All the students riding the train back to London left fairly early in the day at the start of the holiday. The atmosphere in the Great Hall was positively giddy. Even the teachers overlooked the series of dungbombs set off across the hall toward the end of breakfast, no doubt looking forward to some time off themselves. Sayuri and the handful of other students living in Hogsmeade left in trickles after them, the younger ones getting picked up by their parents on foot or by broom.
Waiting with them was a little too much like waiting to get a glimpse of kaa-san's shining hair after the shinobi academy let out every afternoon. Something she'd never see again, and not because she had no eyes.
Hefting her bag onto her shoulder, Sayuri finally left for Hogsmeade on her own. Aberforth probably couldn't afford to leave The Hog's Head long enough to come get her. It wasn't his fault, but, it was hard when other adults came and left with their children. She had packed her charmed copy of 1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi, some paper and ink, the invitation to Draco's Yule party, clothes, and several vials of potions that she'd nicked from Snape's class. Not that it was really stealing. She'd brewed them herself after all. Snape always vanished the leftovers in everyone's cauldrons so it wasn't as if anyone would miss them.
The grounds had the unsettling quiet and chill that always came with snowfall. It was also a little annoying, because the snow came almost to her knees and she couldn't see where people had already trod it down on the little road back to town. After a hundred feet or so of slogging through, she decided to try water walking on the snow. It was either that or burning her chakra to warm up her legs. The odds of either one triggering the Trace seemed about equal.
It worked surprisingly well after the first few missteps. And if this tiny bit of chakra control counted as a spell that the trace could pick up on, then she'd find out when the ministry got her in trouble for it.
No ministry owls ambushed her on the way home, or greeted her at the inn though. The door clattered shut behind her, a wall of warmth hitting her in the face as she entered. It smelled like pine and goat inside rather than just goat, which was a vast improvement. She was right about him being busy too. There were nine patrons seated around the pub, a few she recognized. She made a beeline for Aberforth.
"Welcome back," he grunted. "How was school?"
"Good," she returned. It was as if she'd only been gone a few hours rather than a few months. He waved his wand at her, the freezing water that had soaked into her stockings evaporated without a trace.
"You really doing well? Are those little Slytherin monsters treating you all right?"
She folded her arms, a mischievous grin twisting her mouth. "You should be asking if I'm treating them all right."
The old man laughed. He had a dry, dusty laugh like he hadn't used it lately. "That's my girl. How about your head of house? It's Severus Snape now isn't it?" He said it like the name had a bad taste. "I had to throw him out once about a decade ago. Hasn't been back since. Slimy berk can't keep his giant nose out of other people's business."
"But Jiji," she said whispered, reaching up to gently honk his nose, "You have a giant nose and can't keep it out of other people's business." She knew he collected information on everyone who passed through his doors. Holding it, doling it out as he saw fit. He met with the headmaster sometimes, hence his warning to her at the start of term. To stay clear of the headmaster's schemes.
"Not like Snape's," he snorted. Sayuri pulled her hand back quickly before the snort could get anything gross on it. "Then again, compared to yours I'd wager the majority of folks in Britain have giant noses."
Sayuri poked at the end of her own nose, deep in thought. Privately, she figured that the silky voiced potions master never returning to The Hog's Head had more to do with the fact that Aberforth's pet billy goat liked to sleep on the tabletops in all of his stinky glory, that he disliked sweeping up after said billy goat, and that the dishes were frequently covered in a film of grease with fossilized chunks of food adhered to them.
The thought of Snape doing something worthy of his wrath was pretty funny though. Had Snape gotten drunk and unruly? Fought someone? She couldn't even imagine a drunk Snape.
"He's been pretty nice to me," she said. "He even let me take second year potions classes. And he taught me the shield charm in case anyone tries to bully me." Wisely, she omitted the bit about it also being because she was pulled from Defense Against the Dark Arts after Quirrel had tried to murder her. Though it was tempting, she didn't need her guardian to rush off and slaughter anyone today.
That would definitely mess up the headmaster's plans, whatever they were.
