Chapter Twenty-Four: Of Inner worlds, Break-ins and Pranks
Kushina frowned lightly as she twisted about under her covers, she had gone to sleep only an hour before, however, she was quickly drawn from memories of the past by a vague disturbance in her inner world. She opened her eyes to find that all along the top of the walls surrounding her version of Konoha were perched Anubis' Jackal warriors, the Jackals had their hackles raised and were snarling as they stared off into the distance. She glanced over at the Hokage tower and saw Thanatos perched on the roof with his sword drawn while Anubis was in full jackal form as he prowled around the base of the tower. She snorted in amusement before she muttered to herself, "I guess I better go find out what all this fuss is about," she then used Shunpo to reach the tower.
Once she had reached the base of the tower she looked down at Anubis and asked in a slightly puzzled tone, "what's going on here? Why is the jackal army on the walls of the village and why are you and Thanatos guarding the tower?"
Anubis shifted back to his more human looking form before he said, "something caused us to be more wary then usual and the jackal army just appeared there. We," he gestured to himself and Thanatos, "thought you had them appear since neither of us had ordered for them to do so. As for why we decided to guard the tower is due to it containing a great deal of your memories, we deemed it wise to guard the tower as such."
Kushina blinked at that before she had muttered, "well as far as I know I didn't order for the army to guard the village. Perhaps I should go find out just what they are snarling at…" She stared off into the vast forest where the jackals seemed to be staring at while snarling soundlessly. Her Zanpakuto spirits raised their eyebrows in confusion but nodded swiftly in agreement to her suggestion and watched as she leapt atop the wall before she jumped down to race through the forest.
As she ran through the forest Kushina idly wondered how and who had caused the army to rise to defend her mind from attack. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of an odd looking cave, if the light hadn't of hit the entrance just right she would have never spotted it. She veered over to the cliff face and looked the entrance over, it seemed to have a barrier made of seals as well as magic across it, she ran her hands over the barrier but it almost seemed to be telling her, 'it's not time yet but soon I'll reveal what I hold to you.' She then backed away from the caves entrance before she whispered, "I'll hold you to that promise so I'll be back to check on you…"
She then darted away from the area, she never noticed a red haired figure come up to the barrier and smirk to themselves, the figure laughed quietly before it murmured, "oh, ho, ho. What fun you will have when you finally remember just who you used to be…" The figure then turned away it's red ponytail swayed from side to side as it walked away from the entrance.
Kushina finally slid to a halt in front of a large mountain, she then walked around it and studied it intently, at first it seemed as if it had no entrance then she found a narrow crevasse. As she entered the narrow corridor she had muttered to herself, "I don't know what the hell is in here but this seems to be where this feeling of unease is coming from…" Thankfully the narrow passage widened the further into it she went, she finally exited the passage into an immense cavern. In the center of the cavern was a large slumbering dragon, it was black with gold scales from it's chin to the base of its throat, a band of black scales separated the throat scales from the gold colored belly scales, two bands of black scales at the hip area separated the belly scales from the gold scales along the bottom edge of the tail. She frowned as she glanced over the wings and the way that they were joined to the body, the membranes of the wings didn't start until the third joint of the wing, each wing had four spines in it that ended with a large silver colored spike that was at least a foot long. She estimated that it's wing span when fully flared was probably around thirty six feet from tip to tip, for some reason the dragon seemed to be familiar to her.
As she silently studied the slumbering dragon she wondered just why her inner world was so uneasy due to the dragons prescence. So far she couldn't feel anything negative from while around it but that could be attributed to her own secondary animagus form. After all, most dragons hardly thought of other dragons as a threat, although her own inner dragon had been uneasy around the Hungarian Horntail, however, she had figured that it was wary around the other dragon was due to the fact that Horntails considered other dragons as it's natural prey. Kushina prowled around the dragon as she tried to figure out what it was doing here, it seemed to have been here a long time since the cave formed around it. From the position of the dragon and the disturbances in the sand it was lying on she thought that it might be waking up slightly before returning to it's slumber.
According to Thanatos and Anubis something or someone had commanded the Jackal army to be wary of the dragon. Kushina eyed the beast as it twitched it's wings lightly causing the inner red scales on the insides of it's wings to show before it moved it's tail to cover it's muzzle as it sleepily grumbled to itself before it returned to a full sleep. As she stared at it her lips quirked in amusement, it was almost cute how it acted and for the life of her, she just couldn't be wary of the dragon. She then turned around and eyed the narrow passage that led to the dragons cave, if her own dragon was any indication then she doubted that the dragon would take being trapped in the cave all that well. Actually more than likely the dragon, if it woke up fully and had no way out of the underground cave, would probably tear it's way out of the mountain, an action that would cause quite a bit of damage to her mental landscape.
She knelt down in the sand just in front of the dragon's muzzle before she closed her eyes, she then pictured the outside of the mountain containing the cave, she then began to envision the small crevasse getting bigger until it was wide enough that both the dragon along with her inner dragon could walk side by side through it. She then proceeded to widen the narrow passage that led to the cave to the same width and height as the entrance now was until it reached the cavern where she was kneeling in front of the slumbering dragon. However, she took it one step further by branching off of the main tunnel to create more passageways and caverns big enough for her inner dragon as well as the slumbering one. As she created the new tunnels and rooms she marked them so she wouldn't get lost in the maze of tunnels that now stretched inside the mountain and below the ground, she even had her magic etch maps into the walls at both the dragon's height as well as her own.
