Chapter 9: The Ways of Power

September became October as the leaves of the Hogwarts trees turned from summer green to the shades of fire, pure yellow, blazing orange, and deep red. It rained more often than not and the winds sweeping outside the Entrance Hall were forceful enough to make the tiny first-years stagger when they laboriously made their way down to the greenhouses.

While Madam Hooch turned practical classes into indoor theory ones when the weather bolted, Professor Maito declared that any weather was perfect weather and proceeded to make them run an obstacle course that ensured they all were muddier than soggy golems when the class ended. That was, except for the slim Gryffindor girl who had been blown into the Black Lake by a particularly vicious gust of wind mid-leap. Mikano suspected there was a connection between the severe cool the girl acquired on that account, a very grim-looking Headmistress McGonagall, and Professor Maito (rather deflated) informing them, at the beginning of their next PE lesson, that some weather was more perfect weather than other weather why they today (here he seemed to brighten) direct all their youthful energy towards stair tag. Mikano could barely walk the next day, so terribly did her everything-below-the-waist hurt.

After the 'incident' with the Leg-Locker Curse - Mikano had made sure to study every spell Hannibal and his gang had used on her as well as their counterspells (she would rather be caught dead than felled by the same hex twice!) - the Gryffindor Gang, as Mikano had come to think of them, had been quiet for a week. Mikano considered if perhaps her trip to the Hospital Wing was unintended and had spooked them. Then, as 1st October came around, they apparently could not hold back any longer.

To begin with, their attacks were subtle. A cut shoulder strap making the contents of Mikano's bag spill out on the floor; tripping jinxes that hit the people walking beside her as often as they hit herself; sneered remarks as they shouldered their way past her. But soon Cherry began to notice the presence of the same three people, though not always together, whenever Mikano had one of her ever-frequent 'accidents.'

Before long, the Gryffindor Gang was throwing more obvious jinxes her way. Her nails suddenly grew into long, curled up claws; her voice became shrill as a mountain monkey's; the hairs in her nostrils (disgustingly) grew themselves into neat curls covering her lips. At some point, her school hat all of a sudden tried to eat her head, convulsing as it gulped itself down over her eyes. Mikano had cried out without dignity and frantically struggled to pull it off. She succeeded only with Cherry's help: A foot on each of Mikano's shoulders, two hands pulling the brim up. When the hat finally and grudgingly released its hold on Mikano's head, it was with a great 'swoop' of suction. Cherry stamped on the hat furiously till it lay absolutely still - and perfectly ruined. What a great shame Mikano had not brought a spare and would have to wait for a new one to arrive from Diagon Alley. What a terrible shame.

The one good thing that came out of the Gryffindor Gang's renewed attacks (besides the ruined hat) was that Sasuke began talking to her again. For more than two weeks, Sasuke had not uttered one word to her face, while his dour scowls had been frequent and expressive. Though it had driven Cherry spare, Mikano haughtily refused to approach him first. She had not done anything wrong. She was entitled not to confide in him. Still, his silence gnawed at her and made her sullen and short-tempered. The sneaking question if her pride was really worth the loss of her best friend had brushed her mind more than once when the matter suddenly was taken out of her hands.

It was Monday morning and she was trotting up an empty staircase. She had given Cherry the slip after Spells, not being in a mood for her happy chittering. She had spent a while just outside the Hogwarts oak doors, leaning against the great stone wall, hidden and sheltered by the staircase leading up to the oak doors. Now, she was late for Societal Studies on the third floor, hurrying up the stairs while trying to come up with the fastest way to her classroom. Focusing her attention on not stumbling on the steps - she had plenty of unpleasant experience with the inhospitable, hard surfaces of the Hogwarts' stone staircases - and figuring out how not to be later than necessary, she barely had time to turn her head when she heard the swoosh of a spell behind her. As it hit her arm with a terrible sting, she heard a yelp from below. Involuntary tears of pain springing forth, Mikano watched in puzzlement as someone distinctly recognisable as Hannibal Hunter scrambled down another, lower staircase, arms battering at a flock of bright yellow birds which were circling around his head, diving and pecking at his exposed skin with pretty, feisty cries.

