with it, not many people took his side unless they personally knew him.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Harry hustled and got dressed, not wanting to miss breakfast or his schedule, which was handed out during the first day of every year. He was dressed in a flash and down in the common rooms with Saber silently following him as always. Ron was already downstairs. Hermione was there as well, with Archer by her side, astralized and hidden to all save for Saber and Hermione. He had a big grin on his face, while Hermione looked like she was trying to be secretly scandalized by something.
"What's wrong?" asked Harry, approaching his friends.
"Archer stayed in the girls dorms last night," Ron replied, looking rather impressed. "Hermione tried to kick him out, but she couldn't make him leave."
"Indecent is what it is," the bushy haired girl muttered under her breath.
'Oh come on Master,' the emerald bowman laughed. 'It's not like I stared at anyone. I kept my eyes closed at all times. Besides, you're all way too young for me.'
"It's the point of the matter!" Hermione sniped back, earning some looks from the other students who couldn't figure out who she was talking to. "It's completely inappropriate for a man to stay in the same room as – Oh for heaven's sakes!"
The reason for Hermione's sudden outcry was the new poster which had appeared on the bulletin board. It was a large and brightly colored thing that was meant to grab a person's attention. Naturally, two names came to mind as to where it came from.
GALLONS OF GALLEONS!
Pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings?
Like to earn a little extra gold?
Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor common room,
For simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs.
(We regret that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk.)
"This is just too much," Hermione frowned, taking the poster and tearing it off the board. Crumpling it up, she tossed it aside before glancing at Ron, "We're going to have to talk to them."
Ron blinked in alarm, "Why?"
"Because we're prefects!" the bushy-haired girl snapped back. "It's our job to stop things like this!"
'Sure. Right,' Archer chuckled as the group headed for the exit. 'Good luck with that.' Archer had been in thick with the twins during their stay in Grimmauld place and knew that simply scolding the pair was hardly something which would stop them. They'd just be more subtle with their movements so the girl wouldn't be able to figure out what they were up to. They were crafty in a way that the redhead couldn't help but praise. Of course, he was craftier.
The trio and their Servants passed through the Fat Lady's portrait heading down with their fellow students to the Great Hall so to get their breakfast. As students were prone to do when they were out an about in groups, they chatted about things.
"Seamus seemed to be in a rotten mood," Hermione commented. "What happened?"
"He reckons that Harry is lying about You-Know-Who and they got in a fight about it," Ron answered, keeping the reply short so not to spark Harry's temper about the subject again.
"Lavender thinks so too," Hermione sighed. "Honestly, people will believe anything."
"More like they don't want to believe," Harry grumbled, feeling another sting about how yet another of his year-mates who should know him best outside of Hermione and Ron sided against him in the face of the Ministry's mudslinging. Still, Saber's words last night rang in Harry's memory and he tried to at least view the subject through the other people's views. "People just don't want to face the idea of him coming back and instead lash out at me and Dumbledore for trying to reveal the truth."
"Well they should just grow up and face it, if only to see if it really is true or not," Hermione huffed. "Honestly, this is what Dumbledore warned us about at the end of last year. It's only been a few months and look how we're fighting amongst each other. We should be listening to the Sorting Hat's warning about standing together and-!"
"And teaming up with the Slytherins? Fat chance," Ron snorted.
"Well I think it's a pity we aren't trying for a little more inter-house unity," the bushy-haired girl frowned.
"Can't really unite with a house in which the majority of the members worship the ground that wanker walks on," Harry countered. The Slytherins were notorious in recent years for supporting Voldemort, and some, like Draco Malfoy, certainly made it no secret that they agreed with his views and supported him. They either supported him out of a patriotic sense, likely because he was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin, or because they believed in his pureblood supremacy ideals, although Harry personally knew it was a load of tripe. Hermione was one of the most gifted students in their year, easily outstripping the proud pureblood Malfoy heir, and was a muggleborn. Heck, Crabbe and Goyle were purebloods but they looked like living examples of why incest was rightfully outlawed.
The conversation was interrupted when the trio were cut off by a group of Ravenclaw fourth year students. They all took one look at Harry before they huddled together, as if they were afraid that Harry would leap out and attack any stragglers.
"And then there are those who believe everything they're told," the scarred boy muttered under his breath. "Makes the job that much harder."
'Ignore them Master,' Saber spoke. 'They don't have the same reasons to doubt the source like you do.'
Once again heeding his Servants advice, Harry bit his tongue and continued on his path. They soon reached the entry to the Great Hall where Saber and Archer halted their march while the trio went on to get their breakfast.
Shirou absently stabbed at his eggs. It wasn't that he was having difficulty with the silverware, having long since mastered the utensils when he first came to Great Britain. No, his appetite was somewhat dead after the events of the last night. Saber had been near inconsolable and remained in Shirou's arms for several hours while they were together in Shirou's bedroom. By the time morning had come, Saber was for all intents and purposes back to normal, but as one of the two that knew her best he could tell she was deeply troubled by Lancelot's return. Rin knew the literature behind Saber's connection with Lancelot and why it would trouble her so much. Both knew that the black knight had been summoned as Berserker during the Fourth Grail War and seemed intent on killing her above all others. She hadn't disclosed the full details of the Fourth Grail War beyond what they needed to know to combat Kotomine and Gilgamesh, but it may be time to learn more.
Shirou wasn't sure if he wanted to know.
The redheaded Japanese boy was a weapon in himself. Swords were his core, his source, his flesh and bone. Just looking at one allowed him to incorporate it into his Reality Marble and thus his arsenal of weapons. Looking at a sword allowed him to understand it entirely. He would learn its composition, its history, its name, its powers, its very essence. Shirou could learn all this with simply a glance at a sword. He could do the same with spears, axes, and other such weapons although he would have needed a little more time to fully incorporate them. Swords would always be his core.
He almost cursed the ability when he laid his eyes on Arondight.
