Summary: (Harry Potter / Hetalia Axis Powers Crossover) England decides to teach at Hogwarts to keep an eye on the Boy Who Lived. But the famous Trio (Harry, Ron, Hermione) are becoming suspicious of their new profesor... Can England keep his status as a country a secret? And what does Voldemort want with him?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Hetalia belong to their rightful owners. I do not own either.
Harry
Harry didn't know what to say. This didn't make any sense. Were his eyes just playing a cruel trick on him? Had he only thought that he'd seen Kirkland in the photo because the mysterious man was such a dominant force in his subconscious thoughts?
He leaned closer, his head bumping against Ron and Hermione's heads as they too tried to looked closer. No. It was him. The photo didn't have the best quality, and he was still in the background, but there was no doubt that it was Kirkland's face.
"...No way," murmured Harry.
Ron scratched his head. "M-maybe that's his great-grandfather or something?" he ventured.
Hermione seemed to recover some of her wits and shook her head. "No, there's no way that he'd resemble a distant relative that closely. They'd had to be practically clones..."
"B-but, people don't just live that long and look exactly the same as they did 75 years ago..." said Ron shakily. "It's not... natural."
Hermione nodded, for once agreeing with Ron. "Look at Dumbledore, he's older than most, but even he can't keep up the natural course of time. He's aged, like everyone else eventually does. Look at Kirkland, he looks twenty-three at the most..."
Ron was silent for a minute, before suggesting quietly, "He could be immortal or something...?"
Hermione and Harry gave Ron identical incredulous looks.
"Well, he could be!" Ron defended himself. "What other explanation is there? And just look at You-Know-Who, some people say that he could be immortal, and somehow he's survived the killing curse being rebounded upon him all those years ago." Ron gave Harry a sideways glance.
Hermione angled her head to the side as she considered this new theory she had been presented with. "You know... much as I loathe to admit it, Ron has a good point. If Kirkland's a Dark Wizard, it would make a bit of sense if he too found some way to live longer and with enhanced resilience, like... V-voldemort."
It impressed Harry that Hermione was starting to be brave enough to say Voldemort's name aloud. "Do you really think he's that powerful?" asked Harry inquisitively.
"Perhaps," said Hermione, shrugging. "If he knows some Dark chants and ceremonies, then he must have some degree of power. If he really is older than he looks, than maybe he knows things that are even more ancient. The one thing I don't understand though is how he has stayed looking the exact same... Over time, serious Dark Magic messes with the user's appearance. You-know-who is proof of that."
"...Blimey, I never would have thought... immortality... to think it is possible..." Ron stuttered, his face in a state of perpetual disbelief.
Hermione narrowed her eyes in thought. "There's another thing I don't understand though. Why would Kirkland join the RAF?"
"...What's the RAF?" said Ron with a blank, uncomprehending face.
"It stands for the Royal Air Force you dolt. What else?" returned Hermione, exerting every effort to being patient with Ron's typical ignorance of anything related to muggle matters.
"Ah," acknowledged Ron after the clarification. "Well, at least it isn't SPEW... ouch!"
Hermione promptly wacked Ron up the side of his head, whom rubbed his head while reproachfully glaring at her.
Trying not to further inflame the tension between Ron and Hermione, Harry tried to think of a reason for why Kirkland would join a muggle military organization. "I dunno Hermione... Maybe he really does like muggle things-"
"Which would be a first for a Dark Wizard," added Ron.
"-Or at least he can tolerate them well. I don't know what he could gain from being part of the air force though... maybe information? In any case, at least this explains why he knows so much about Muggle History." Harry thoughts flashed back to their History of Magic classes... how Kirkland had always spoke about the battles and debates with such confidence, as if he himself had been present to see these things unfold with his own eyes. This brought up the strange idea that Kirkland might have actually fought in the very wars he had been teaching them about. But that seemed... far-fetched.
Hermione's mouth dropped open in to a perfect "o". "You're right! That would make sense, Harry."
"But still, a Dark Wizard hanging out with muggles? That just doesn't happen. Every Dark Wizard known to Wizardkind has been two things: A Slytherin, and a supremacist."
"You're right, but Kirkland doesn't seem to be either of those things..." commented Hermione thoughtfully. "He's definitely not a Slytherin, since the only person with the name "Arthur Kirkland" in Slytherin lived..." she trailed off, her brown eyes growing as round as Galleons. "...Wait. If he looked exactly the same in 1920... what if... he was the same guy in the school records?" she whispered in wonder.