Sasuke appeared at the foot of Mikano's staircase, a grim smile on his lips. Their eyes locked. His eyes were black as midnight and completely expressionless. Mikano's were wet.

"Just because you are a terrible friend, doesn't mean I'll have to be too," he finally said. His voice did not betray any emotions but Mikano, knowing him as well as she did, knew exactly what he was telling her. And that was good enough.

She stumbled down the stairs and flung herself at him. He caught her in an embrace with a forced exhale as she made him stagger back half a step.

"Idiot," she mumbled into his shoulder, rubbing the Sting Hex-induced tears away on his robe. He didn't say anything, simply letting his arms rest delicately around her.

After a few moments, Mikano spoke again. "We should so definitely get to Societal Studies. Prof Civildock is nice but not that nice." As soon as Mikano made the slightest shift to move away, Sasuke's withdrew his arms.

"Yes," he simply said. His eyes moved over her face quickly then landed on the slightly singed spot on her robe sleeve. "If you don't want to go to Mrs Longbottom, you can try to focus your unmoulded magic on the spot as Professor Orochimaru spoke of."

Mikano snorted, feeling strangely cheery. "No way I'll bother Mrs Longbottom with something like this. Plus, explaining how I got it would be awkward. Let's go, I can multitask." Calling upon her unmoulded magic effortlessly, she began walking up the stairs once again, consciously aware of Sasuke's presence right behind her.

Mikano halted in front of a wall tapestry depicting a dull-eyed, tea-drinking witch. That someone would have thought that motive worthy of a tapestry went over Mikano's head, but she wasn't there to admire the artistry. She furtively threw glances down both lengths of the corridor then slipped behind the heavy fabric.

After many hard and determined hours, she had found a number of secret passages leading into the library. This was one of the better ones because it did not lead anywhere busy nor to a part of the library in which she was not allowed to be.

She whispered a Lumos and began walking down the dry tunnel. It was narrow and the floor was made of rough, sturdy wooden planks. The only trip step was right at the end - easy to remember. She liked the smell in here. It was discreet, a dormant notion of old wood and enclosed space.

She reached the other end of the tunnel and, leaning forward to avoid the trick step, peeked around the long, many-folded window drape which hid the entrance to the secret passage on this side. As usual, the section on troll lore was utterly deserted.

She slipped out, brushing lint off her the shoulders of her robe.

She supposed she did not have to sneak off alone like this. After all, she was only here to do some research for Theory homework and the Gryffindor Gang tended to hold back when she had company. But she had wanted to be alone, just her and some books.

And what books! They were studying the foundation of magic in Theory and professor Orochimaru had assigned an essay titled 'The Mechanics of Unmoulded Magic's flow through the Body'. Good stuff. And Mikano knew just where to start her hunt for sources.

She rounded a corner and walked right into somebody who was both very small and very surprised at being rammed from the side by a purposefully striding Mikano. They both yelped and scrambled not to fall over.

Mikano identified the other as Hinata's dark-skinned, curly-haired friend even as she was stumbling back. She had been on edge lately, never knowing when the next sudden blow would land.

The other girl caught herself on a shelf and laughed hushedly, her teeth pearly white against her plumb, chocolate-coloured lips.

"Sorry," she said, dark eyes twinkling.

Mikano quickly regained her composure. "No, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was walking."

"Never mind that… Hey! You're Naruto's sister, aren't you? Hinata told me!" The girl stuck out a hand with a wide grin. "I'm Cora McLauren."

"Mikano Uzumaki," Mikano replied, secretly amused at the way Hinata had introduced her to Cora. 'Naruto's sister', ha! The girl's crush on her brother was too cute.

"Oh!" The girl's eyes lit up as something apparently struck her. "You're here for Prof Orochimaru's essay too, yeah? Hinata and I were just getting started, wanna join?"