Shirou instantly knew the history of the blade when he saw it for that split second before Lancelot dismissed it. It was all the time Shirou needed to understand it completely. It had been forged by fairies and made so perfect, being able to take any attack without receiving damage and with a perfect water-like sheen, it could only belong to one who had become the perfect knight. The Lady of the Lake decided that perfect knight was Lancelot. It was used to slay corrupted and evil knights, cut down evil men, and even slay a dragon. Then things began to turn bad. In his desperation to save Guinevere from the execution demanded by many of the nobles of Camelot hoping to take advantage of the scandal for their own aims, Lancelot had slain several of his fellow knights, tainting the weapon and filling it with the anger and resentment which he could not otherwise express. Among those he killed were Gareth and Gaheris, while he critically injured their brother Gawain, which would later lead to the knight's death during the battle of Camlann. After Arthur, or rather Arturia, died on that field, Lancelot and Guinevere reunited for only a moment, in which they decided that they had sinned too heavily against their king to remain together and began to lead lives of penitence, Guinevere in a monastery and Lancelot in a hermitage. Guinevere eventually died first and six weeks later so did Lancelot, but not before he drove himself insane with his guilt and remorse, which was how he qualified as Berserker for the Fourth Grail War.
"Something bothering you Mr. Emiya?" asked Professor Vector. "You seem to hardly be eating anything."
"First day nerves I think," Shirou smiled weakly, snapping out of his memories. "Rin is more in her element than I am, being my teacher and all that."
"Ah, I see," the Ancient Runes teacher nodded knowingly. "Don't let it rattle you too much. We all get those kinds of jitters when we're just starting out. Just make sure you have a good lesson plan and be flexible in its execution, and you should be fine. Trust me on that."
"Sounds like good advice," Shirou nodded. "Thank you."
Meanwhile, Rin was stoically eating her own food, her mind being a whirlwind of activity. Her thoughts were split between everything that she would need to know for the classes for that week, and what she would have to do about the Holy Grail War which seemed to have many of the participants in the very school she was teaching at. Knowing that two of the Servants were Bertilak de Housdesert and Lancelot of the Lake were big tips in understanding their movements. The two knights had been loyal to their respective leaders and weren't ones who would divulge in dishonorable tactics. Of course, Bertilak had the abilities of a Marble Phantasm on his side, making him a force to be reckoned with in his own right. Lancelot on the other hand possessed a Noble Phantasm which allowed him to turn anything he touched into his Noble Phantasm. It applied to just about anything, something Saber proved by stating that while as Berserker in the Fourth Grail War he actually stole and flew an F-14 fighter jet, turning it into a Noble Phantasm. That kind of potential in a Servant was intimidating.
Still, the knights had a reputation for fighting fair and loyalty. So long as their Masters allowed the knights to battle in their preferred methods, there was little chance of something too horrible happening. It was likely for that reason and that sense of fair play between knights that prevented both Servants from going all out during their battles. Caster had the potential of turning the very castle into a weapon by bringing the whole thing down, while Lancelot could cause massive amounts of damage by turning his improvised weapons into Broken Phantasms for a little extra destructive power. So far, neither Servant seemed to have a desire for things to go that far. Still, it didn't account for the Servant that appeared in Diagon Alley, likely Lancer, as well as the Archer and Assassin who had appeared on the train. Their tactics may not be so honorable
And so Rin mulled over her options while eating her breakfast.
The day droned on for Harry and his friends since breakfast and Hermione's first confrontation with the Weasley twins in regards to their selling of their Skiving Snackboxes and other wares which didn't really seem to have a clear winner. History of Magic came first with the always boring and ghostly Professor Binns. Once again Harry was nearly put to sleep by the ghost as he droned on about giant wars. It truly was amazing how a subject as interesting as brutal wars between giants could be rendered so mind-numbingly boring by the man. If any of the other teachers tried their hand at it, Harry guessed that he would have at least been interested if not enraptured by the subject. As always, Hermione was the only one who seemed able to resist Binns' droning voice. It was certainly impressive when not even the academically enthusiastic Ravenclaws could do that much.
There was a brief meeting with Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker and Cedric Diggory's former girlfriend. Harry had sported a crush on the pretty Asian girl, but it made it slightly awkward for him personally since he had been there when her boyfriend died. She wanted to talk to him about something, but the moment had been ruined when Ron noticed the Quidditch badge for a team called the Tornadoes and in an unbelievably thick and insensitive moment, started interrogating her about how much of a fan she was when she clearly wanted to talk to Harry alone. Hermione certainly chewed him out for it, apparently making up for lost time since their last argument.
Potions was next, which had Snape as always overlooking his class like he was looking at a pile of waste. As always, he was blatantly unfair to the Gryffindors while actively favoring the Slytherins, when it was clear that his own students were epically failing while the Gryffindors were being competent for the most part. Crabbe's position was so wrong, he couldn't even place it in a flask for marking since it kept melting through the glass yet Harry heard the teacher give him passing marks anyway. On the other hand, Dean missed an ingredient on the list and Snape vanished his potion for it and told him to start over even though there was nowhere near enough time to complete it, which would no doubt receive failing marks. For once, the hook-nosed teacher didn't go out of his way to antagonize Harry, but that was likely out of a survival instinct since Snape knew of Saber's existence, and ability to astralize himself so he could follow Harry everywhere. Harry himself didn't doubt that if Snape tried his usual class tricks to purposefully affect Harry's grade, Saber would want to have a few 'words' with him about it.
After that came lunch and then Divination, one of Harry's least favorite classes which consisted of Professor Trelawney teaching them about how to tell the future through dreams. Most of the class consisted of reading the introduction from the textbook which didn't leave much time for actual dream interpretation. The only saving grace Harry could really see for that class so far was that Professor Trelawney hadn't predicted his death like she did many times through the third and fourth years.
Then came the class which everyone was waiting for, Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"Blimey, Fred and George weren't kidding," Ron groaned as the trio headed towards the DADA classroom. "Binns' essay on giant wars, Snape's essay on moonstones, and now a month long dream diary from Trelawney? If this is just the beginning of the year then the rest of it is going to be murder before the O.W.L.'s kill us!"
"Oh Ron, it's easy with just a little preparation!" Hermione insisted. "If we just sit down and do it quickly then we have nothing to worry about."