"What? From one thousand years ago? Stop joking Hermione. Even Nicholas Flamel didn't live that long..." Ron argued against this idea, but his eyes seemed unsure.
Tangible silence prevailed for what seemed like an eternity as they digested this new possibility.
"...Over a thousand years," breathed Harry.
"...That's... a long time..." said Ron dumbly, his face numb at the new revelation they had just gleamed.
"...That's... an understatement," answered back Hermione, mockingly imitating Ron's voice, much to Ron's annoyance. His face clearly read: "NOT amused".
Harry's thoughts were scattered and incoherant. It was hard to absorb and understand all that had just transpired and all that they had just uncovered.
"...What do we do now?" Harry asked, his mind dead and energeticly alive at the same time. How were they supposed to react to this new information? Should they act upon it? 1000 years ago! Could it be? It could always just be a coincidence that Kirkland's name matched that of a Slytherin student...
Humming carefully, Hermione began to open her mouth to suggest something. "...I think she should talk to him."
The eyes of Ron widened exponentially, so much so that it was alarming to see. "And call him out?! Hermione, are you trying to convince us that we should seek this man out, knowing full well how dangerous he could be, and then tell him what we know? Are you insane? That's suicide."
"Well, look at it this way Ron," said Hermione grimly. "Its almost Halloween, and we're supposed to be gathering evidence to convince the Order and other people that Kirkland is a Dark Wizard. So far we have nothing, and this may be our best bet. Kirkland may slip up and reveal something to our advantage. I can't think of any other ideas at this point besides searching his office, which is even more riskier than what we're trying to do. We don't have to call him out or anything yet, because I agree that's too foolish to attempt. Kirkland won't hurt us. That wouldn't look good, and people would find out what he had done. In any case, Sirius is expecting a report by Halloween-"
Harry briefly interjected. "Yea, about that. How are we going to contact him? With Umbridge reading people's mail, and watching the Floo system in Hogwarts, there doesn't seem to be any safe way to talk to him.
With a tired look Hermione deflated slightly. "I know, Harry. I guess we'll just have to conquer that hurdle when we come to it... and hope we think of something."
England
"Blast!"
England was not happy, to say the least.
It was bad enough that he had had another attack, graphically coughing up blood and the usual; but not only that, but that little "performance" had happened right in the middle of a class he had been in the midst of teaching. All of his 5th year Slytherin and Gryffindor students had had an opportunity to see it, and who knows what they would assume. That had been just what he need: more attention.
What had been even worse was the cause of his little "episode".
He-who-must-not-be-named had been up to his usual tricks. But this time, he had gone for a far different approach. Instead of going around as an individual to kill for pleasure and entertainment, You-Know-Who had brought along some "friends" to give him a helping hand. Five Death Eaters had assisted their master in the slaughter, and for such a small group, they had caused a great deal of damage.
It had occurred near a town in a secluded area of Wales, far from any highly populated areas, and had been extremely decisive and well performed, with Death Eaters targeting surrounding farms and settlements on the outside edges of town. Among the dead had been a muggle-born girl, ten years old this year and nearly ready to ascend into Hogwarts to begin her magical education. She had not been the only child to suffer the Dark Lord's prejudice that day, not by a long shot. This had been the biggest attack yet, with the strike on a scale far greater in comparison to the Dark Lord's typical solo-killing sprees. No doubt Wales would probably be having a hard time right now...
Surely the Ministry would have written something about this. It was too important to ignore. But when Britain looked at the headlines of the Daily Prophet, all his eyes could pick out was the usual slander and propaganda trying to undermine Dumbledore and Potter. With disgust England tossed the paper aside. The Ministry had gotten out of hand... Either Fudge was in denial, their sources for receiving news was poor, or people were simply refusing to openly admit the obvious. Come to think of it, it was probably all three.
Brandee frightfully watched him pace and swear, cowering under his bed with her already fluffy fur puffed up to make her appear twice her size.
Sighing, he stopped and rubbed his eyelids. At this point, he didn't know what course to take. Perhaps the best thing to do was to just pretend the whole thing hadn't happened. Teenagers were busy and easily distracted creatures with more "important" dilemmas on their minds. Maybe if he ignored what had happened enough, they would forget...