As she opened her eyes she stood up then turned around to face the still sleeping dragon who had now rolled onto its back, the move exposed gold colored belly scales as well as the gold scales along the bottom of it's tail. She smiled lightly before she scratched it just above it's throat, as she scratched the dragon it began to make a purring sound, as she smiled at the sound she contemplated leaving a monitoring charm on the cave so she would be notified if the dragon woke up. She then rubbed it's muzzle which caused it to sneeze lightly, she smiled wryly before she murmured, "hopefully, you won't cause a lot of trouble when you do wake up. I don't know why you're here or what your purpose is in my mind but it looks as if we're stuck together for now…"
She shook her head as she left the cavern and mountain that contained it behind, as she swiftly approached the village she noticed that the army had dropped their wary guard as they were much more relaxed then before. Thanatos leaned over the edge of the wall and called out to her, "from the way these fellows have been acting and your own stance, I assume that whatever had been threatening your inner world is taken care of."
She nodded idly as she scaled the wall in a single leap to sit beside the winged man before she said, "yeah, I also placed monitoring charms on the area of the disturbance so if anything changes I'll know about it." She glanced over at where her connection to Voldemort resided and her gaze narrowed as she contemplated what the hypocritical half-blood was up to. Finally she jumped down from her perch and stalked through the forest until she reached the highly sealed connection, Voldemort never understood how they were connected or even how to manipulate said connection.
Every time she had escaped him, she had only caused the bond to strengthen, it was a death bond and every time he had tried to kill her that ended with her escaping him only caused the bond to grow stronger. The bond began with the first time he tried to kill her, it was strengthened more when he tried to kill her when she was eleven only to fail, then again when his diary had failed to kill her, and it was strengthened yet again when he tried to kill her at the end of her fourth year. From the sealed bond she could feel his excitement and smug satisfaction, whatever he was doing appeared to be going smoothly, as she stood at the barred door she idly wondered if she should open the connection to see what he was doing. However, before she could she felt as his eagerness and smugness changed into puzzlement as well as no small amount of irritated confusion, in the end she shrugged before she turned away from the connection. She had far better things to do than think about whatever he was irritated about, besides she'd find out eventually anyway.
Scene Change
Meanwhile, at the Ministry of Magic, a certain red eyed man strode toward the lifts, he cast a stunning spell at the guard of the atrium. He was joined by several people wearing black robes with white skull masks, as he stopped in front of the lifts he pointed at several and said with a hissing undertone, "Nott, Lestrange, Malfoy, you will search the office of Madam Bones for the files concerning my followers in Azkaban. Goyle, McNair, the two of you are to search the administrative offices to find out where the Potter brat lives. Do NOT kill anyone you encounter, stun them only. I do not want the pathetic Minister to believe I'm back yet, so do NOT disobey me!"
The five bowed to him and murmured, "yes, My Lord, as you will." Voldemort then turned and entered the middle lift, he then hit the button for the ninth floor, as the doors closed he sneered arrogantly to himself. As the lift doors opened into a narrow corridor he exited the lift and strode forward confidently before he opened the only door at the end of the hallway.
He marked the door with a fiery red X before he closed it, the room spun around him and when it stopped he entered the door right across from the marked door. He entered through the door, he ignored the many time related objects around him as he strode down the hall toward the Hall of Prophecies. The next room was as high as a church and it was full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small dusty glass orbs, they glinted dully in the light issuing from the candle brackets set at intervals along the shelves. The flames in the candle brackets were blue just like the previous room that he went through, he made his way to row ninety seven, he quickly walked down the row and eyed each placard until he reached the one that had the words 'The Dark Lord' and the initials of K.R.P.L. on it, he idly wondered who changed the initials of the Potter brat on the placard as he picked up the sphere from it's place on the shelf. After he picked up the sphere he left the Department of Mysteries and then left the Ministry of Magic, he knew that it would take a different amount of time for his Death Eaters to find their own targets the it took him to retrieve the Prophecy, they would return to the manor once they had found their targets and retrieved them.
Scene Change
As Nanao went through the steps of preparing two cups of tea she told Isane about the date that Kingsley and her had gone on recently. The pale haired woman looked at her fellow lieutenant before she said in a happy tone, "well that was certainly romantic of him to do that." She then smiled slyly before she teased her friend by stating blandly, "I think you've found a keeper, for that matter so have I and it seems as if Ukitake-Taicho thinks he's found the one for him."
The two women were in the office that they had been given by Madam Bones when the pair had agreed to teach the Department of Magical Law Enforcement how to use certain types of Kido. The dark haired woman glanced over her shoulder and playfully glared at the tall healer, the two of them had been doing the paperwork for their respective divisions as well as writing up reports on the Wizarding World. Nanao snorted at Isane's remark before she said contemplatively as she brought the tea over, "I agree." Her eyes gleamed happily as she continued, "Kingsley is a keeper, Percy does seem to adore you while it's plain to see that Tonks makes Ukitake-Taicho happy beyond compare." She laughed before she took a sip of her tea then she said, "my captain is happy with Sado-San and he has been doing each weeks paperwork just so he can go see him."
Before Isane could comment her agreement to the oddity of Kyoraku-Taicho doing his paperwork the two women felt three people approaching the Auror offices. Within each of the three auras they could sense the taint of the Dark Lord, it was the same taint within Severus' aura thus the pair assumed that the three presences were more than likely Death Eaters, Nanao caught Isane's gaze and she frowned worriedly. Out in the Auror offices were three junior Auror's, neither of the women wanted them to get hurt, after all despite their ages and training the three junior Aurors were mere children compared to them.