"Easy for you to say," the redhead muttered. "I just hope this Tosuca woman doesn't give us homework."
"It's pronounced Tohsaka, Ron!" Hermione huffed, rounding on the redhead again. "Honestly, it's not difficult to say!"
Harry kept his silence as they entered the classroom. Inside it was again differently decorated since the other teachers liked to add their personal touches to the room. Lockhart certainly took that privilege to the extreme by placing paintings and photos of himself everywhere. This time the room seemed to be moderately decorated and the front desk had a few instruments on it, but if they did anything was up for debate. Two smaller desks were at the corners at the front off the room, looking more like they were made for assistants rather than actual teachers.
Professor Tohsaka was standing at the front of the room, wearing her obviously muggle-like clothes and her hair in ponytails. At the desk on the left was the redheaded man that Harry remembered seeing on the train. Finally on the right side was the regal blonde woman, sitting at the other desk. None of them were speaking, simply allowing the students to file into the classroom. Of course, many of the boys already in the classroom were happy to stare at the two women while a few of the women made giggling comments about the man, Lavender and Parvati being chief amongst them.
The class finally filled and the bell rang, announcing the beginning of the class. Professor Tohsaka moved into action and stood straight, eying her class carefully.
"Hello," she greeted. "My name is Rin Tohsaka and I am going to be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. As such, you will refer to me as Professor Tohsaka at all times. Anything else I will consider an insult and lack of respect. Understand?" No one spoke, which the woman used to continue. "I will be having two teaching assistants with me for this year. On my left is Shirou Emiya, my apprentice. On my right is Arturia Pendragon, my assistant. You will refer to them as Mr. Emiya and Ms. Pendragon."
Introductions made, the red-clad woman pressed on, "I'm here to teach you about the various dark magic that is part of this world and how to best combat it. This is a serious subject and I expect you all to treat it as such. If you don't, then don't expect to have me pass you with decent marks, if I let you pass at all. I don't have any patience for people who coast their way through life or don't work hard at anything. You will try your best or you will fail."
Harry had to admire the steel in the woman's tone and felt a little bit flustered by it. It was enough for him to forget about Cho for a second, but it did make him wonder if he had a thing for Asian women. His moment of boyhood crushing was spoiled however when he heard Malfoy snort in his usual snobbish amusement. Glancing to the bleached blonde, Harry spotted him lean over to Pansy Parkinson and whisper, "Dumbledore must have really lost it if he expects us to be able to learn anything from a bunch of mudbloods." The comment made Pansy giggle, a rather unlikable sight considering her pug-like features.
It didn't escape Professor Tohsaka's ears though. She immediately turned a sharp glare towards Draco's desk and brought her hand up into what looked like a gun position. Harry wondered what on earth she was doing before he saw a small sphere of black energy tinted green appear on her fingertip. Many of the students blinked at what they saw before the small orb fired from the woman's finger like a bullet, screeching through the air like a bullet before hitting Malfoy's desk, making the surface shatter. Malfoy made the oddest squeaking noise before he fell from his seat with a loud thud and a groan of pain.
"Never, say that word in front of me," the angry woman said darkly, dropping her arm. Behind her, both Mr. Emiya and Ms. Pendragon were shooting dark glares at where Malfoy had fallen. "It is a stupid word filled with a profound amount of ignorance and senseless hate. Using it only proves how much of an idiot you are since only fools would think it has any meaning. 20 points from Slytherin for your sickening bigotry."
Many of the Gryffindors felt smiles tug at their faces while the Slytherins scowled at one of their own being 'wronged' like he was. Malfoy pulled himself up from his spot, his face flushed and a look of dark hate across his features, "My father will-!"
"I don't care who your father is!" Professor Tohsaka snapped. "The fact that you immediately threaten to go whining to him only proves that I was right in not considering you worthy of respect! You're a weak magus who obviously can't stand on his own two feet in this world without daddy holding your hand! Maybe if you're lucky I can make something halfway competent out of you by the end of the year. I've been known to work miracles before."
The look of absolute outrage on Malfoy's face made Harry's temper concerning his morning simply vanish. Ron looked like Christmas had come early, much like he did when the fake Moody turned the Malfoy heir into a ferret and bounced him all over the place. A teacher finally tearing into Malfoy for his slanderous remarks instead of simply chastising him like other teachers would, or outright pretend it didn't happen like Snape, was a breath of fresh air for many people.
"Now take your seat Mr. Malfoy and maybe we can get some work done," Professor Tohsaka turned her attention to the class as a whole. "Now, if everyone would turn to the introduction of Magecraft of the Modern World I will outline what you will have to expect in the coming year."
Professor Tohsaka read out the introduction and explained that the year would consist of working with cursed and enchanted items, dueling techniques, studying famous magi who were known for their methods of fighting, as well as various spells to deal with all of the above. It was a very comprehensive lesson plan and one that promised to be intensive for the students but offered big payouts to those that applied themselves. Harry himself was actually looking forward to the year as far as DADA went.
The remaining time of the class was put towards identifying just what was considered Dark Magic before she assigned a short essay asking for their definition of what Dark Magic was as well as examples to help them prove their points. Many of the students groaned, already having sizable workloads already, Ron being one of the loudest among them. Still, the woman didn't crack as she reminded them that O.W.L.'s were pivotal in their educations, and they always had the option of not doing her assignment at the cost of their grades.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class which allowed everyone to collect their books and be on their way.
"This has been the best class ever!" Ron grinned. "Seeing Malfoy get chewed out like that was just priceless!"
"I hardly think her punishment was appropriate," Hermione frowned, as always the voice of propriety and reason when it came to the rules. "She could have really hurt Malfoy if that spell of hers had been off the mark."
"I can't say I'm too sympathetic," Harry shrugged. "With all the trouble Malfoy's given us over the years, seeing a teacher that'll actually step up and punish him for his words instead of giving him a talking to is something I'd be happy to see more of."
Hermione looked like she wanted to argue, if only for the sake of it, but she had to concede the point. Malfoy did tend to get away with a lot in the school, more than likely due to Snape's influence as the head of Slytherin, "True. That spell Professor Tohsaka cast was impressive too. She didn't need a wand or an incantation to make it work. She must be an expert in spellcraft if she was able to do that."