At this point, this was the only thing England could think of, as pathetic as the idea was. But it was his only hope.
Harry
So far, no one had any plans for how to speak to Kirkland. Hermione had suggested that they ask for his help with homework, but Ron had shot that thought down with a scathing remark, "He knows that you of all people don't need help with their homework, Hermione." Harry was still at a loss of how to approach the Professor to insinuate a conversation. They had to learn something more about him, and it seemed that the best way to accomplish that was to talk to him and cross their fingers that he'd blunder and let something slip.
The next day Harry and his friends had still been deliberating the different ways they might be able to undertake this daunting task, when suddenly luck mercifully shone down on them in the form of Kirkland walking up to them while they were strolling around in the halls at lunch. So much for them trying to talk to him, he had solved the problem for them.
"Hello Granger, Weasley, Potter," said Kirkland, stopping them in the hallway and calmly listing out their names. "How are we today?"
"Fine, thanks Sir," Hermione said meekly. Harry and Ron shared a sneaking suspicion that despite knowing that Kirkland was Dark and... well... old (if the photograph she had found was anything to go by), she still harboured a slight admiration for the man (along with almost every other female who roamed Hogwart's corridors). While Harry didn't care either way, Ron sometimes acted as if he had been personally offended whenever she expressed even the slightest esteem towards Kirkland, or any male for that matter. (*cough-cough*VIKTORKRUM*cough*)
Kirkland nodded briskly, pleased. "Are you all doing anything?"
"No Professor," said Harry honestly. "Not really."
"Not at the moment," added Ron, slightly grudgingly.
The blond-haired Professor "hmm"ed a bit and set his eyes on them. For the first time, Harry noticed just how timeless those eyes were. Their calculating green shades of colour looked as if they had seen more than any mortal man could dare to have claimed to see. There was age in them, as if a pressing weight of countless years bore down upon them, clouding their vision with too many memories to count. There was wisdom too, yes. Wisdom beyond the young man's years. Now, when looking into these eyes, Harry gradually began to humour and entertain the likelihood that it could be that... Kirkland was older than he appeared. All of these things hit Harry in an instant as he caught just a glimpse of Kirkland's eyes, before he blinked and the illusion was gone. The eyes seemed normal to Harry again, as if there had never been anything special about them, or that they had just simply hidden their true nature by locking it guardedly behind a pair of hard steel doors. It was likely that Harry had just imagined the whole thing. Somehow, though, Harry knew that he would never quite look at Kirkland the same way again, imagination or not. Hermione and Ron shivered at Harry's side, seemingly as though they had felt and experienced exactly the same thing. They looked troubled, and Kirkland seemed oblivious to the peculiar effect that he had just been the cause of.
"Would you all care for a cup of tea? I've been awfully lonely lately, and it would be a great comfort to me if I could have the pleasure of a bit of friendly conversation," offered Kirkland.
Harry's mouth nearly dropped open by reflect, but he repressed the reaction. This could be their chance! Ron looked uneasy, as if he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs: "IT'S A TRAP GUYS!" However, the ginger boy still graciously agreed along with Harry and Hermione. Together they all followed Kirkland to his office, and Harry couldn't help but shudder as he stepped through the door, eerie shivers tingling up and down his spine. The last time he had seen this room, Kirkland had been in the midst of a Dark Ceremony...
The Assistant Professor turned to look at Harry with confusion. "Anything wrong, Potter?" he asked, sitting himself down at his large writing desk.
"No, nothing," Harry answered, a little dryly, as he and Ron and Hermione pulled up extra chairs and sat themselves in front of Kirkland's desk.
The tea Kirkland gave them was fantastic, but Harry was still uncomfortable when drinking it. He had sniffed it before cautiously taking the first tiny sip, but internally he knew that some potions and poisons, such as Veritaserum, were tasteless and had no odour. In the end, he had to force himself to temporarily trust Kirkland and act more natural. They would never get any information out of him if he was alerted to their suspicion of him.
"So," said Kirkland, gently setting down his cup. "Are your classes going well?"
Hermione swallowed and replied first. "Very well, Professor."
"Brutal," Ron cheekily commented, contrary to Hermione's words.
Kirkland chuckled slightly, and Harry blinked at the sound. This had been the second time they had heard Kirkland laugh, the first being shortly after Umbridge had woken up with boils that one morning.
"What about Herbology, or Defence Against the Dark Arts?" Kirkland threw out, trying to broaden the conversation.