"Good at potions then? That's dead useful. Now, if he ever does anything to you that you don't like, make sure to tell me. I'll hex his bollocks off." That was Aberforth's favorite threat. According to Hagrid, he'd made good on it before too.
"I will," she promised.
The rest of the afternoon was spent unpacking her bag, tidying her little room, and wishing Koeda was there to exorcise the newest crop of bedbugs from the mattress. Surprisingly, her plants were still alive. Aberforth must have remembered to water them for her. She ran fingers over the smooth pentagonal leaves vining from the pot, remembering how much Koeda liked to climb in them.
She hoped he was doing okay in the crow realm.
The crow realm was another issue at the moment. Summoning almost definitely counted as a spell. Which meant she couldn't call them during holidays.
Stupid ministry.
She didn't sleep much that night. Instead she knelt on the rough floor by her bedside and spent hours trying to sense out every single teeny little bedbug herself and crush them. Which was extra tedious because she couldn't bring herself to squish their nasty little bodies with her fingers. Eventually she resorted to stabbing them with the sharp end of a quill. Then she couldn't sleep because she kept thinking about all the bedbug eggs that might be in the mattress. Bugs were the worst.
When she couldn't find any more bedbugs to stab, she rummaged through her top drawer of treasures and found the ball of unicorn hairs she'd collected over the past few years. Sayuri felt like Hermione deserved a nice Christmas present for all the effort she'd put in to teach her to read, so she spent a few hours combing the hairs out straight and trying different tiny braids until she was satisfied with it.
The next morning, she went downstairs and decided to get the dishes washed. Nobody else was there yet but Matey.
The Hog's Head didn't have a sink. Just a giant tap coming out of the counter that was sort of like a pump for a well, with a long handle to work up and down to get the water to come out. By the time the wash basin was full, Aberforth had come downstairs.
She wrapped her arms around the basin and slid it off the counter. The water sloshed, soaking the front of her dress. She'd managed to take a few steps toward the sideboard with it when Aberforth's chakra suddenly whipped out and lifted it free of her arms.
"Hey! I can do it you know."
"That basin weighs more than you do when it's full," he grunted. "It'll snap you in two carrying it the muggle way like that."
"I've got to get stronger somehow," she muttered, grabbing a stool and following the floating basin to its destination. "Jiji, If you're going to do that, can you heat the water too? Thanks to the stupid ministry I'm not allowed to do magic outside of school." She noisily dumped a handful of dishes in, resisting the urge to chuck one at the wall as hard as she could.
A flash of magic shot from his fingertips and infused the basin, then another dried her clothes. She gingerly poked her own finger into the water to test the temperature. Kinda hot, but not too hot. She found the cracked and hardened bar of soap right where it had been set before she left for school months before. "Is there a way to get the Trace off?" she asked.
"Not that I ever found."
"Ugh. This is the dumbest law."
"That's one of the reasons I didn't want to go to Hogwarts as a lad," he said, taking a swig of steaming tea. "Once you start schooling there, it sticks tight to you and the ministry knows what you're up to until you're of age."
"Did you have someone else who could teach you?"
"My mum was still around. She and I looked after Ariana. Anyhow, Ariana was easier to manage when I could use a little magic to help." His voice suddenly grew bitter. "Mum would have let me stay home, but my older brother insisted I go. He bullied mum into making me. I should have refused."
"I never knew you had a brother," she said quietly. She knew that his little sister had died very young, but didn't know much more than that. He talked about Ariana frequently, reminiscing about silly things she'd done and things she'd liked. But he didn't like talking about what happened to her. He'd never asked Sayuri what happened to her family. Probably because he knew how bad it felt when people asked things like that.
"I wish I didn't," he muttered. "Pompous pain in the ass. Ariana would still be here if it wasn't for him. She would have stayed calm if I'd just been home with her."
Her throat tightened. She didn't have any siblings, but knew what it was like to lose your family. She also knew what it was like to worry about protecting someone when you were too far away to do anything to help.
"Jiji, if it's too hard you don't have to say it."
"Don't you worry about me," he said gruffly, ruffling her hair. If she lived as long as Aberforth, would she end up like this? Muttering and grumbling, still suffering the guilt and pain from deaths that happened decades before?