"Just goes to show we got the right teacher for the job!" Ron nodded, although if he sided with Professor Tohsaka out of his dislike of Slytherins, her obvious competent abilities, or simply because of how attractive she was it was hard to say.
As the school day wore on, Caster was wandering around the castle in his astralized form to get the lay of the land, so to speak. His master insisted that he not follow her to her lessons, as she did not want to provoke her majesty by bringing him to class. It would foster mistrust and then she would never get her interview with King Arturia. The green knight was not exactly thrilled with the declaration, but since his Master did hold the Command Seals, she would be able to summon him should there be any sort of threat.
It didn't make him feel any better though.
Still, he decided to use the time to get a better layout of the castle, learning where everything was in case he got into conflict with Arturia and Lancelot once again, which was incredibly likely. He already knew the first floor and was working on the second. He could sense out other Servants already, Arturia and Lancelot most likely. One was wandering the hallways, likely getting the layout of the school like he was, while the other was inside one of the classrooms, which was obviously Arturia since she was actually employed by the faculty.
Walking along one of the hallways, Caster eyed a spot which looked cleaner than the others, making a wide area that appeared to have been cleaned in recent years while the rest looked as dingy and old as the rest of the castle. It was a moment of idle curiosity, but nothing more as the green knight continued on his way. Walking onwards though, he felt a creeping sensation running down his astralized spine. Being so in touch with his environment, he knew when something unnatural was afoot. Normally that usually stuck with the cities that people had built by carving out their habitats in nature, but the sensation Caster felt spoke more than just reshaping nature in a new form through the logic of man.
It was perverting it.
Frowning behind his helmet, Caster followed the sensation while allowing himself to turn to his solid form once again. Coming up to a wooden door, he grasped the handle before opening it. He stepped through and ended up in an bathroom which had the unnatural sensation hanging in the air like a death shroud. Whatever unnaturalness had been connected to the room, it had affecting it immensely to leave such an imprint.
"Who are you?"
Caster whirled around, gripping his axe, the emeralds flaring. Any attack which would have come next fizzled out when he saw that the one who had spoken to him was a ghost. She looked like a squat girl with thick glasses and two ponytails coming from the sides of her head. She wore the school uniform, indicating that she had been a student in life. She was silvery and transparent, obvious indicators that she was no longer amongst the living.
Caster didn't attack, but he was still tense. The ghost girl was saturated with the unnatural aura just like the room. Ghost were natural, since souls were quite natural in their own right even though they were a magic that Caster's couldn't touch. However the girl had died though, it was most definitely not in a natural way.
"I asked you a question," the ghost girl huffed. "Are you one of the suits of armour that live in the castle? This is a girl's bathroom you know."
Caster finally let go of his axe, turning to regard the girl with his full attention, "My name is Caster. I am in the service of a student here to protect her. I sensed an unnatural aura in this place and decided to investigate."
"Are you saying its me?" the ghost girl glowered, the change in her tone making the pipes of the toilets begin to rumble.
"No, but it has affected you," Caster replied, not wanting to upset the girl and lose any chance he had at answers. "I assume it is what killed you. What happened?"
The rumbling of the pipes stopped as the girl took on a surprised face. She then began to smile, obviously flattered, "Oh…you're the second person to have asked me that. I was crying in my stall after Olive Hornby made fun of my glasses. It was then that I heard someone come inside. They made all sorts of strange hissing noises near the sinks, but I was able to tell that it was a boy. I opened the door to yell at him, but instead all I saw were a pair of big yellow eyes. Then I died."
"Just by looking into someone's eyes?" Caster frowned. That did not sound natural. It seemed that the poor girl was made victim of the Mystic Eyes ability, but the only one he could think of who had an ability such as that was the Irish Formorian Balor, who, the green knight had heard, could kill a person with just a glare from his eye, but he doubted an Irish God from the lost Age of the Gods would just show up in a school in Britain. Besides, Balor only had one eye, or so Caster had been told, not to mention the fact that Balor had been slain ages ago. Even the descendant of that ability, the Mystical Eyes of Death Perception, required some effort to use beyond just looking at a person, "Was the owner of the eyes moving their hands when you saw them?"
"Hmmm," the girl pondered. "You know, I don't think it had any hands."
"No hands…" Caster frowned. It was quickly becoming more and more obvious that something very wrong was connected to this bathroom. "You said that hissing noises came from the sinks?"
"Yes," the ghost nodded. "Harry Potter asked me those questions too. He went to the sink and made some hissing noises before it turned into a big doorway he leaped through with his redhead friend and a teacher."
"Hmm," Caster frowned. Turning his attention towards the sinks in question, he walked towards them.
"Try the one with the snake on the handle," the ghost offered helpfully. "That one has never worked and when Harry hissed at it, it opened."
Caster heeded the girl's advice, checking the handles of the sinks before finding the one in question. It was a small design of a snake carved on the handle quite easy to miss for the unaware. Caster on the other hand could feel the magic on the sink in question. It couldn't have been more obvious to him unless it were glowing bright pink in the middle of such a drag room. He pressed his hand against the small snake carving, trying to discern what kind of magic was behind such an unusual position for a spell.
Part of bearing a Marble Phantasm was being sensitive to the world around the caster. The green knight was no exception as he managed to feel out the spell which was connected to the sink, offering insight into what it was supposed to do.
"It's a password spell," Caster muttered. "The password itself isn't very hard, but it requires it to be spoken in another language." It was obvious that the language was the language of serpents. The problem with it though was that while Caster was an accomplished magic user and had many skills, Animal Dialogue was not one of them. He would have to think of something else if he wished to enter the chamber which held the source of the unnatural feeling.
It would be tricky since the entire structure wasn't quite natural, but there was one way that Caster knew he could enter. The door was magically sealed, but if the mechanisms which held the door shut for the magic to seal suddenly failed… Nodding, Caster drew his axe and allowed the emeralds to shine with his prana. The air around him swirled and seeped into the cracks and crevices around the sink, searching out everything made of metal. Pipes, metal grating, and everything else made of metal were immediately saturated with the magically enriched air pressed against it at all angles. Like a high speed video, rust spread across the iron surfaces like a virus. It didn't last long before several pipes on the sink rusted completely and collapsed, but no water sprayed out. Then suddenly from the inside of the ring of sinks was a loud snapping noise.
