Author's Note
So there was a rather scathing(to me) complaint to the method of my magic, leaving me compelled to explain it. There are two good reasons it's not reiatsu like in every other version of this cross-over that I've read. 1. If it's just reiatsu manipulation, it leaves Bleach characters way too over-powered and they don't need it. If its something that anyone can do, then the Bleach characters would be able to perform magic on a bigger scale. By that I mean that they could scale up the size of a spell, ex. Lumos becomes like a flood light instead of a flash light. It's the same spell, but because they can put more power into it once they've learned the spell they can make the effect larger. I wanted the wizards to not be completely defenseless against magic wielding Bleach characters, so this method was a no-no and I nerfed Bleach use of magic instead. 2. If wizards are a reiatsu type(ex. Quincy, fullbringer, shinigami, etc.) then the Bleach characters can't learn it. Seriously, you don't see a fullbringer go "Oh, I think I'll use a Quinqcy technique. Go Blut!"Bleach doesn't work that way. This is further driven in by the fact that every race has it's own high speed technique. I'm sure Quincies have seen shunpo enough to know exactly how it works in terms of reiatsu/reishi manipulation, but they never use it. You can argue pride, but the surprise of seeing that used by someone who shouldn't be able to is too valuable to pass up, so they don't use it even though they know how it works because they can't use it. So for those two thought out and good reasons, I removed magic from being a spiritual skill. As for my replacement method, yes I'm aware that we do use all of our brains. I went looking for the percentage so I could use it in Urahara's explanation, but instead cam across an article that completely debunked that myth of only 10% of the brain is used. I still went with that kind of method because I had already picked it because of the Disney movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice feat. Nicholas Cage and that guy who does Hiccup's voice from How to Train Your Dragon(I think). In that movie, magic is a special use of the brain thing that is amplified to work using a special bauble that every wizard in the movie had. I twisted the rules of that to replace their bauble with wands. The rest of this is explained in the previous chapter. I thought it was a clever way to split it up, but I guess some people had issues with it, so I'll say the same thing to them that I said last chapter to those who disliked my shipping: The magic method stays, but you can go find something else to read if you don't like it.
Now that my long winded explanation/rant is done, enjoy the chapter.
When Remus Lupin was sent to get the older pair of Japanese guests, he didn't expect what he found at all. The room had already devolved into a mess, paperwork strewn across the floor interspersed with many devices that looked like they belonged in a muggle laboratory. The two men sat among the mess, seemingly ignorant of it, as the one in the bucket hat typed away at a holographic keyboard, watching a projected screen of indecipherable symbols and the blonde with odd, slanted bangs kept a cellphone pressed to his ear with his shoulder while taking notes on the paper in his hands and occasional snapping at the caller in Japanese. Lupin wondered for a moment if he'd gotten the wrong room, such a mess and actions didn't exactly leave him thinking that these were the very capable adults that the group had supposedly provided. He opened his mouth to ask when he got beaten to the punch.
"And what may we do for you, …" Urahara trails off, never looking away from the projected screen while Shinji continues to talk into the phone. Lupin is slightly unsure on how to proceed. Are they even paying attention to me?
"Ah, yes, um… I'm Remus Lupin, a member of the order. It's a pleasure to meet you two." He starts off, finally gaining their attention as the two turn to look at him, Shinji saying some quick words before hanging up. Upon receiving their attention, Lupin is unsure whether he really wanted it. Something about the pair rubs the wolf the wrong way and he can't really tell what it is. It's like nothing he's ever felt before. Lupin has met plenty of magical creatures and people in his time, but none have ever elicited the same response from the wolf as these two. Just the two of them focusing on him is enough to get the wolf's hackles up, warnings flitting across his senses to be prepared to run, maybe fight if they push it. This feeling unsettles him a great deal because he does not know what it means. Still, he has a job to perform, so he will just keep the wolf's feelings in mind and be prepared. "I was asked to inform you two that we will be having a meeting tonight, so it would be wise to have at least one of you attend so that you may know what is going on and offer what advice and assistance you have. We would also appreciate having one of you go with tonight's guard to pick up Harry, seeing as you two are supposed to be able to deal with these new… associates to You-Know-Who."Lupin informs them, nervously wringing his hands. The wolf's instincts are really getting to me today.
Shinji and Urahara look to each other, having a quick, silent conversation before turning back to Lupin.
"I'll go with yer little group to pick up the kid, just let me know when we're leavin'." Shinji says, going back to looking over the notes he's taken during his phone call, done with the conversation. Lupin feels a good bit of the wolf's concern disappear with Shinji's focus going elsewhere. I suppose he's the more dangerous one, or at least to the wolf anyway.
"I suppose that means I'm going to the meeting." Urahara sighs, masking his interest in going to a meeting of a secret organization. "I'll just head down when people start arriving. It is held here, isn't it? This is your headquarters after all." Lupin just nods in confirmation. His eyes wandering over the mess of the room again as Urahara goes back to his screen, wondering how so many things that look like electronic muggle devices could be operating in the house.
"How does it all work?" The words slip out of Lupin's mouth before he can think about it.
"How does what work?" Urahara asks. After all, there are many of his inventions and devices in here that he could explain.
"All of these devices." Lupin replies, gesturing to the room. "Electricity shouldn't work here because of the wards and magical saturation, but all of your devices are working and they look like muggle electronics."
Urahara gives him a mysterious smile. "That's because, my dear Lupin-san, these devices do not run on electricity. Or, at least, they do not require electricity to operate, though they can be run on electricity." Lupin looks curious, so Urahara can't resist explaining things just a little further. "Most of these are either my own invention or I've modified them for field use, eliminating the need for electricity. Power bills can be quite expensive, you know, so these little babies save me some good money by not needing to be plugged in or having their batteries replaced." He brags. Lupin politely nods his head, impressed mostly by the fact that Urahara has made a system to operate electronics in magical places where they shouldn't be able to run rather than any money saving they do.