As the three tainted auras edged closer to the offices the two women rose from their seats and exited their office, the door from their office to the Auror offices was closer to the hall with the lifts then the junior Aurors desks. Isane had her hand near her Zanpakuto, she was beyond ready to draw it from its scabbard and deal out some major damage. Nanao, on the other hand, had her hands no where near her zanpakuto instead she had readied herself to cast kido spells in quick succession. As they exited the office they staged a conversation about their plans for the weekend, "Percy and I have been invited for dinner at his parents again," the sliver haired woman remarked idly.
In the hallway, Lucius, Nott and Bellatrix heard the conversation, when the three realized that one of the two women was dating a Weasley they made disgusted faces. The three then overheard as Nanao said, "my Captain has requested to meet Kingsley to see if he's worthy of my attention," she sighed in exasperation. After a moment she had remarked, "I suppose he has the right to be protective of me, after all, he has known me ever since I was young."
Isane laughed before she said, "true enough, Captain Unohana has already stated a desire to meet Percy and his entire family. Percy is somewhat terrified since he found out that not even Kenpachi is willing to disobey my Captains orders," the three listeners could hear the amused lilt to her voice. Lucius signaled to the other two to be ready to stun everyone in the room when they entered it, Bellatrix pouted but knew better than to disobey a direct order from her precious master.
Meanwhile, inside the offices Isane and Nanao had signaled for the three junior Aurors to keep their heads down as well as out of sight, after all, if the Death Eaters didn't know they were there why not use that ignorance to their advantage. After the last junior Auror had cast the disillusionment charm on himself the doors to the office slammed open and the three Death Eaters entered the room firing spells. To the Death Eaters as well as the three junior Aurors shock Nanao and Isane easily dodged the spells before they counter attacked, in less than three minutes all three Death Eaters were beaten, subdued and captured for questioning.
Nanao had fought Bellatrix using Hakuda after she had caught Nott using a Kido, the fight ended with Bellatrix unconscious due to a blow to the head. Isane had toyed with Lucius since Molly had ended up telling her about Ginny's first year at Hogwarts, by the end of the fight she had cemented the belief that she was not a woman to be crossed into the minds of the junior Aurors and into Lucius Malfoy's minds.
Scene Change
While Lucius Bellatrix and Nott were on level two, Goyle and McNair were searching level one for Kushina's file, after they had searched over fifteen offices they finally found the file on the desk of the Ministers undersecretary, Madam Umbridge. McNair duplicated the file and took the original with him, "Goyle, we're done here, lets go," he hissed at the large man. It had been surprising to learn that Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe were actually more intelligent then their fathers.
Before they left the level Walden looked over the file on Kushina to make sure that the address of her home was included in the file. He stared in shock over what was in the file, he read it over again but this time aloud for Goyle's benefit,
"Name: Kushina Ruri Potter-Lupin
Date: Of Birth: July 21st, 1980
Mother: James Andrew Potter
Father: Remus John Lupin
Current Address: Winds Nest, Wales
Occupation: 6th Year student at Hogwarts, Defeater of Dark Lords, Girl Who Lived, Student Head of the House Gryffindor.
Acts of Accidental Magic: Hair re-growth charm, shrinking charm, color change charm, apparition, vanished an object, and swelling charm.
Ages at which each incident occurred: 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13.
Notes: She is being strongly considered for the Auror program. She is a bit of a prankster but that could be an advantage to a future career as an Auror as most people would not think to her using a prank in a duel. She is very sneaky when required to be, she is also not above being ambitious, she's very brave almost to the point of foolhardiness, she's loyal to those she loves and respects. She also seems to enjoy provoking Dark Lords and Politicians as well as anyone she considers an enemy.
Warnings: She's more powerful then she seems at first, her viciousness knows no bounds in anyone dares to threaten what she considers hers to protect.
Advice: Be very wary when dealing with her as she is rather unpredictable when bored, annoyed or even irritated. NEVER and I mean NEVER make her angry because she can, or rather more than likely will, make your life hell on earth for the rest of your life." He shook his head over the facts in the file but it did contain her home address and since the duplicate was not going to disappear no one would know that the Dark Lord knew where she lived.
Both men then made their way back to the atrium and apparated back to the manor on the moor, the two then waited five minutes before the Dark Lord returned. After another ten minutes the Dark Lord snarled, "I'll summon those three later and punish them for taking so long," he then turned his attention to the orb in his hand. As he turned the orb he wondered just how to activate it, he finally found the indentation in the orb before he activated the orb he ordered, "everyone leave and do not disturb me for any reason." At that order all of the Death Eaters left the room, none of them wanted to have the Dark Lord torture them so it was unlikely that any of them would disturb their master.
Once everyone had left the room Voldemort activated the orb, the mist inside of it flowed outward and took on a form. There was a faint color to the mist making up the form, it was a somewhat tall red haired man with glowing blue eyes, he was clad in black leather pants, an ankle length red jacket. Dangling from his left ear was a sword earring, he was holding a red rapier in his right hand and then the man started to speak in a dramatic tone, "when the war of the beasts brings about the worlds end,
The goddess descends from the sky
Wings of light and dark spread afar
She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting.
Ripples form on the waters surface,
The wandering soul knows no rest.
There is no hate, only joy
For you are beloved by the goddess
Hero of the Dawn, Healer of Worlds
Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul
Pride is lost
Wings stripped away, the end is nigh.
All that awaits you is a somber morrow
No matter where the winds may blow
My friend, the fates are cruel
There are no Dreams, no Honor remains
The arrow has left the bow of the goddess
My soul, corrupted by vengeance
Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey
In my own salvation
And your eternal slumber.