Clinking noises began sounding off as the locking-magic behind the secret passage failed without a lock for it to reinforce. Caster ended his magic as the sides of the pillar with sinks mounted on it split apart, before rising up to leave a large hole in the floor.
"That's it," the ghost offered. "I hope you don't die down there."
"Hnn," Caster frowned, feeling the unnaturalness reek from the hole. Stepping forward, he leaped down into the abyss. He slid down what appeared to be a pipe, the armour leaving a trail of sparks as he went. He quickly came to the bottom of the tunnel, ending up in a barren room made of bedrock with what looked like a cave-in, and a narrow tunnel where someone must have dug themselves out. Caster didn't pay it any mind as he stepped over the rubble and continued on his trek, feeling the unnaturalness grow stronger as he continued in the direction of the cave in. The room was dingy and moist, making the knight believe that he had gotten below either the lake near the school or the ground water level, possibly both.
Caster approached the end of a stone passageway that ended in a round door with iron snakes acting as door-latches. They were enchanted in the same manner as the sink above. This time Caster didn't have the same kind of difficulty as the rock the door was embedded in was quite natural, even if the creator of the tunnel had changed it to fit his purposes. Gripping his axe once again, Caster created a small tremor which cracked the stone all around the doorway, making it fragile and unstable.
Caster reached the iron door before he reared back his weapon and smashed it against the obstacle. The rock shattered like fine china and the door flew deep into the room, bent almost in half from the force with which the Servant had struck it. Caster almost gagged as he felt more of the unnaturalness in the air, which was now almost strangling. Stepping through the door, he found himself in a dark and massive chamber, moisture saturating the air with pools of water along the sides. Snakes were the motif, mounted in rows of threatening statures as if they were ready to strike. The centre of the chamber held the slightly damaged statue of a bearded man's head with its mouth wide open.
Next to it was the rotting carcass of a gargantuan serpent.
"A basilisk," Caster spat venomously.
A basilisk was a creature which should most definitely not exist. They were impossible to breed in nature, and it was only because of the curiosity and the greed of man that they began to exist at all. Crossbreeding-experiments led to placing a toad on a chicken's egg, just to see what the result would be. What they got was a snake which terrified spiders with just its presence, died when in the presence of a rooster call, and could kill just by looking into the eyes of another living creature. Not even a Marble Phantasm could bring about a basilisk, because there was no way a toad would sit on a chicken's egg naturally, not long enough to actually birth the creature anyways. Of course, it didn't stop more than a few magi from wanting such a powerful beast under their thrall. To a being such as Caster though, it was a massive beacon of unnatural power that made him want to wretch and destroy the blasted thing.
Caster moved to the head of the monster, seeing the flesh was putrid and that the eyes had been gouged out by something. The green knight also noted that it looked like something had stabbed through the monster's head. Although he was denied the kill, Caster couldn't help but silently applaud the one who did the job, wherever they might be.
In the hallways above, Harry sneezed.
Still, Caster wanted to have his own fun.
"HRRRAAAAAGH!" Caster brought out his axe and in a flash of green smashed it into the head of the beast. The emeralds flashed violently before the head of the rotting monster exploded like a bomb gone off. Bits of rotting skin, bone, and brain matter rained down in all directions, dissolving as they went. The remains of the main body likewise began to rapidly dissolve as if the very molecules were losing adhesion, being rejected from the world if one wanted to put a poetic spin on the sight.
"That should clear things up a bit," Caster nodded to himself. Even dead, the basilisk reeked of unnaturalness, which would have made everything sensitive to it go nuts for some time to come. With the body gone though, it would be a significantly shorter amount of time before the unnatural sensations would vanish.
Unaturalness gone, Caster turned his attention to the rest of the bleak chamber. All around was nothing but statues of snakes and water. Still, a lot of magic was put into creating the place. It made the Green Knight wonder if he had stumbled onto another magi's workshop, though the lack of any kind of true experiments made him doubt that conclusion. Still, it could make a secure base once things were properly looked at and the security he destroyed was repaired.
Fortune seemed to be on his side today.
The day wore on for the students as they went through their daily activities. While a select few of the students were just satisfied that they didn't have their Servants following them around all day, rumors, both good ones and bad ones, were spreading quickly. The teachers quietly whispered to each other about the ruckus which had occurred the previous night, and what may have caused it, keeping an eye out for a certain pink-clad toad-like woman who would have loved an excuse to bring more Ministry-control to the school to further her agenda.
Much of the gossip resolved around the new DADA teacher and her two assistants. Naturally many of the speakers were either boys who were stuck on how beautiful the two ladies were, or girls going on about how ruggedly handsome the man was. Others talked about their obviously muggle choice of dress, scoffing at their taste or merely commenting on it like one would on the weather. The Ravenclaws clearly liked Professor Tohsaka, since she seemed very knowledgeable about her craft, and a dedicated scholar herself. The Hufflepuffs were certainly willing to give her chance, and already found things they liked about her and her two assistants, ranging from their pleasant if not serious demeanor to their fairness towards all students, rather than favoring one house over another. Then again, Hufflepuffs were rather amicable to everyone. The Gryffindors were naturally her biggest fans after it got out that she wouldn't stand for slanderous remarks like 'mudblood' or 'half-breed'. They especially loved her when they learned her brand of punishment towards those who tried following those beliefs in front of her. As for the Slytherins, they immediately pegged her as Enemy #2, second only to Harry Potter. One Slytherin in particular had a great reason to dislike her…
Slytherin Common Room
The emerald rooms the Slytherins called home was in a relaxed state after a day of lessons, if not holding a sense of smugness. It was no secret that a majority of the latest crop were the children of convicted or accused Death Eaters, and the only reason they weren't social pariahs in the years since Voldemort's downfall was because their parent(s) played the always useful 'I was under Imperious' defense mixed in with a few 'donations' to the right people. Fudge was so gullible and blinded by his own pride and/or paranoia he'd believe anything so to keep up the appearance of his perfectly safe and controlled world of Magical Britain despite many cries to the contrary. So the children of Death Eaters currently in Hogwarts got to enjoy a stigma-free education, believing they could get away with anything. That arrogance only increased when their parents received the glorious news of Voldemort's return. They felt it was only a matter of time before they truly began to run things at the school like they felt they always should have.
