"How did you find us?"
The question was innocent enough, but the look on Sasuke's face was the picture of disgruntlement.
Harry had to hide his own smile. Apparently he could still surprise him from time to time. It had been a while since that happened. They'd all been so shocked when they found out about magic (understandable), and even more upset about the whole Death Eaters and Voldemort thing (also understandable, he supposed not everyone had an evil Dark Lord trying to kill them), but things had sort of settled down after that. Things hadn't been boring. Harry was fairly sure none of them could ever have a boring life, but he had stopped being able to catch the nin off guard. He had to admit, it was sort of nice to be back on his home turf and the one showing them around for a change. Nothing was more brilliant than Hogwarts and magic, after all. Even if Naruto thought ghosts were scary.
"I've been sneaking around this castle for years," he told them. And he couldn't help it. He intentionally neglected to mention the invisibility cloak. Or his map. A guy had to have a little mystery about himself. And he kind of didn't want Sasuke to know that he could follow him so easily. Draped over his arm, the cloak didn't look like anything special and none of the nin looked twice at it. Harry wouldn't mind keeping it that way. Invisibility cloaks were useful for all kinds of things, but they were most useful when no one else knew you had one. And given how overprotective Sasuke could be, it was likely Harry was going to need the cloak.
Having to chase after him this evening was just further support for that. The other boy had left before Harry had even had a chance to talk to him! He had just gotten Ron and Hermione to come around to the idea that the nin needed their help and he had wanted to try getting Sasuke to talk with them more one on one so they could see that his cousin really cared. Thankfully, the map still worked on nin and it hadn't been hard to find the other boy.
Sasuke gave him a dark look even as Naruto laughed. "Not bad," Sakura commented, with a touch of humor in her voice. "It's not every day someone manages to follow Sasuke." Harry basked in the praise, though he had a feeling it was more meant to needle Sasuke than anything else.
"You should be more careful," Sasuke grumbled. "The security here is atrocious."
Harry laughed. "Hogwarts is supposed to be the safest place in Wizarding England."
Sasuke scowled.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, his smile turning rueful. "There's some definite weaknesses in that."
"No worries, Harry," Naruto told him. "We'll get that fixed up in a jiff."
Merlin knew the school could use the help. This was Harry's sixth year and he'd long ago lost count of the number of times he had almost died. But still. "Don't do anything drastic, okay?" he asked nervously. He'd seen just how far they were willing to go when they thought there was an unexpected threat.
Naruto smiled brightly and it made Harry nervous.
"Why aren't you staying in the dorms?" Harry asked. It was probably best to change the subject. He wouldn't feel as guilty about whatever mayhem they might wreck if he didn't know about it beforehand.
Sakura shrugged. "I don't think they wanted to be that responsible for us. Kakashi-sensei is still supposed to be our captain. I mean, Head of House."
Harry guessed that made sense. But still. "That's too bad. It would have been fun."
"We can still come hang out!" Naruto reassured him. "Besides, this'll make it easier for us to go sneakin' around and stuff."
"We don't want anyone tracking our movements too closely," Sakura explained in a much more reasonable and respectable manner. "And it will give us room to work out this magic problem away from prying eyes."
"You will not do anything stupid while we are separated. Will you?" Sasuke muttered. His tone was flat and his voice so low it was almost hard to hear him. It was clear he was trying to make the question as non-annoying as possible. Shame it was only partially effective.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I did manage up until now without you lot. I can handle myself in my own dorm, thanks."
"You were not hunted by what you are now," Sasuke had to add.
Harry gritted his teeth. And they were back around to that. Sasuke's ridiculous idea that Harry was somehow an invalid. He understood that this Itachi thing was very upsetting for Sasuke. Harry was upset about it too, and it didn't affect him nearly as much. But it still grated to be treated like a child by someone his own age.
"Oh, look, that's a funny looking moving painting person!" Naruto declared, grabbing Harry's shoulder and tugging him around to look at the painting of the lady with the squished-face dog. There wasn't anything terribly remarkable about it. The lady looked like any other old fashioned wizarding lady. The only thing of interest was the furry dog in her lap. Its face looked like it had run into a wall as a puppy and flattened out its snot. It growled menacingly at them as they passed, but it was a bit like being threatened by a stuffed animal.
"I thought I explained about the paintings."
"Sure, sure, just interestin'."
"Creepy," Sasuke muttered and Harry had to laugh, letting go of his earlier disgruntlement.
"A ghost you're not intimidated by, but moving artwork is beyond the pale!" Harry teased.
Naruto shuddered. "No more ghosts."
"Can I burn the paintings?" Sasuke countered, a sly smile blooming on his face as he gave Harry a look that Harry hoped meant the other boy was joking.
"No burning anything! No fire!"
"Well, there goes most of Uchiha's tricks," Kakashi-sensei drawled from behind them.
Harry yelped and spun around, one hand reaching for his wand but not quite drawing it.
Kakashi-sensei's eyes flicked down to where Harry had it in his pocket before the man hummed thoughtfully. "We'll have to work on that," he declared before clapping happily. "And how was your first foray into the castle, children?" He sort of sounded like he was asking if they enjoyed their day at the park but Harry also suspected he was hoping they had set something on fire. Or attacked something. Or conquered a small army.
"Harry's dormitory will require extensive work," Sasuke declared.
"I might be able to trade information with my housemates for tutoring," Sakura added.
"Ghosts!" Naruto wailed.
"God help me," Harry groaned.
It was maybe the first time Harry had heard Kakashi-sensei laugh. Or at least, laugh what sounded like a real laugh and not something mocking, or sarcastic, or for show. His face was crinkled up happily as he led them to another painting, this one of an old man in a huge lace collar who had one hand on a globe and who merely raised an eyebrow at them as they approached.