For a civilian, Cora certainly wasn't too hung up on Houses. Perhaps it was just the notorious Hufflepuff friendliness. Regardless, Mikano wasn't about to give up her anticipated hour of blessed loneliness. She was opening her mouth to voice her polite refusal when Cora sheepishly added:

"Truth is, I don't really get the whole 'magic as energy' thing and though Hina is really smart, she won't tell me when I write something that's complete nonsense because she's just too nice to say the truth: that I'm pants at Theory - the theory part anyways, I think I'm pretty good at the manipulation stuff, yeah?"

Mikano blinked. Was Cora asking for help? If so, she was doing it in a rather opaque, roundabout way.

"Cora? Cora?" Mikano recognised quiet Hinata's voice though it wasn't nearly as timid as usually. The girl emerged from somewhere behind Cora and gasped when she saw Mikano. "Hi-hi Mikano," she stammered, her voice all but a whisper.

"Hi Hinata," Mikano said softly. Hinata's beautiful lilac eyes remained cast down. Really. Hinata was the shyest person on Earth. Mikano wished she wasn't so fearful around her. "Where are you sitting?" Mikano said abruptly.

Cora's face lit up. "Just over there!" She turned and pointed. "My bag is on the table, it's really colourful, you won't miss it."

Mikano nodded. On her way to the table, she picked three books with promising titles off the shelves. Behind her, Hinata whispered something to Cora who giggled mischievously.

"Oh! So magic does not flow with the blood, yeah? It was just a comparison?"

"Yes," Mikano said patiently. "What professor Orochimaru meant was that - like your blood - unmoulded magic is moving through your body, out to every part of it. And it's not just lying there: like your blood, it is constantly circulating." Mikano pointed to the book lying open on the table. She moved her finger along the outline of the illustration of the human body on the page.

"And it always moves through here." Cora's voice was certain as she drew a swirl on the drawing's belly with her index finger.

"Exactly."

"I wish I could show you," Hinata said quietly.

"With the Byakugan?" Mikano inquired animatedly. The Byakugan was a blood limit magic of Hinata's clan, the Hyuga. Bloodlimits were something most of the notable Konoha clans had like the Nara who could command shadows and the Yamanaka who were skilled at mind magic. While Mikano wasn't privy to the details, she knew the Byakugan was a blood limit which allowed the wielder to see through solid objects when it was activated. She hadn't known it could also see magic though - if that was what Hinata had meant anyway.

"Yes." Hinata fiddled with her robe sleeve, looking down. "I can see-see the magic's flow inside p-people when I'm using it. It's very pretty." She blushed as if afraid she had said too much.

"That sounds amazing!" Cora sighed wistfully. "You shinobi have such awesome magics. And I can't even learn them, can I?" She peeked at Mikano hopefully.

"I'm sorry." Bloodlimits were after all called blood limitsfor a reason. They something you were either born or not, completely determined by your magical inheritance.

"No matter!" Cora tossed her short, black curls and grinned. "I have so much to do just with classes I wouldn't have the time anyway!" Mikano smiled. Cora was such a sun-bright person. "Talking about classes: Mikano you are a blessing. Thank you so much for this, I would have been so lost without you… Now I think I know just what to put in the essay!"

"You're welcome." It had taken well over an hour to patch up the holes in Cora's understanding of the way unmoulded magic moved inside the body, but the trouble with the kind of technical, theoretical classes they were doing in Theory right now was that if you did not understand the basics then everything built on top of that would be lost on you too. And while Cora perhaps wasn't the brightest of the bright, her sunshine personality made her pleasant company regardless. Mikano did not regret accepting Cora's invitation though she consequently had made zero progress on her own essay. Or perhaps she had… There was no better way of internalizing knowledge than to teach it to somebody else. And Hinata didn't jump every time Mikano addressed her anymore. Yey, progress.

"And you don't mind at all that you've been learning from a Snake?" Mikano said jestingly.

"What do you mean?" Cora looked at her with startled, puzzled eyes.