Ron shrugged. "Herbology is fine enough, but DADA... well, ever since the Ha... erm, I mean Professor Umbridge, got those boils, she's been having... issues."
"What kind of issues?" Kirkland inquired curiously, and for a moment Harry thought he saw a flash of amusement graze his face.
"...Just, bad luck all around," said Ron, leaning back.
"Could you be more specific?"
"Oh, I don't know... she dropped a lot of things for a few days..."
Kirkland lifted an eyebrow a bit. "Was that all?" Harry idly puzzled over why Kirkland would be so interested in Umbridge's recent lack of good fortune.
Ron scuffed his feet a bit, trying not to smile. "Well... no. There was a time she had to throw up in one of her vases, except she didn't vomit food... it looked like it was a kind of tar, or something like it. All I know was that it was black, and it smelled. She also couldn't use her wand right for a bit, and caused more explosions than Seamus Finnigan in his first year. And she would always be tripping over things like a baby just learning to walk."
Rolling his eyes, Kirkland sympathetically said. "Poor woman." Somehow, Harry had a feeling that Kirkland wasn't being entirely sincere in his sympathy.
For a time, they mostly talked with Kirkland about random happenings in the school. Kirkland asked them if they were going to the Halloween party, and if so, who they were going with. During this time, Harry couldn't help but feel at ease again around the man. It was hard to imagine that this was the same guy who he had caught using extremely dark and dangerous magic.
Hermione began to ask Kirkland more personal questions, subtly digging for information. When asked where he lived, Kirkland had answered that he liked to move all over the place, but more-or-less had a permanent home just outside London.
"So," began Hermione. "Do you have any family, Professor? Er, it seems you have a brother..." she said, blushing a bit. Harry knew why she was blushing. She was remembering the howler that Kirkland had received all that while ago, and was reluctant to bring up the matter again for fear that Kirkland might get angry.
Kirkland rolled his forest-green eyes and shook his head, closing his irked eyes. "Ah, yes. I'd forgotten that you would know about... Alfred. He's, of course, the one who wrote me that howler. To say the least, I was not happy with him after that." He looked up at the ceiling, as if caught up in deep thought. "I have a big family, and it would take more time than we currently have for me to tell you about them all. They are all such complicated and unique individuals, that I could take hours just talking about one of them. I'll try and shorten it for time, so try and get comfortable." Kirkland grabbed his tea again and brought it close. It had cooled down a bit and there was hardly any left, but he still seemed to take comfort in holding the cup of tea.
Eagerly, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sat at attention, ready to absorb whatever Kirkland talked about.
With a deep breath, as if to take a plunge into a frigid lake, Kirkland commenced talking about his family. "I have four older brothers, and we don't always see eye to eye. Back when I was little, they used to drive me away with stones... in their defence, though, I didn't really treat them much better. Lately we've been getting along well... or, better than we used too at least. Old habits die hard though, and we often have some nasty spats here and there..."
Harry was interested by this. He had always wanted a family, someone to love and care for him. The Dursleys didn't really count in this regard, and he hardly ever got to interact with his godfather, as Sirius was a fugitive. He had often thought that it might be cool to have a sibling, but as his parents had died just after having him, he had grown up an only child with only Dudley as a companion. Dudley was a poor substitute at best. It hadn't always crossed Harry's mind that he might not have had a friendly relationship with any siblings he could have had if his parents had survived.
"Who are your parents? What are they like?" Harry asked with intrigue. Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, knowing full well why he was expressing such interest in Kirkland's family matters. Having never had a true family himself, it was understandable that such a subject would excite him.
"I don't have any," Kirkland said bluntly, not explaining any further.
"Oh," said Hermione. "Um, sorry," she apologized for Harry awkwardly. Harry mused over Kirkland's lack of parents. As strange as it was, this made him feel a slight connection to the Dark Wizard, who may or may not be immortal. Had Kirkland's parents died like Harry's parents, leaving him and his brothers as orphans? Or had he simply never known them? Or could it be some other reason?
"Who raised you, then?" Ron nervously prodded.
Kirkland didn't seem sure how to answer. "...My older brothers I guess. There was also a boy a little older than me named... Francis," Kirkland hissed out the name. "-Whom had some influence over me for a time. I was sort of passed from person to person, so I can't credit a single individual for my upbringing."