Legend shall speak,
Of sacrifice at worlds end
The wind sails over the waters surface
Quietly but surely.
Even if the morrow is barren of promises,
Nothing shall forestall my return
To become the dew that quenches the land,
To spare the sands, the seas, the skies
I offer thee this silent sacrifice." The man fell silent as he stared at the Dark Lord with glowing eyes with a blank expression as if what he just said was of grave concern.
Voldemort stared at the orb in confusion, this prophecy had nothing to do with what Severus had overheard all those years ago, he watched as the man dissolved back into mist and the mist returned to the orb ready to be replayed if he desired. As he stared at the orb he contemplated the words that it had spoken, 'war of the beasts, that could mean a war with the filthy muggles since they are no better than beasts.' He thought to himself before he considered a few other lines, 'her gift everlasting must be immortality while the words the wandering soul knows no rest… Well I certainly knew no rest after that blasted Hallowe'en!' Voldemort's red eyes gleamed in satisfaction as he thought of the lines that, at least to him, spoke of his future triumph against the Potter brat.
As he sat back into his throne he summoned the orb from where it rested on the floor and quoted, "my soul corrupted by vengeance. Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey, in my own salvation and your eternal slumber." He laughed in malicious glee before he said while gazing at the orb, "who cares about the other prophecy, according to this one I shall win the next battle!" All of the Death Eaters shivered at the maniacal laugh coming from the Dark Lords throne room and many glanced at each other warily.
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The next morning Kushina rolled out of bed, she yawned lazily as she made her way to her wardrobe to pick out her clothes for the day which was a pair of standard Shinobi pants, a sleeveless black shirt, leg wraps and other such items. Her shoes were polished and sitting next to the portrait entrance, although she hadn't lived in Japan for years she still held to some of the customs she'd grown up with. Although she would be the first to admit that she didn't often follow those traditions outside of her houses or rooms.
After she had dressed she raced out the door to go to breakfast before meeting up with Kenpachi for a spar later, although after said spar she planned to go on a picnic with Kisuke before devoting several hours to a favored pastime of one of her favorite students. When she reached the moving staircases it had just moved, blocking her from using it, she glared at the staircase and pondered her choices, she could take a detour or she could use the more fun yet more dangerous option. She grinned before she leapt down the opening in the middle of the staircases, the portraits that witnessed her actions gasped in horror which turned to gasps of amazement as she gripped the rail of one of the staircases. She used the grip to swing up onto the staircase below it, she then flashed a devil-may-care grin at the portrait next to her before she raced down the stairs to the ground floor.
Kushina slid into the Great Hall, as she slid past the Four Founders portraits she nodded a good morning to them before she stopped at the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Karin. She ruffled the dark haired girls bangs, much to the preteens annoyance before she ravenously ate her breakfast, she then got up and said, "I'll see you later, Karin, I've got a sparring appointment to keep!" Most of the people in the Hall ignored her, they were long since used to Kenpachi and Kushina's sparring sessions. Although there used to be a lucrative underground betting ring concerning the wounds incurred during the spar as well as the winner of the match, after seven months it seemed as if the students lost interest in watching said sparring session.
After she had raced out of the Great Hall the owls baring the Daily Prophet arrived in the Hall, one owl landed in front of Karin, she paid the owl and started to read the paper. She gaped at the headline of the paper for several moments, all around her the other students had the same reaction, Karin read the headline again before she settled down to read the article.
Dark Lord Returns, Girl-Who-Lived Spoke the Truth!
By: A. Nonymous
It seems that James Potter was right and his daughter had spoken the truth when she had said that the Dark Lord was back. How do we know this dear reader? Last night the Dark Lord broke into the Ministry of Magic as well as the Department of Mysteries, a prophecy was stolen concerning both the Dark Lord and the Girl Who Lived. During the break in three Death Eaters were captured by Nanao Isa and Isane Kotetsu, the two women are Shinigami of Lieutenant rank that are currently teaching the Aurors how to perform Kido. Lieutenant Isa is the second in command of Squad eight of Japan's Gotei Thirteen while Lieutenant Kotetsu is the second in command of Squad Four which I have been informed is the division dedicated primarily to healing.
The Death Eaters that were captured are Dominic Nott, Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black, the paper has been informed that Bellatrix has been disowned by the Ancient and Noble House of Black since she failed in her duty to provide the Noble House Lestrange with an heir as ordered in the betrothal contract. We of the paper have also been informed that Bellatrix has been divorced by Rodolphus Lestrange for breaking of the marriage contract along with personal reasons.
The pictures provided below were taken from the pensive memories of three junior Aurors who witness the altercation between the Death Eaters and Shinigami.
Karin checked out the rather impressive spread of pictures and had to bite her knuckle to keep from laughing at how stunned Draco's father was that a woman was attacking him with a sword. She looked up at Rabastan and Rodolphus when she caught sight of Lieutenant Isa fighting a rather crazed looking woman, many of the students were staring at their copies of the paper in awed horror. Horror at the fact that Voldemort had indeed returned and awe that two women had defeated three members of his inner circle, Karin then folded the paper up and headed out of the Great Hall to meet up with Toshiro for an afternoon of cloud gazing.
Scene Change
While everyone was reading the paper Kushina and Kenpachi were sparring, neither were using their swords were instead using Hakuda, Kushina was showing Kenpachi how to perform she had used on him earlier. After having shown him the move she let him try it out on her, it took him five tries before he could use the move effectively against her. Kushina cracked her neck as she smirked at him before she said, "I think we've practiced enough with Hakuda so how about a Zanjutsu centered spar?"