One student was not basking in that arrogance tonight.
"That mudblood bitch!" the student bellowed, stomping throughout his room, which only held him and the Servant he had mastery over. "How dare she do that? Humiliating the pureblood ways and talking about them as if they don't matter!"
Assassin merely stood in the shadows, watching as the boy who had through some ritual become her new Master threw a temper tantrum over a perceived insult to his pride, when it was quite obvious that the one who was insulted was the teacher in question when a racial slur was uttered in her presence. Of course, the skull-faced woman's Master arrogantly believed that the purebloods were so much more important than the common folk, and that thus their words should be accepted as truth of the world and such. Obviously the brat hadn't experienced the world outside of the bubble of money and false pride which the upper class of this magical society constructed for itself.
Already the boy had torn up several sheets of parchment, trashed a number of school supplies, and destroyed a few books in a rather sizable and immature tantrum. Naturally, not one of those items belonged to him, but the others which bunked in the same room. None of them would complain though, since that would bring about his wrath, or more likely bring about her former Master to deal with the issue. The other students would just repair what they could and order replacements of what they couldn't. It wasn't like they were hurting for money anyway.
To Assassin, the tantrum only went on to prove what an immature brat her new Master was. The only reason that this child was selected to act as her Master was because they were all stupid in blindly following Berserker's Master as if he were the coming of a deity. They ignored all of the flaws in his strategies or how he found all of his servants expendable in favor of hoping to bask in the result of their goals of a superior society of pure magi, even if they had to inbreed with one another to keep the lines pure. Of course, even Assassin could tell that doing that could damage a person in the long run.
"You!" the boy growled, pointing at Assassin. Apparently the brat decided that he had enough raging and destroying things and turned on her. "You're my Servant aren't you? Why aren't you going out and taking care of that bitch?-!"
"I am your Servant in the Holy Grail War, thanks to that ritual of yours." Assassin answered, staying in the shadow. "The only ones that I have to fight and kill are the enemy Servants and their Masters. I am not here to satisfy your wounded pride whenever someone says something that you do not like. Do not mistake my title as Servant as having the meaning of me being your personal chore girl."
"You are my property and I tell you what to do!" her Master snapped back, obviously unwilling to listen. Obviously her Master's pride was more important than common sense, something which was becoming a disturbing trend in this society of magi. "So have to obey me and I am ordering you to go hunt down that mudblood bitch and make her pay for insulting her betters!"
A flash of red from her Master's hand illuminated the room before the bottom jaw of the Command Seals dissolved into nothing. Assassin felt the compulsion fall onto her shoulders like a lead weight. Her jaw clenched while her eyes narrowed on the enraged/smug look on her Master's face, "Very well Master. Be warned of the penalty if you continued to step on my pride like this."
Her Master scoffed verbally at the warning, but the signals in the body showed nervousness. That in itself showed that the student hadn't forgotten about the lessons concerning crossing her. Warning given, Assassin stepped out of the shadows and headed towards the exit to the room, allowing her body to astralize as she went.
She had a teacher to chastise.
Rin was reading over several pieces of paper, notes she had taken from some of the books that were available from the library. Yes, they were meant for students, but Rin firmly believed that if one wanted to learn about anything new concerning magic, you started with the basics. As a teacher, she had access to the restricted section of the library, so she wasn't entirely bored with some of the things she had discovered.
As she walked, her mind drifted towards the classes and the students she had met thus far. She hadn't met all of the years yet, but she had seen how the invisible walls between the houses seemed to have certainly solidified. Ravenclaws were more interested in their studies while Hufflepuffs were trying to just get along with everyone. The Gryffindors and Slytherins felt like they could go at war with one another in a heartbeat at some points, and gave each other dark looks now and then at others. With the younger students it seemed more like a small rivalry, but with the older students it was obviously ready to turn violent. Though with most of the supporters of Voldemort having kids at that age, the tension made sense. The two houses had a notorious history with one another ever since Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor got in an argument over whether or not they should be accepting students who did not have pure magi blood in their veins. A somewhat racist point of view, but in the days back then non-magical people reacted to magic with hysteria, and the mundane parents of a magical child were a risk to the school, seeing that the Vatican back then was likely to butcher the child as well as all relatives to prevent the 'devil's craft' from 'harming' the innocent and faithful. Those parents could have tried to sell out the school to avoid receiving punishment, unless of course they were not magical themselves.
Of course, the idiots of the modern era seem to have taken it as the idea that pure magical blood was superior to all others and thus should be treated like royalty. Voldemort certainly believed it and so did all of the inbreeds who called themselves Death Eaters, along with his many other supporters. They believed it enough to start their terrorist campaign which only Harry Potter had brought an end to somehow. It only went to show how history could be warped from the truth into something the listeners would have preferred to see. Arturia had done that herself to craft the image of being a man for her people and completely cast aside her femininity for the stability of the country.
'Select the truth, solidify the facts,' Rin thought to herself. Perhaps her experiences with Archer in the Fifth Grail War made her a little more cynical than normal in situations like this.
Walking around a corner while reading up on some particularly interesting aspects on potions and various defensive spells she might be able to apply to her own form of magecraft, she felt it. In her brief time as a Master in the Fifth Holy Grail War, she had been thrust into dire situations where she had gone up against the likes of Hercules, Cu Chulainn, Medea, her own Archer, Medusa, and even Gilgamesh. When facing opponents like them, one developed a sense of danger very quickly, or they ended up very dead.
That sense was screaming at Rin to move.