She swallowed thickly. A hot, empty ache spread in her chest. The answer was yes. She'd always carry it with her. She doubted she'd live as long as him though. Shinobi usually didn't live long. She just, needed to kill Danzo. To make sure her and her father's eyes weren't being misused any more. To get revenge for her parents.
To make sure Sasuke was safe.
Aberforth stood and stretched, an uncharacteristic tremor in his gait as he ambled over to an empty booth. The scrape of broom bristles joined the clatter of soapy dishes.
He might not clean often, but when he did it was usually because Sayuri started on it first.
She was partway through chipping at the dried on food when Hagrid's enormous presence loomed through the door.
"Mornin' Aberforth," Hagrid called. "Can yeh fill me up with the usual?"
"Sayuri, would you get that for him?"
Hagrid always brought his own tankard. Partly because of the custom sizing, but even Hagrid had cleanliness standards where dishes were concerned. She hefted a huge ceramic jug of firewhisky off the shelf that took both her arms to wrap around and tottered over to the counter with it. "Here you go! Ogden's Old."
"Look at yeh," he chuckled. "That's almost as big as yeh are. Don' bother yerself with pourin' I'll take care o' that."
She smiled up at Hagrid. He was easy to smile around.
"Enjoyin' yer holiday?" he asked. She nodded happily. While she hated the stupid ministry for the Trace, there was no way she could hate being at The Hog's Head. Here she could finally relax without having to worry about Harry, or Quirrel, or trolls, or Unicorn Killers, or writing essays.
"How is Albert?" she asked, thinking fondly of the little unicorn.
"Good, he's growin' like a tentacula. He'd like ter see yeh sometime if yeh get a chance."
"I'd like that too."
Feeling lighter, she went back to the basin of dishes and scrubbed at them some more with her fingernails. The heat of the water felt nice.
Hagrid was into his second glass when the door to the pub opened again, letting in a gust of freezing air. Sayuri's skin prickled and the muscle in her jaw twitched.
Professor Quirrel.
Wishing she wasn't there, she hunched her shoulders forward and tried to be unobtrusive. There was no way he wouldn't recognize her though. She didn't want him to know that she lived here.
The door shut with a clatter. Quirrel's foul presence with his foul smell permeated the entryway. This is what I get for getting up early and trying to be helpful, she thought miserably. Why would he come here?
He sauntered over to the bar a couple of seats down from Hagrid and slid onto a stool. Aberforth ambled over. "What'll it be for you?"
"Firewhisky," Quirrel grunted with faux gruffness.
"You might take some breakfast with that too," Aberforth muttered darkly. "Kind of early, and I don't want you chundering all over my floors right after I clean them up."
"That'll do." Quirrel said, then turned to Hagrid and asked if he wanted to play a game of cards.
The two men moved over to Hagrid's favorite booth to get settled in. It was odd. Hagrid didn't seem to recognize him. But she would recognize that gross onion smell and nasty chakra anywhere.
"Sayuri, why don't you go fix a couple of sandwiches for them?" Aberforth said. He usually said something like that if they had a guest that made her tense. It was a cue to get her out of the room.
Slipping into the little kitchen, she wished she had something horrible to sneak into Quirrel's sandwich. Something like Swelling Solution to make his tongue inflate. Maybe his throat would swell shut and he'd suffocate and die. It would serve him right for trying to murder her and Harry.
Even bubotuber pus or a live leech would be satisfying. In the end, she settled for some dodgy cheese and spat on the pickles. Then she found the vial of fire seeds Aberforth had in the cupboard and sprinkled a few on the cheese. She'd have to remember to keep something gross handy just in case anything like this happened again.
Hagrid got several nice grilled cheese sandwiches.
Placing each meal on a plate, she shuffled toward their booth.
"Here is your food," she said in a soft, demure voice as she slipped the plates onto the table. Hagrid thanked her loudly. Quirrel just grunted. She left them to their card game, slipping back to the wash basin where she continued scrubbing some cups.