Kenpachi smirked back before he tapped his eye patch as he asked, "should I take this off then?"
Kushina paused before she said, "you can take it off if you want to or you could wait to take it off if that's your choice." She shrugged lightly as she called forth her zanpakuto as she commented, "after all it's not like I'm one to collapse in fear over your spiritual pressure."
Kenpachi snorted before he rolled his shoulders and took of the eye patch, he then unsheathed his zanpakuto. Kushina smirked before she said lightly, "since we both have plans for later, how about we agree not to use Shikai?"
Kenpachi nodded as he grinned viciously, "that's fine with me," he muttered before he lunged at the crimson haired woman. She dodged his strike before she spun around to face him and blocked his next strike with her left blade. As she was holding off his sword she struck out with the blade in her right hand, he leapt backward to dodge the blow. He had learned the hard way that all of the strikes from her blade could cut him, very rarely were her attacks not made with the intent to kill.
Two hours later the pair were standing across from each other, after several moments Kenpachi sheathed his sword while Kushina allowed hers to fall, the pair vanished before they were more than two inches from the floor. Kushina smirked at him before she said teasingly, "you better get going before Hermione thinks you got lost again."
Kenpachi scowled at her before he left the room, as he left he grumbled to himself, "I don't get lost!"
Kushina cackled to herself before she left the Room of Requirement and headed down to the kitchens to pick up the picnic basket that she had the House Elves make for her. When she entered the Kitchens she saw Rodolphus, to her surprise the normally quiet and serious man was cackling as he watched some pictures in the Prophet. She leaned over his shoulder as she asked, "what are you laughing about Uncle 'Doph?"
To her amusement he jumped as she startled him but he handed her the paper as he said slyly, "you read that and tell me hat you wouldn't be laughing."
Her eyebrows rose as she read the article about the capture of the Death Eaters and the portraits swearing that they all saw two men enter level one of the ministry while Voldemort was stealing the sphere from the Department of Mysteries. After a few moments she snorted before she handed him back the paper and said, "alright it's amusing how Malfoy, Nott and Bellatrix were captured. But I would have thought that after I had broke in and pranked them when I was thirteen would have made them improve the security measures."
Rodolphus gave her an odd look as he took the paper from her and warily asked, "what do you mean by you broke into the Ministry of Magic? When did this happen? And how did you prank them?"
Kushina blinked at him before she checked her watch, upon seeing her watch, upon seeing the time she swore in several languages before she said, "I'm afraid I don't have time to tell you. However," she paused long enough to pull a large glass vial out of her pocket. She put her wand to her temple and drew out several memories, she then placed them all into the vial before she put a stopper in it and handed it to him. As she handed the vial over she said, "you can watch these, they'll explain a lot better than I could."
She then scooped up the picnic basket, kissed Rodolphus on the right cheek then bolted out the door with a yelled, "see you later, Uncle 'Dolph," over her left shoulder.
Rodolphus stared down at the vial full of silver liquid for several memories before he shrugged and left the kitchens to go see if anyone else wanted to view the memories.
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Thirty minutes later, Rodolphus and several other people were in the Room of Requirement to watch the memories that Kushina had given the elder Lestrange. The Room of Requirement currently resembled a theatre with a pensive as the centerpiece of it all, there had been no shortage of people who wanted to find out just how Kushina had managed to prank the Minister in the summer before her third year. Sirius and James were sitting beside each other with their children on their laps, the pair were speaking quietly to each other while Remus was off to the side talking with Minerva. Severus was sitting next to Sirius, he was, much to the amusement of most of the people in the room, playing peek-a-boo with Cassiopeia, if they had not had months to get used to this softer side of Severus Snape most of the students would have fainted from shock.
Rabastan was seated next to Isshin while Yuzu was listening to Yoruichi chattering beside them, on the other side of the pair Karin was sitting next to Toshiro. Hermione was sitting beside Kenpachi was sitting next to his adopted daughter/lieutenant, Hermione was excitedly talking about who knows what and the scarred man was listening with an indulgent expression on his face as he listened to her.
Albus cleared his throat and the room fell silent as everyone turned their attention to the Headmaster. Albus smiled at them before he said, "I'm sure everyone knows why we are gathered here. However, I will explain just in case someone in the room doesn't know. Before Kushina Potter-Lupin's third year she had managed a feat thought impossible, she broke into the Ministry and pranked the Ministry of Magic. Until today she gave Rodolphus her memories of that day so it appeared our many question will finally be answered.
James and Remus had an expression on their faces that was a mixture of despair, bemusement, pride and a slight bit of horror. Their parental instincts told them to disapprove of the prank but the part of them that would forever be pranksters approved and applauded their daughters past antics. Albus chuckled lightly before he with a twinkle in his blue eyes, "so without further delay, let us start the memories."
Memories to The Great Ministry Prank
Harry was in his room at the Leaky Cauldron on his bed, he had his hands laced behind his head and his right ankle lying on his left knee. He was bouncing his legs for several moments before he began chanting, "bored, bored, I'm so damn bored! I've finished all my homework, did my shopping for school I have nothing to do," he sighed in bored frustration. He then got up out of the bed and paced the room as he muttered to himself, "what could I possibly do to entertain myself…" All the sudden he grinned deviously before he said in a singsong tone, "I know what I can do to entertain herself."
With that Harry went over to his trunk and opened up, he dug around for a few minutes before he let out an, "ah ha," he pulled out his invisibility cloak. He then pulled out the bag he used for his classes and stuffed his cloak inside along with a few items that he had gotten from the Weasley twins. After he double checked that he had everything he grabbed the bag and headed downstairs he waved to Tom before he entered Diagon Alley. He walked down the Alley until he reached Imperial Alley and walked down it until he reached the end before he turned on Noble Alley.