"Endevour,"Kakashi told it and it swung open to reveal what looked much more like the front room of a house than a dormitory or the classrooms Harry was used to seeing at Hogwarts. In fact it sort of looked like a nicer version of the Weasley's house or maybe a much more cheerful, if slightly shabbier, version of Grimmauld Place. There was a sitting area on one side, with mustard yellow couches and arm chairs arranged around a bright blue carpet. There was a large table on the other side, with a bright green table cloth that matched the lampshades but clashed with the maroon colored curtains. The throw pillows were also red, but the brickwork for the fireplace had been painted blue. There was a green and silver ottaman, but gold upholstered dining room chairs.
It was perhaps the most colorful room Harry had ever seen. It reminded him of how wizards tended to look when they tried to dress like a muggle, as if all common sense or awareness of color coordination had left them. This room looked like someone very earnestly wanted to represent all of the Hogwarts houses and instead ended up with such a mess of colors that it looked like a rainbow had exploded everywhere.
"Home sweet home," Kakashi-sensei announced, waving graciously at the space. "All in all, I've stayed in worse places."
"It's not so bad," Harry tried. He hadn't noticed the patterns yet. There were patterns mixed in there. Stripes and polka dots and florals and what looked like some kind of repeating number pattern.
"My taste is questionable," Kakakashi replied in brutal honesty, "and even I know this is an eyesore."
"They mean well?" Harry tried. Because he'd been around wizards long enough to know by now that the more outlandish something was, the more it was meant to impress or show effort. Wizards weren't exactly known for their subtlety. Harry had always privately wondered if that was the cause of the Statue of Secrecy or if it was a side effect of years of being isolated and cut off from the rest of humanity. People went a little crazy from that kind of thing, didn't they?
There were doors leading off every which way from the room. Ones on the right, the left and straight ahead. The others immediately started checking out each one but Harry contented himself with just a glance. Most of them looked like bedrooms, but some of them were either up or down a short flight of stairs. One was down and around the corner of a narrow hallway. Another one somehow had two doors from the main room leading to doors on different sides inside the room. It felt a little bit like being in a fun house and being all twisted around even though you knew each room had to fit together a certain way.
"Plenty of space to practice in," Kakashi-sensei commented idly. Or as idly as the man ever did anything. For a moment it was only the two of them standing in the main room while the others sniffed around as if they had to paint a mental picture of the entire place in their heads before they would feel comfortable. Harry wasn't surprised to see Sasuke poking his head into every cabinet and door that would open, but even Naruto was making it a point to look under and over things like he expected there to be something hidden there. Harry could have sworn Sakura was even measuring out how deep each room was, almost as if she was checking for something.
There was a clear space in the center that would give them some room, and if they moved both the table area and the sitting area over as much as they could, they could maybe manage some light dueling in here. Wizarding dueling, that was. Much less destructive to the environment than nin dueling. But none of that was going to do them a bit of good.
"We still haven't managed a single spell," Harry groaned. "Classes start tomorrow. No one's going to believe you're wizards!"
"But Harry! We're visiting foreigners! It's to be expected that there will be some differences in culture. Misunderstandings. Different practices. Maybe my students don't do magic if someone's watching them."
Harry snorted. "Pretty hard to do anything of any use then, isn't it?"
Kakashi-sensei smiled. "Depends on what kind of work you're doing and whether or not there should be any witnesses."
"We're doomed."
Kakashi-sensei pulled out his book and found a piece of furniture to lean against. "Ye of little faith. My students can handle it."
Harry shook his head. He had a lot of faith in Team 7. He'd been watching them practice and train all summer. He'd been at Sasuke's tender mercies as the other boy tried to show him how to properly throw a punch (as opposed, apparently, to what Harry had been doing his whole life) or how to cut someone or even how to use Chakra despite Harry's many failed attempts. Harry knew they were capable, just like he knew he was a good wizard even if he failed miserably at focusing any of his energy out. But they were no more going to pass for wizards than he could as a nin.
"I hope you know what you're doing."
"Never stopped me before," Kakashi-sensei cheekily replied without hesitation. He pushed up to his feet and started for the door, nose still buried in one of the books he'd bought in Diagon Alley. "Come on, Harry-kun, I'll walk you back."
"That's okay, I can handle it from here."
"I don't think Sasuke-kun would like that much."
Harry rolled his eyes and stepped out the door, pulling out his cloak for the walk back. "This is my home. I can walk up a couple of flights just fine. It's you I'm more worried about. See you in class tomorrow, Professor Kakashi." As he had hoped, at the new title Kakashi-sensei flicked his eyes up just as Harry finished yanking the cloak over his head. It was maybe a bit petty, but he had to show he was at least capable of sneaking around on his own.
Kakashi-sensei nearly dropped his book when it happened and for a moment Harry could see one red eye looking at him. And then, just as suddenly as he had reacted, Kakashi-sensei slouched once more and everything was back to the way it had been. Except Harry was pretty sure that wasn't the page Kakashi-sensei had been on before and he kind of hoped he'd made the man lose his place in the book. "Always nice to see you, Harry-kun," Kakashi-sensei said as if nothing unusual had happened. As if Harry hadn't finally caught the other man off guard. "No setting anything on fire. Try not to die. See you in class tomorrow."
Harry laughed. Yes, it was nice to know he could still surprise them every now and then. Even someone as frustrating and contrary as Kakashi. Harry was glad they were here and that he didn't have to spend the whole school year away from his new friends. Even if he knew with every ounce of experience in him that tomorrow was not going to be pretty.