It took a lot longer than she hoped for Quirrel to take a bite of the sandwich. He and Hagrid chatted quietly about dragons, acromantulas, and three headed dogs while they played. Apparently Quirrel was waiting until Hagrid got up and walked away from the booth before eating anything. The scream of anguish as one of the fire seeds ignited and burned a hole through his cheek was totally worth waiting for though. Judging by the glassy clatter as he frantically spit, it had taken out a few teeth as well.
A variety of cursed objects lay spread out on the polished mahogany table. Severus bent over them, levitating an ancient golden torq so that he could get a better look without touching.
"That one supposedly came from a barrow. The muggle that looted it died horribly, as I'm sure he deserved," Lucius drawled. "At some point it was in a muggle museum, but enough curators fell under its curse that nobody was sad to see it stolen. Of course I could not allow such a cultural treasure to remain in the hands of muggles."
It was a beautifully wrought piece of spellwork. The curse appeared to be one to activate if it was handled after being stolen from its resting place. "If this was returned to its owner's grave, the curse would likely go dormant again," Severus said wistfully. "Though with enough time I could come up with a way to break it. Of course, the trick is breaking the curse without disturbing the beneficial enchantments as well."
While breaking such a curse would make it more functional and safe, it was a pity to even consider it. This spell had been cast by a witch or wizard anywhere from 2,500 to 6,000 years ago. The fact that this individual's magic was still extant so long after their passing was a small miracle. To tamper with it in any way felt sacrilegious.
"I'd like to study this piece, Lucius. There is very little written on magic of any kind from this era, and it is quite potent for its age."
"Consider it a permanent loan," the elder Malfoy said. "You know old Bourgin wouldn't give me a fraction of what it's worth, and I can't afford to have so many dark artifacts here with the number of raids the ministry is conducting. Could you imagine if they got their hands on it?"
Severus curled his lip in displeasure. No doubt they'd strip it completely of any and all spells and utterly destroy all chance of learning anything from it.
His blond-headed godson peeked around the corner, wide smile breaking across the boy's cherubic face. "Hullo Professor Snape! Father, may I please watch? Please? I promise not to touch anything!"
"I should hope you wouldn't touch," Snape drawled. "You're liable to get turned inside out or poisoned."
Instead of being put off, Draco looked even more excited at the prospect.
"Draco, I have a private matter to discuss with Professor Snape now," Lucius said smoothly. Draco's face fell a little. "Severus, what would you like to drink? There is some of that nettle wine you like so well."
"That's acceptable," he sighed. Having the opportunity to examine such treasures was a rare treat, and one well outside his meager economic means. Quirrel had left for Hogsmeade that morning and gone straight for The Hog's Head. Which was suspicious, but meant that the stone was in no immediate danger. Visiting the Malfoys was a welcome distraction.
They carefully packed the cursed objects he'd sorted so far and moved to a stately drawing room, the dark wood all polished to a gleam with pearlescent marble and satin upholstered chairs. Lucius gestured for him to be seated, and snapped his fingers to summon glasses filled with clear wine. Anyone with a less sensitive nose might have mistaken it for water.
"It's concerning one of your delightful little first years."
Severus' eyes narrowed slightly. He would have thought Lucius was curious about the Philosopher's Stone, not that the Malfoy patriarch knew exactly what Dumbledore was hiding at the school. He quickly skimmed through a mental list of the children. Was it a Slytherin? Or a certain first year Gryffindor?
"Which one might that be?"
"Miss Uchiha. You see, my wife has taken a liking to her and wished to know more of her background."
"Draco surely knows more than I," Severus muttered, surprised she'd gotten his attention at all. "I don't involve myself in students' personal lives." A silver embossed coaster scuttled across the polished marble to intercept his glass of wine as he set it down. Lucius' attention could be a good or bad thing, depending on his motives. If Narcissa was the one who had taken an interest though, it was likely benevolent. It could work out to be quite beneficial for the girl. If anything, the Malfoys did hold a great deal of influence.
"Oh, I have uncovered some interesting tidbits. Thought you might like to be aware of them, if you aren't already."
"There are things I'd much rather be doing with my holiday than gossiping about a student," he frowned. "I hardly get a moment away from the little beasts."