He exited Noble Alley via an alley between two muggle businesses, he then made his way to the underground and maneuvered his way to a lone phone booth. He entered the booth and after he picked up the receiver he pressed the numbers six, four, four, then two. After he listened to the recording he said, "Harry Potter, I'm here to prank as many people employed by you as I can." The same voice as before gave another short message after thanking him before a badge that said, 'Harry Potter, Reason for Visit: Pranking mission.' He stared at the badge before he snorted and muttered to himself, "I wonder what it would say if I had said I'm here to kill the entire Ministry in the most gruesome manner as possible…" He pulled his cloak over himself just before the door opened, most of the people in the Atrium ignored the opened yet empty lift, they figured that a muggle must have managed to press the right numbers and had left the lift in a huff before it could descend.
Harry rolled his eyes at the ministries incompetence, he ducked into an open lift, although he had no clue which floor the Ministers office was on he figured that he'd eventually find it by the process of elimination. The man he was sharing the lift with had covered the door numbers with one hand and pressed one of the hidden numbers with the other hand. When the lift reached the floor the man got off of the lift and after a few indecisive moments Harry followed him, of course the man was long gone by the time Harry reached the door at the end of the hall. He then stared at the door for a few moments before his curiosity got the better of him and he entered the room, he closed the door behind him and to his surprise the walls of room began to spin around him while the floor stayed still.
After it had stopped spinning he swore silently, now he would have to mark all the doors he looked through before closing the door just to find the way out, he pulled out a muggle spiral notebook. He then wrote down the numbers one through thirteen, he then proceeded to open each door and wrote a description of the inside of the room beside a number before marking the door with the number beside the description. He stared for several minutes inside the time room before he muttered, "I have to check this room out before I leave this floor…" He then closed the door before he then proceeded to finish marking down the rest of the rooms, after he marked the last door he turned his attention back to the time room.
He entered the room and wandered around, he stared in bemusement at the continually reborn bird, he eventually made his way into a room that was as high as a church. It was filled with rows upon rows of towering shelves full of dusty, dull orbs that glinted in the light coming from candle brackets set at regular intervals along the shelves. The flames coming from the brackets, much like the previous room, were bright blue, Harry wandered around the room as he wandered he peered at the placards in front of each small orb in bemusement until he came to row number ninety seven.
As he walked down that row he was surprised to see his initials on one of the placards, as he stared at it in shock he heard a noise from the time room, he froze in place before he turned around to listen more closely. He heard as the other person left the room, as he sighed in relief he leaned backwards slightly before he turned back to the shelf to study the note card more closely. However, his elbow caught the orb and knocked it off the shelf before he could catch it the orb fell to the floor, Harry winced as he watched it shatter into a thousand pieces.
A faint misty form rose from the shattered orb for a few moments it formed into a woman then disappeared, he bit his lower lip before he reached into his bag and rummaged around before he pulled out an orb the same size as the one that shattered. As he held it up he said in a grateful tone, "thank Merlin, I had you with me or I wouldn't know how to replace that odd orb!" Harry then cheerfully placed the orb on the shelf before he vanished the remains of the other orb and left the room whistling in an innocent tone then he hurried to the lift so he could leave the floor before he was discovered.
Once he entered the lift he studied the numbers of the floors before he pressed the number one as he said, "I wondered what's on this floor…" When the lift opened he saw dozens of employees rushing around with papers, he grinned when he spotted Fudge outside of an office and made his way over, he was careful not to bump into anyone on the way over.
"I'll be having lunch with Lucius Malfoy so make sure no one enters my office from here," Fudge ordered the woman in the outer office.
She had nodded before she asked, "do you still want me to place any notes on your desk, Sir?"
Fudge paused halfway to his door and pondered her question before he finally said, "yes, but you are the only one allowed in this entrance while I'm gone." As Fudge spoke he had held the door to his office open and Harry took advantage of this to duck into the room. Fudge then made his way inside then over to his fireplace, he threw in some floo powder before he stepped in and murmured, "Les Majesté," he then vanished from sight. To Harry's surprise there were no portraits inside of Fudge's office, then again the Minister didn't seem like someone who took constructive criticism all that well.
He smirked before he pulled out the tiny clay figurine that he had Fred and George make after his second year, upon using an activation phrase the figure would become life-sized, they were able to walk as well as talk. The figures would take upon the personality that the one who activated the figurine remembered, so if the person who activated it made it of someone they loved, warts and all, then the figurine would remain exactly as they remembered them. Harry planned to take advantage of some odd dreams he'd been having and use some of the people in said dreams, he pulled out seven figurines. As he held the first figurine he murmured, "marauders rule," as he said that he concentrated on one of the people in his dreams.
As the figurine began to grow he set it on the floor, the figure grew until it reached five foot four inches tall then it stopped growing. The figure now resembled a young woman between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two, she had auburn hair in a braid that reached her lower back. There was a pink ribbon wrapped in a bow around the base of her braid, she had shoulder-length bangs that framed her face. She was wearing a long pink dress with a red jacket at three quarter length over it, the jacket had quarter length sleeves with silver buckles at the end of each sleeve. She had three silver bangles on each wrist as well black choker around her neck, she was pale as if she hardly ever went outside. Her green eyes had a gentle, loving expression in them you could tell by looking at her throat she had a kind personality.
The young woman looked around and upon seeing that there was no plants in the office said, "oh my, this place needs some flowers."