"I just mean I'm a Slytherin - and you're a Hufflepuff," Mikano explained quickly, "and I had the impression inter-house mingling was sorta frowned upon among civilians. Not to generalize," she added conscientiously.

"Oh, right, that's true. It's total bollocks!" Cora asserted vehemently. "Why shouldn't we be friends with Shikamaru when he basically lives in our common room? It's so stupid, we should all just be nice to each other - or at least not be not nice to people just because of something silly like House. Or skin colour. Or blood status. Or being civilian or shinobi."

Mikano was slightly taken aback by Cora's outburst. She glanced around surreptitiously, sure the librarian Madam Pinch would come charging at any moment with severe admonitions at their noise level.

"You should have seen how they treated Hinata just because of her eyes!" Cora continued, obviously upset. "They wouldn't talk to her, they were so mean!" Mikano could see why civilians would be alarmed by Hinata's large, pupilless orbs, but honestly. Being afraid of Hinata? What an absurd thought.

"Prejudice prevails even among those characterised by their inclusiveness."

Mikano's head snapped around at the voice. It was deep, male, and soft, carrying the solemn words with a resigned sadness. It was Itachi's tall, broad-shouldered, tousled-haired Uchiha friend with the wide nose and the long eyelashes.

"Shisui! Hi!" Cora's expression went from passionately indignant to delightedly surprised.

"Good evening, Shisui," Hinata said timidly.

Mikano regarded the boy. Or man. Young man. He ought to be a seventh-year; he certainly looked the part in any case. So Shisui was his name. Shisui Uchiha.

"I'm Mikano Uzumaki," Mikano said as Shisui came closer.

"I'm Shisui Uchiha. Pleased to meet you." He sent her an earnest smile before turning his eyes upon all three of them. "It is truly sad how prejudice pervades even this place meant for unity. That it extends to the rest of society is even more regretful. Fortunately, not all fall under its ill charms." He reached out and tousled Cora's dark curls. She giggled and he grinned.

"We must all be on the lookout for bias and prejudice in ourselves and others. And stand up to those who proudly practice it." At this, it seemed to Mikano Shisui looked straight into her eyes. She frowned inside. Was he trying to communicate something to her about the Gryffindor Gang? Did everybody know about her trouble with those stupid schoolyard bullies? "And yet. Those with more power will always pick on those with less. The weak will in turn become embittered and seek revenge. Even a small blade can kill a great man. Fear and prejudice only fuel that cycle of oppression."

"Shisui, you're so deep," Cora complained, her lips pursed. "Mikano has been teaching me stuff all evening and my brain can't understand anymore now!" She grabbed the two longest fingers on one of his hands like a baby and pulled lightly.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry." Shisui laughed easily and quietly. "I was about to head back to our common room. If your head is really as bursting full as you claim, would you like to accompany me then?"

"'S'that alright?" Cora asked Mikano and Hinata.

"Sure," Mikano said.

"I think I'll just go-go with you," Hinata stammered a little anxiously.

"Nooooo…" Cora waved at her. "Stay here with Mikano. I'm sure you two smart-brains are gonna get much more out of each other than me." She winked at them, hefted her (truly colourful) bag over her shoulder, and pulled Shisui away with her by the sleeve.

As far as Mikano could tell, Hinata was low-key panicking.

"I'll use this book first," she said casually, drawing a shiny-covered tome towards herself. Hinata gasped.

"Ri-right."

Silence fell over the table as each began drafting their essays. After a while, Mikano felt the tension leave Hinata's posture and she chanced a look at the girl.

Hinata's face was relaxed, her slim bangs falling forward on each of cheek before brushing their tips on her chin. Her eyes were on the parchment before her with mild but focused attention. Her hand traced the letters of her essay with the inked quill tip in a gentle, careful manner. Her script was neat and the shape of her letters somehow soft.

Mikano returned her attention to her own essay, a surreptitious smile playing on her lips.

No, this evening wasn't so bad at all.