Rin dropped her papers and ducked to the sides, rolling along the ground. She practically felt the wind pass over her neck before she heard something hit the stone floor near her. Glancing, she spotted what looked like a black dagger sticking out of the floor, actually having dug through the rug and into the stone. Gritting her teeth, she turned to see where the dagger had come from. At the far end of the hall she had turned into, hidden in the darkness between two windows which were showing moonlight was a woman with black skin, long hair, and an ashen white skull mask over her face.
"Assassin!" Rin hissed as the woman stepped out into the moonlight
"Oh?" the woman commented, an eyebrow arched on her forehead. "You know of me?"
"I am from the Magus Association you know," Rin stood up with a smirk. "I even took part in the last Grail War. I know a Servant Assassin when I see one, the legendary Hassan-I Sabah."
Assassin's eyes narrowed further. It seemed her Master's childish tantrum revealed some previously unknown information. Still, now she was exposed even more than before thanks to that spoiled brat. Someone who actually knew her name would know her history, well it would be so if she were not one of nineteen carrying the name of Hassan-I Sabah, all of which kept the workings and full potential of their abilities secret. But while the woman knew practically nothing of her personally, she did know the function of the Holy Grail War, and could bring about much more interference. Well, since Assassin was supposed to 'chastise' the teacher for insulting her Master, she could just kill the woman and plug the potential leak.
"I see," Assassin sighed before she drew two new daggers. "It's nothing personal, but I must complete my Master's orders."
"Naturally," Rin sighed, slowly slipping her hand into her pocket, feeling the smooth surface of her rubies in her pocket.
Assassin kicked off the ground and began her charge towards Rin, while the teacher yanked out several of her gemstones and unleashed their power in one of her offensive spells.
Archer stood up on top of one of the many rooftops of Hogwarts. He was taking a moment to enjoy the dark sky, since his Master was in her dormitory tower and Saber was still present there. Despite their positions as opposing Servants, Saber was agreeable to keeping both Masters safe from harm even if they were supposed to be enemies. Maybe it was being a knight, but either way Archer was thankful for it.
Archer gazed downward at the castle, pondering where to patrol next and where he hadn't been yet to get his lay of the land. Passing over the windows, he immediately noticed one of the lights of explosions lighting up, even smashing out some of the windows from the force.
"Well shit," Archer frowned. He immediately began leaping across the rooftops towards the source of the explosion, preparing himself for a fight.
Assassin was beginning to curse her Master for sending her on this mission. His anger and grudge were definitely a weakness, since they prevented him from thinking clearly or coming up strategies. He also didn't seem to understand the abilities of her Class and simply ignored them in favor of her doing what he commanded.
Oh, she was compelled to follow his commands due to those seals on his hand, but once they were exhausted, she would have her revenge.
Provided she survived right now.
Assassins were not designed to fight on the frontlines in battle. Assassins were killers first and fighters second. Of course, they still needed to train their bodies in the event of an unavoidable confrontation. Now she was facing against a Magus who seemed to have bombs literally coming out of her hands.
The attacks from the magus exploded off the stone hallways as Assassin dipped and weaved out of the way of the attacks. The stone shattered and Assassin knew that just one hit would deal devastating damage if it struck the right spot.
Drawing more daggers, the female Assassin launched them to try and get around the bomb-like attacks and dig into the woman's flesh. The woman in red reacted quickly, grabbing another one of her exploding spells and tossed it. The first of her knives collided against the spell, making another explosion, this one knocking the other knives out of the air with the force of the blast.
Assassin anticipated this though.
She leaped up and grabbed hold of one of the arches along the ceiling before hoisting herself up. Wedging herself in place with her legs between two such arches, she produced several more daggers and began to aim through the smoke, looking for one sign as to the position of the teacher so she could make her attack.
A silhouette began to appear in the smoke, backing away from the source. Assassin immediately reared back her hand to launch the weapon which would surely be a kill shot.
TWANG!
Assassin withheld the urge to cry out when the sensation of an arrow cutting through her hand lanced through her body while her hand dropped her knife. The hand that held the knife was pinned to the stone wall behind her, dribbling blood down the shaft of the arrow.
"Fancy meeting you here," a voice called out, gaining Assassin's attention. The black-skinned woman turned her gaze to one of the windows which the magus had blown open and spotted the green Archer kneeling in it with his bow raised.
"Archer," Assassin's eyes narrowed.
"Huh?" the woman in red coughed as the smoke cleared, but then she spotted the Archer in the window. "Oh shit."
"Relax pretty lady," Archer grinned roguishly. "I'm not here to get you. I'm after the Assassin who's pinned up above like a butterfly."
Rin blinked and looked up, spotting Assassin indeed up above with her hand pinned to the stone wall by a green arrow. Seeing the prime opportunity, Rin dug out more of her rubies and activated the magic inside of them to launch another assault at her now still target.
Assassin spotted the magus' movement and immediately decided how she would avoid becoming a victim of the attack. Clenching her fist, she snapped the shaft of the arrow and pulled her hand free with a small splash of blood before leaping aside, narrowly missing the explosive spells that almost struck her and instead blew a chunk out of the ceiling.
Landing on the ground, Assassin weighed her options. In front of her was the magus she was supposed to punish, and considering the circumstances probably kill, for her spoiled brat of a Master. Behind her was Archer who had another arrow notched back, this one red and likely explosive.
A most bothersome situation for her.
'Perhaps it is time for Zabaniya,' the woman pondered to herself.
And then the shouting started.
"PEEVES! THAT HAD BETTER NOT BE YOU!" the voice of the sour castle caretaker, Argus Filch, bellowed as the sounds of his shuffling footsteps could be heard approaching the hallway.
It was a slight distraction, but one Assassin used to dive out of the window while her aggressors were focused on trying not to be found out by someone who was not connected to the Grail War.
"Hey!" Archer cried, quickly giving chase. He reached the window and began shooting several metal arrows down along where Assassin fell, but the woman seemed to have vanished into the darkness outside of the castle walls. Either she astralized, or her skin tone allowed her to blend into the night. "Dammit."
"OK, Archer," said Rin, frowning as she looked at the green-clad Servant standing not too far from her, her index finger pointed at him like a gun. "I want answers and I want them now. For your sake they should be good ones."