"You won't be disappointed," Lucius said, a knowing look on his face. "You see, my darling wife asked me to reach out to an associate in Japan to ascertain whether or not the Uchiha are a family of standing in the foreign wizarding community."
Severus narrowed his eyes. Not this pureblood shit again.
"Apparently, there is no such family in Japan. But one associate has origins in a different land. A different continent rather." A hungry gleam took hold in Lucius' pale eyes. "Imagine if you will, a continent hidden away from the rest of the world. No statute of secrecy is observed there. Wizards rule over muggles as their rightful lords. According to this source the Uchiha are one of the oldest, most venerated magical bloodlines of that land and now they are on the cusp of extinction."
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Suppose there is some secret continent with a wizarding paradise on it. Surname aside, what makes you think one of my first years originated there and why would she be here in Britain?"
Lucius smiled lazily, reaching into the breast pocket of his robe. "This book was procured for me by my associate," he said, revealing a small brown book. It was tattered, and dark splatters that looked suspiciously like old blood stains marked the cover. "It's something of a bounty hunter's guide. Within are several Uchiha. I had their entries annotated with English translations. I believe you'll find the contents . . . compelling."
Severus opened it to the first bookmarked page. A dour faced man named Fugaku Uchiha frowned back at him from the unmoving photograph. 'Fugaku of the Wicked Eye' was what the book called him. According to the entry, he could summon hawks and was the chief auror of a place called Konohagakure.
Several pages past that was a young man with unruly black hair and wide, heavily lashed eyes.
Shisui the Teleporter
S rank. Flee on sight. Do not engage.
Village of Origin: Konohagakure
Status: ANBU
Known abilities: Kaleidoscope mirror eye user. Crow summoner.
Nature: Fire
Bounty of 75,000,000 ryo
"This Shisui is of particular interest, since Miss Uchiha disclosed to my wife that her talking crow was inherited from her late father," Lucius drawled.
Snatches of conversation he'd had with the first year suddenly fell into place.
My father taught me.
The name translates to teleportation, but really it's just moving very fast.
The last twenty or so pages in the book had been spliced in more recently. One of them was bookmarked, and had a photograph of a boy hardly older than a 4th year with deep lines under his eyes. He was the only Uchiha without a red X over his picture.
Itachi of the Mirror Eye
S rank.
Village of origin: Konohagakure
Status: Missing nin. Former ANBU captain. Current member of terror organization Akatsuki.
Known abilities: Kaleidoscope mirror eye user. Crow summoner.
Nature: Fire
Bounty of 65,000,000 ryo
"Am I correct in assuming that the red X indicates the subject is deceased?"
"Yes. My associate said that it is well known there are only two survivors of the Uchiha tragedy." Lucius paused for effect as he sipped his wine. "Neither of which are female. I don't supposed she has ever told you what happened to her eyes?"
Severus shook his head.
"Oh well. We'll find out eventually."
"What is it about their eyes?" Severus asked slowly, flipping back through the book. "All of them use something called 'kaleidoscope mirror eye'."
An enraptured looked seized Lucius. "Apparently the Uchiha bloodline carries inherited abilities which manifests in the eyes of some, and is terrifying to wizards and muggles alike. I wasn't able to get a straight answer on what they can do. My contact cited an unbelievable range of powers. Effortless legilimency and occlumency, the ability to cast an imperius curse with merely a glance, summoning unquenchable black fire that makes fiendfyre look like a mere wisp, foresight, the ability to warp time itself. This is in addition to unusually potent magical vitality, as all of these spells are performed wandless.
"The family fell out favor twelve years ago after being accused of placing a mountain-sized demon under the Imperius curse and turning it against their own village, resulting in the deaths of hundreds."
Severus regarded Lucius blandly. This would explain quite a bit, but even for someone who had grown up immersed in magic it sounded a far fetched. "If this family was all-powerful, how is it they are all dead?" he drawled, gesturing at the X'd out photo of Shisui.