Harry pulled out several plastic plants and transfigured them into live ones, he then said, "here you go."
She beamed up at him before she started to place the flowers around the office while Harry picked a second figurine and concentrated, once again he set it on the floor before it got too large to hold. The figurine grew until it reached six foot one inch, it was a young man with gravity defying black spiky hair and violet eyes that seemed to glow with an inner light. He was wearing baggy black pants with two belts and a sleeveless turtleneck sweater under shoulder as well as abdominal armor. In his right ear was a small diamond stud earring, he also had a cross shaped scar on his right cheek near his jaw line, he blinked at the sight of the bland office before he saw the girl. He beamed at her before he went over to her and picked her up in a hug as he said cheerfully, "hello Aerith, how's my favorite flower girl?"
Aerith laughed before she pulled herself out of his embrace before she said, "hello Zack, I've been fine although I'm not too sure where we are."
As the pair talked Harry had taken out a third figure and began the process again, this time the figure grew about six foot two inches and he was wearing the same clothes as Zack. His hair was neat while his sideburns tapered to a point and he had a small goatee, much like Zack the straps for his abdominal armor resembled suspenders in a way but were made of leather with metal rivets. The man smirked as he caught sight of Zack bouncing next to Aerith, he shook his head as he chuckled, "just like a puppy," he murmured as his blue eyes glowed with the same inner light as Zack's.
Both Aerith and Zack looked up at the murmur, however, while Aerith merely smiled at the tall man, Zack let go of her and leapt at the older male as he exclaimed happily, "Angeal, you're here!"
The man now identified as Angeal had caught the younger man with a startled, "oomph," as the full weight of the other male along with Zack's powerful hug caused the air to rush out of his lungs. Once he had caught his breath back the older man ruffled the black locks of the other man and said with a wry smile, "you'll never change will you, Puppy?"
Zack pouted up at the older man when he ruffled his hair and whined at him, "do you have to call me 'puppy,' Angeal?"
Aerith giggled lightly before she said teasingly, "well you do act like a puppy a lot of the time. Besides," she winked at him, "I have it on good authority that a certain Commander likes puppies!"
Zack blushed bright red before he glared at her in embarrassment as he shouted, "Aerith!" At that both Angeal and Aerith stared laughing uncontrollably, after watching them laugh for several moments Zack muttered, "I never should have introduced the two of you to each other."
While the two of them teased Zack, Harry had been busy with another figurine and this one grew to only five foot eight inches, it was a solemn looking blue eyed blond, his eyes glowed just like Zack's and Angeal's did. His pants were the same as the other two males, however he wore only a sleeveless sweater vest without any abdominal armor and only one shoulder guard on his right shoulder. The shoulder guard had a silver wolf head with a ring through the wolf's mouth attached to the front of it, as he blinked his eyes he ran a gloved hand through his gravity defying blond hair, the sunlight glinted off of a small earring in his right ear.
As soon as Zack caught sight of the blond he beamed and launched himself at the younger male as he happily said, "Spiky, you're here too!" The blonds' eyes widened as he spotted the incoming missile named Zack, he moved to the side and allowed the brunette to impact the wall behind him. His actions had caused Angeal and Aerith to collapse in a state of laughter/giggles.
The blond looked over and smiled softly at the sight of Aerith laughing, he then said quietly, "hello Aerith."
She beamed back at him before she pulled herself off the floor and gave him a short hug as she said, "hello Cloud. I'm glad to see you're no longer Dilly Dallying or moping for that matter, only one man in my life is allowed to brood and he's not you."
Cloud snorted as he carefully hugged her back and said, "someone very wise told me that Dilly Dallying was useless, so I quit." He then turned his attention to Angeal and after staring at him curiously he asked, "can you tell me who you are? I'm Cloud Strife, by the way and one of the few people to tolerate him," he pointed at Zack, "for very long."
Angeal chuckled before he extended his right hand toward the blond as he said, "Commander Angeal Hewley, SOLDIER first class and Zack's mentor."
Cloud's eyes widened at hat before he said without thinking, "wow, you must have the patience of a saint to teach Zack considering he can barely stand still for five minutes."
From behind them Angeal heard a familiar laugh before the pair heard a man saying, "truer words have never been spoken." The pair turned around to see a red haired man wearing an ankle length leather crimson coat, he appeared to be the same height as Angeal. Attached to the shoulders of his coat were black shoulder guards, he brushed some errant red locks out of his eyes with a red leather encased hand. Cloud's sharp gaze spotted a dangling sword earring in the man's left ear.
As the newly arrived man approached them he spread his arms wide as if to say, 'here I am,' he then said, "my friend your desire is the bringer of life."
Angeal chuckled before he hugged the red clad man as he said, "it's good to see you Genesis." He then turned to Cloud and said, "let me introduce my childhood friend and fellow First Class SOLDIER, Commander Genesis Rhapsodos."
Cloud nodded a hello to the older man while Genesis gave him a once over, he then raised an eyebrow at a blushing Angeal. Genesis laughed before he said teasingly, "yes all we need is Sephiroth and the trio will be complete."
They all then heard a velvet laugh from by the window before they heard a man say, "perhaps your beloved goddess heard you, Genesis." Both men glanced over, their gazes were caught by a pair of grass green eyes with cat-like pupils that were framed by chin length silver bangs. The newest occupant to the room appeared to be an inch or so taller than Angeal and Genesis, his silver hair hung to his mid thigh and he wore a black leather coat that was identical to Genesis'. He wore the coat open over black leather pants and a black leather abdominal guard with crisscrossing leather straps over a bare chest. He stared at the two men bemusedly before he nodded to a wary Cloud and Aerith, he then nodded at Zack before he said quietly, "Cloud, Zack, Aerith, it's been a while."