"Surely you weren't just raised by young boys?" said Hermione, appalled and shocked. "There must have been an adult-figure somewhere in your life."
The messy-haired man shifted uncomfortably, and seemed to sweat a bit. "Um, yes. I was put in... an orphanage?" The Professor threw out, as if unsure of what he was saying. "And then a family took me in for a bit before I went my own way."
Hermione didn't really seem satisfied with this answer, but she didn't question Kirkland further and moved on. "Do you have any more family?"
"Yes," said Kirkland in a relieved tone, as if happy to move past the subject of parent-figures. He still seemed to have trouble answering this next question as well though. "I have many...younger siblings." Harry noticed that Kirkland hesitated on the words "younger siblings", acting as though he was unsure of what term to use. "Some have been adopted into my family, but all are my brothers and sisters. That's where Alfred comes in. He and Matthew, who you may have also heard in the howler, are... sort-of twins."
"'Sort-of twins'?" Harry said, bemused. How could anyone be "sort-of twins"? You were either twins or you weren't.
"It's complicated," replied Kirkland by way of explanation. "There's also Samuel(1), Mason(2), Daniel(3), hm... Brianna(4), Michelle(5), Xinyi(6), Leon(7)..." suddenly Kirkland stopped himself. Harry and his friends were amazed. How could you have four older brothers and so many young siblings as well? It seemed unlikely.
Unless..., Harry thought to himself. If he really IS immortal, then it doesn't seem that improvable that he could have that big of a family, if they lived longer as well. My goodness... does that mean that all those people could be like him as well? I wonder if his family knows about how he practices Dark Magic, and if they approve of it. Harry tucked these thoughts away and made a promise to himself to share his insights with Ron and Hermione as soon as they were alone and he had the chance.
Coughing, Kirkland stood up. "I think I've wasted enough of your time. You'd better be on your way, or you'll miss the rest of lunch."
The most prominent expression on Hermione and Harry's face was disappointment, but they didn't argue. As they exited the office, Harry stole a glance behind him and caught a glimpse of Kirkland's young cat leaping onto the writing desk. Kirkland began to stroke the kitten's back, mindfully watching them leave. Harry swiftly returned his gaze to the front.
They hadn't been able to gleam much information from Kirkland, but Harry was determined to not give up just yet.
Author's Note: (Please read)
I had to cut this chapter in half. Originally it was MUCH longer, but it was taking too long to write, so I chopped it into TWO chapters :o
For those who think that the trio have been narrow-minded in their thoughts about England... you are absolutely right. But there is a purpose to this. Just look at the books. The trio, overall, much of the time, ARE very narrow-minded :). I could give you a dozen examples... but I'll settle for four: 1st Book: The trio is convinced Snape is the bad guy and trying to kill Harry and steal the Philosopher's stone. 2nd Book: The trio seem majorly convinced that Harry is most likely the heir of Slytherin after he speaks parseltongue, despite contradicting evidence. 3rd Book: The trio are convinced that Sirius is a dark wizard. 4th Book: They think that Moody is the good guy, while Karakoff and Viktor (only in Ron's case) is the bad guy. ...NARROW-MINDEDNESS FTW :D
FANMADE HUMANS NAMES, (I JUST CAME UP WITH THEM LAST MINUTE FOR THE FIC ^^; If you are native to the respective country, and have another idea that you like, PM me ((DON'T REVIEW THESE TYPES OF THINGS() and if I like it enough, I may change it ^^):
(1)Samuel=Australia (2)Mason=New Zealand (3)Daniel=South Africa (4)Brianna=Jamaica (5)Michelle=Seychelles (6)Xinyi=Singapore (7)Leon=Hong Kong. (This is only his "English" name. He, of course, has a Cantonese name too :3) Sorry for the countries I missed! I don't want to go through ALL of England's former colonies, and besides, if England began listing off every single one of them, you could bet your Grandpa that the trio would go "no way" and become EXTREMELY suspicious of his vast amount of young "siblings".
fsghfd, I'm uploading this at 12:33 in the morning. I just finished watching "Twelve Years a Slave", and GOLLY, WAS THAT AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER. I AM STILL SOBBING RIGHT NOW :"(. Go and watch it right now if you can! NAO. :T It is so amazing and emotional... although it makes me feel disgusted at humanity's grosser crimes...
Reviews make me inspired to write faster!
Chau! Love you all! And thanks to those who did review! *hugseveryone*