"Itachi, the boy in the last entry. He is one of the two known survivors. Itachi is wanted for the murder of the entire Uchiha clan. He was a prodigy, who for unknown reasons slaughtered everyone in a single night as a mere 13 year old boy. Only his younger brother was spared."
"Someone hid her here," Severus said softly.
This was getting worse by the minute. Twelve years ago would have been shortly before Miss Uchiha's birth. If her family was thought to be responsible for that many deaths, she could have countless enemies wanting revenge.
And now there was a deranged relative bent on familicide to worry about.
"Precisely," Lucius leaned back in his richly embroidered chair. "I believe she was hidden from this Itachi."
Somewhere along the way her eyes were lost. Based on what Dumbledore had said when they found her in the forest, the child had witnessed her mother's death. Witnessed, and then lost her sight. It was probable that Itachi had murdered her parents along with the rest of their family. If Itachi was 13 at that time, he would be be at least 17 now, if not older. An unexpected wave of nausea hit him as her questions and anxieties suddenly made more sense.
So if someone threw a knife at my face it could stop the knife?
Severus flipped back through the pages. Shisui and Itachi were the only ones whose entries listed them as crow summoners. He wasn't going to share any of these speculations with Lucius. He would however, present Albus with what he had just learned. The Headmaster obviously knew much more than he let on.
"You need to stop digging into this," Severus said in a soft voice, snapping the book closed.
"Why is that? Information is power after all," Lucius smirked at him from over the rim of his glass. "Think of the opportunities in a land like that."
"Because your contact apparently has contact with people from that land," he hissed. "Think Lucius, if she was hidden here then it's because someone is searching for her. Do you really want an experienced mass murderer with godlike magical abilities like this Itachi person arriving at Hogwarts while your son is present? They're in the same house for Merlin's sake!"
Lucius' pale face lost the rosy tint the alcohol had lent it. "I. . . I take your point." They both knew that Lucius' contacts dealt in information. And information flowed both ways.
"What does ANBU mean anyway? This says Itachi was a captain. I am doubtful it's anything like being quidditch captain," Severus muttered. Uncomfortable memories of Miss Uchiha's stiff politeness, her deferential bearing, prodded at him.
"In the very back, there are some more notes," was all a deflated Lucius offered. Severus flipped open the back cover, to find a loose bit of paper inside.
Literal translation of ANBU is "Dark Side". It is an acronym for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushi Butai. Translated, means "Special Assassination and Tactical Squad"
"Special Assassination?" Severus snarled, jabbing at Itachi's photo with his finger. "You kept digging into this after learning she has a trained assassin pursuing her?"
Konohagakure ANBU members report directly to their village leader, known as the Fire Shadow, and are assigned specialized high level missions such as assassinations, torture, and interrogation.
Demons destroying villages? Child assassins in positions of authority, wiping out their own families? Her birthplace was clearly no wizarding paradise. It was a dystopia. These ANBU sounded like Death Eaters, only far more organized and therefore more lethal. Her fearful voice echoed in his mind, sending a frisson of dread up his spine.
How secure is the ministry?
"Lucius, give me this book," he said.
"What? Do you realize it cost me a small fortune to procure it!?"
"I'm sure. I also realize that you are busy removing dark artifacts from your home due to increased ministry raids. This is not a magical artifact by any means, but should there be a raid can you see how it might become dangerous for Draco if this information was leaked?"
Lucius regarded him coolly. "I suppose you are correct. I trust you will keep it secure."
"Absolutely."
Comments she had made which he'd written off as childish nonsense suddenly became much more ominous. Such as expressing a desire to melt Quirrel's skeleton to the floor. Even years before when he'd read The Tales of Beedle The Bard to her, she commented that if threatened she would stab someone in the neck and set them on fire. Even her view that her own life was expendable.
If Itachi was made captain of an organized group of assassins by 13 years of age, that meant they groomed children for this sort of work. That meant they'd been grooming her.
Neither wizard noticed a small, quivering creature slip from the sitting room. A creature that painfully twisted its bat-like ears as punishment for eavesdropping on its master.
Author's Note: Now Lucius has gone and done it. He bought someone's old bingo book and is poking into things that shouldn't be poked.