After several moments of silence Aerith walked over to the tall man and ran her fingers through his bangs before she gave him a light kiss on the cheek as she murmured, "hello Sephiroth. I'm glad to see you finally got rid of your pest problem," her green eyes gleamed deviously before she said, "perhaps I can talk you into our old favorite past-time?"
The silver haired man turned wide pleading eyes toward Cloud and Zack, a low laugh came from near the fireplace at his actions before a man said, "who would have thought that the 'Demon of Wutai' would be afraid of a girl whose favorite hobby is to grow flowers."
Aerith smiled happily when she caught sight of the Asian-looking man standing next to the fire, his warm brown eyes glinted in amusement at his joke. His shoulder length black hair was in it's habitual tail, he had a small dot on the middle of his forehead and he wore a black suit with a white dress shirt and a black tie. As she smiled at him she said, "it's good to see you, Tseng, I've missed you."
He smiled back at her as he said, "I have missed you as well, Little Ancient."
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After allowing them all to talk for several minutes, Harry cleared his throat and asked, "do you all know why you're here?"
Genesis leaned lazily against the wall near Zack as he said, "we're magical statues embodying the personalities of people you know, however vaguely, our job is to annoy the heck out of the Ministry as much as possible."
Harry sighed in relief, he was glad that the figures had worked exactly as he asked the twins to make them, before he said, "yes that's what I want you to do. Have as much fun and cause as much trouble as you can without causing any deaths or irreversible damage." He knew it would be a while before Zack figured out that there was very little that magic couldn't fix, he didn't know how he was sure of this but he was sure. All of the seven statues had nodded in acknowledgement of the restrictions, only Zack and Genesis had pouted at the restrictions that Harry had given them.
Before Harry left the room he placed a spell on all of the chairs in the room, the spell was tied to an illusionary spell that showed a person their deepest, darkest desires or most embarrassing fantasy. The spell had a variation where it would display the fantasy for everyone to view, everyone that is except for the one targeted by the spell. Harry then bid the group farewell and exited the office casually, Fudge's secretary ignored him since he wasn't sneaking out.
If Harry could name one major flaw that most people had in common, it was that they all tended to assume that if someone acted like they had the right to be somewhere then they obviously had that right. So he was able to stroll out of the Ministry without being questioned as to why a thirteen year old was wandering the Ministry without an adult. He had headed to the atrium with his cloak hidden inside of his book bag, he ignored the check in wizard and strode to a floo to go to Diagon Alley.
End of The Great Ministry Prank
James stared at the blank screen over the pensive before he muttered, "my daughter broke into the Department of Mysteries, broke a prophecy sphere, replaced said sphere with a fake and then pranked the Minister. She did all of that without being caught or questioned at all," James blinked in astonishment before he said contemplatively, "I wonder if she'd be willing to give me some tips…"
At that Remus groaned before he face-palmed himself then scooped Teddy up and told his son, "don't pay any attention to Mommy right now, Teddy, he's being delusional." At that sentence most of the room laughed while James stared at his mate in amusement before he snatched their son back from Remus and left the room.
Scene Change
While everyone was getting ready to watch her memories of that long ago prank, Kushina and Kisuke were making their way to their picnic area. When she had met up with him before they left the school he had asked if they could share their picnic with Naruto, she had agreed providing that he wore an ANBU style mask so Naruto couldn't tell who he was yet. Kisuke had reluctantly agreed and allowed her to conjure a Fox mask, Minato had always had a fondness for the wily, sly creatures so she had the image of a fox in her mind while she had conjured the mask.
After they had snuck inside of Konoha she had him stay at the picnic site while she went to retrieve Naruto. The blond boy was happy to see her and even happier to find out that she wanted him to meet someone she loved dearly. One of the first question out of the blond boy's mouth was, "why are you wearing a fox mask?"
Kisuke had laughed before he ruffled his son's blond hair and said, "because I like foxes, they are tenacious, sly and cunning creatures who deserve respect since they do their best they can to survive. In some ways they remind me of Shinobi," at Naruto's confused look he clarified, "they are known for being tricksters but once you have their word on something they won't go back on it so they have their own version of honor. They kill to survive but they are devoted to their families," Naruto's eyes lit up in understanding at that.
After the three had eaten their fill, Kushina sat back against a tree and watched as her fiancé taught their son a few moves he had made for himself that he hadn't shown to anyone before he died. So even if someone spotted Naruto practicing the moves no one would connect the move with the Yondaime Hokage. After three hours of practice Naruto plopped down on the ground beside Kushina while Kisuke had done the same on the other side of her, she ran her fingers through their hair being very careful to leave Kisuke's mask in place.
"Ryuu-Okasan," Naruto said hesitantly, she hummed lightly to show she was listening so he continued, "you've told me a lot about my Mom... Could you tell me about my Dad? I mean, I love all the stories about Mom but I hardly know anything about my Dad, so please?"
Kushina sighed but she nodded before she moved her mask out of the way before she said, "of course, little one, I'd be happy to tell you as much as I can about your Father."
She stared down at the attentive blonds before she began, "when your Mom first met your Dad… She thought he was an idiot, truth be told that opinion didn't change for quite a few years…" She told Naruto as much as she could how his Mother came to care for and love his Father to pieces without revealing that Minato Namikaze was his Dad. By the time she was finished with that one story it was almost dark so Kisuke and Kushina escorted Naruto back to his apartment and tucked him into bed before they left back to Hogwarts.