Archer blinked, looking to the woman pointing her finger at him, "Ehehehehe. You wouldn't shoot a guy who saved your life would you?" Normally seeing someone point their finger at someone else wouldn't be all that intimidating. When one of them was a magus though, things got a whole lot more intimidating.
"When he's not being honest with me I would," Rin answered, not moving from her position. "Now, just what the hell are all of these Servants doing here in Hogwarts? Fuyuki City not good enough anymore?"
"Where?" Archer blinked, obviously having no clue as to what the woman was talking about.
Rin frowned, deciding to just up and ask her questions before Archer decided to stop playing along and try to escape. "I repeat, why are so many Servants-!"
"PEEVES!" Filch's voice bellowed, much closer than before and cutting off Rin's interrogation.
Archer took immediate advantage of the break in the woman's focus and, like Assassin before him, leaped through the window. He allowed himself to drop like a rock, allowing a few floors to fly past before grabbing onto a window ledge, stopping his fall. Looking up, he spied the female magus sticking her head out of the window and thanks to his enhanced senses, could hear her cursing. Archer merely snickered before he astralized, allowing him to pass through the castle walls and step safely onto the hallway floor.
A smirk may have been on his lips, but his mind was already moving into tangents. The woman knew about Servants, likely about the Holy Grail War in that regard. Who was she? Was she the missing moderator of the Holy Grail War? If she was, she didn't much act like a nun.
He was going to have to confer with Saber and their Masters over this.
Slytherin Common Room
Assassin reappeared in front of the brat. As he waited for her to deliver the expected good news, one of her daggers was thrown at him, cutting his cheek. Alarmed the teenager stumbled back and dropped on his rear as Assassin stood threateningly over him. He reached for his wand and was about to wave it and chant a spell when another dagger pinned the sleeve of his robe to the floor, preventing him from aiming his wand at her.
"Ignorant fool," she sneered at him. "Do you realize that because of your grudge against that teacher my presence here has been compromised?"
"Wh-what?" the Slytherin stuttered.
"You not only sent me to kill a magus, one that I may add is an accomplished combatant in no doubt several battles, you sent me to kill one who was knowledgeable about the Holy Grail War and discern my identity!" Assassin hissed. "She fought back, forcing me to reveal myself to her, which captured the attention of another Servant, and revealed my presence in the castle! Saber, Caster, and that woman in blue will now know that I am here!" She reached down and grabbed the collar of the boy's shirt and lifted him up, tearing his sleeve which had been pinned by her dagger. "My movements will now be limited, they will all be on guard, they will be watching their Masters like hawks! Thanks to you, we have lost our advantage in the Holy Grail War!"
Snorting in distaste, Assassin dropped the teen back to the floor like a sack of rags, "It is only the fact you hold my Command Seals that I don't kill you for your utter failure and childish temper." She almost considered cutting off his hand just to make an example out of him. She quickly discarded the idea since that might risk her own presence in the Holy Grail War, breaking the contract even if partially may be enough to end her participation. And even if it didn't, at the moment she'd be more than pressed to find a new Master willing to take in a Servant that had killed the precessor.
"For your sake, do not call upon me until my blood has cooled," Assassin warned, turning away from her brat of a Master. "You will not like the consequences."
She then turned her back to the boy, leaving the room once again. The teenager on the floor panted from fear, once again humbled by the black-skinned woman. This time, his trousers felt moist and he knew that this was the first time he was absolutely sure that he was about to die. Of course, it was enough to puncture through his pride and arrogance and help drive home the fact that he had hindered his own efforts immensely.
Gryffindor Common Room
Archer had returned quickly to the common room, quickly calling both his Master as well as Saber down for a meeting. Fortunately the room was empty from other students, who had gone to sleep while ignoring their homework, or went off to a private spot to snog with their significant others that they hadn't seen since the beginning of the summer. So the only ones in the room were Harry, Ron, Hermione, Saber, and Archer to discuss what was going on.
"What's the emergency?" asked Ron with a yawn.
"Had an encounter with Assassin," Archer replied, picking his teeth with an arrowhead. Normally it may have been seen as being nonchalant, but obviously Archer was bothered and he was indulging in a habit. "She was trying to kill one of your teachers, the Asian one in the red shirt."
"What?-!" the trio gasped.
"Relax, she was holding her own rather well before I stepped in and saved the day," Archer replied. "Unfortunately, that creepy guy with the cat distracted us with his shouting and she got away. That's not the whole story though."
"What?" asked Hermione.
"She seems to know about the Holy Grail War," the green-clad man replied, earning wide eyes from the teens and an almost statuesque stare from Saber. "She tried to hold me for interrogation, asking why so many Servants were here. That cat guy distracted us again since he was getting close and I made a run for it. I swear that woman can curse up a blue streak."
Hermione, Ron, and Harry all looked at each other in more than a little confusion. How could their new DADA teacher know about the Holy Grail War? They were under the impression that the entire event was to be held in the strictest of confidences. The trio only knew because they had summoned Servants of their own or had been informed by those Masters as to what was going on. How would Professor Tohsaka know about it?
It seemed things were becoming more complicated.
While her brother, friend, and love interest were talking downstairs, Ginny was up in her own room. Earlier in the day, she mad managed to finally get the book which Hermione mentioned she had used to get what she needed to summon Archer.
The subject material was pretty new to her, some of the things which the book talked about like prana, mana, and od were completely unknown. She also read over the parts about summoning, which was what she was after in the first place. Something about it just grabbed her attention and she just couldn't help but to want to try it herself.
This was why she was sitting up in bed, taking notes on parchment on the various arrays, which ones she thought might work best, the incantations, and sketches of the notes as best as she could copy them. The book insisted that detail was important and Ginny wasn't one to argue when it came to magic. Details could be the most important things about magic, that she knew.
It didn't stop her from being excited about her attempt at using this new magic.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Okay, it's taken me a while but there is finally an update to this story. Hope you guys enjoy it. Assassin is forced to make her move and it costs her an important advantage. On the other hand, Rin is now official in the sights of all parties and both her own Servant and apprentice are going be dragged along with her. Still, the Servants are on the move and what exactly is Caster's plan for the Chamber of Secrets.