"That sounds like quite the achievement, Mr. …" Lupin trails off, realizing that while he had been told their names, he didn't know which was which. "I'm sorry, are you Urahara or Hirako?"
Urahara chuckles, "Urahara. Kisuke Urahara and my friend here is Shinji Hirako." He explains with a smile. "If you run into the kids, the carrot top is Ichigo Kurosaki, the one with glasses is Uryu Ishida, and the girl is Orihime Inoue."
"Ah, thank you. I'll try to remember that." Lupin says with a nod. "I'll just leave you two to whatever it is you were doing. Oh, before I forget, Mr. Hirako, we'll be leaving by broomstick in about half an hour or so, so if you don't have a broom, you might like to ask the Weasley twins if they could loan you one of theirs." Shinji gives a non-committal grunt, still focused on the papers, and waves a hand to brush it off, to say he'll take care of it. Lupin gives them one last once over before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.
"[You do realize that you don't know how to ride, presumably fly, a broom, Hirako-san?]" Urahara pointedly questions the Squad 5 captain.
"[Can't be much harder than ridin' a motorcycle, can it? Besides, I was plannin' on goin' in my shinigami form, so it ain't gonna be much of a problem if I fall off.]" Shinji says, waving of his concern. "[I'm more worried 'bout all the paper work that's stacking up back home. Momo-chan's usually pretty good about it, but some stuff requires the captain, ya know. Maybe worried 'bout gettin' a broom off of one of the kids.]" He gets up and stretches a bit. "[Suppose I ought to go do that now.]" he sighs before leaving the room to get a broom.
Harry was alerted to the presence of others in his house by a loud crash and the murmur of voices, so he took his wand and quietly crept to the top of the stairs. His heart was in his throat as he noticed the eight or so figures silhouetted against the streetlight shining through the glass door. It only takes a little while for the figures to reveal themselves as his removal party and confirm that he is, in fact, himself. Reassured and looking forward to leaving, he descends the stairs, stowing his wand in his back pocket.
"Don't put your wand there, boy!" Moody roars. "What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know?"
"Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?" the violet haired witch asks Moody interestedly.
"I'd certainly like to see that." A man with straight, shoulder-length, blonde hair and slanted bangs comments. He is dressed in flowing black and white robes with a white necktie tucked into the v of his collar and a sword is sheathed at his left hip. He wore a lazy grin that reminded Harry of the Cheshire cat. "Ain't never heard of, much less seen, a person whose lost half their ass. Guess they must be pretty half-assed." He snickers at his own joke, getting a few grins from the gathered wizards, including Harry.
"Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!" Moody growls. "Elementary wand safety, nobody bothers about it anymore…" He stumps off toward the kitchen. "And I saw that," he irritably adds, having caught the woman rolling her eyes and the blonde sticking out his tongue, revealing a silver piercing in it.
After fretting about the Dursleys' presence and when and to where they'd be leaving, Harry was introduced to his guard for the evening. Harry decided during the introductions that he rather liked the blonde, Shinji Hirako, mostly because of the fact that unlike the others he didn't particularly stare at him, though he had liked his bit of humor earlier as well. After getting a bit more information on their travel plans and helping Moody clean his eye, Harry went upstairs and packed his things with the help of the purple, now pink, haired Tonks. They returned downstairs, got a Disillusionment Charm set on Harry, and moved out to the garden in preparation for their departure.
"Clear night," Moody grunted, his magical eye scanning the sky while Shinji seemed to be looking the skies over himself. "Could've done with a bit more cloud cover. Right, you," Moody barked at Harry, "we're going to be flying in close formation. Tonks'll be right in front of you, keep close on her tail. Lupin'll be covering you from below. Hirako will be on your left. I'm going behind you. The rest'll be circling us. We don't break rank for anything, got me? If–"
"If ya see any big monsters with masks, possibly standin' on the air, keep goin'. I'll take care of 'em." Shinji cuts in. Moody grumbles a bit at the interruption before continuing his own speech.
"Right, do that. Now, if one of us is killed–"
"Is that likely?" Harry asks, worry lacing his tone, but Moody ignores him.
"–the others keep flying, don't stop, don't break ranks. If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; keep flying east and they'll join you."
"Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously," Tonks says sarcastically, strapping Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage to a harness on her broom.
"I'm just telling the boy the plan," Moody growls. "Our job's to deliver him safely to headquarters and if we die in the attempt–"
"No one's going to die," Kingsley Shacklebolt assures in his deep, calm voice.
"At least, no one on our side." Shinji adds, his smirk now feeling very menacing as his hand rests on the handle of his sword. Harry was just slightly reconsidering liking the blonde.
"Mount your brooms, that's the first signal!" Lupin said sharply, pointing to the sky where a shower of bright red sparks glitters among the stars. Harry follows his instructions, swinging his right leg over his Firebolt, feeling the slight vibrations of the broom as he grips the hilt, seemingly reflecting his own eagerness to take to the skies.
"Second signal, let's go!" Lupin shouts as green sparks replace the red ones like fireworks in the sky.
The wizards push off the ground, brooms taking them soaring into the sky. Harry can't help but whoop in delight at the wind rushing around him, at escaping the Dursleys, at the freedom of the sky. His problems seemed to fade away as they gained altitude, just like the ground and city lights below. They turned and altered their course according to Moody's instructions, when, as they were leaving the town of Little Whinging, Surrey, an unearthly howl sounded across the sky. All the wizards started in surprise as a group of what could only be called monsters seemed to materialize in the air before them.
"Hold this." Shinji orders, thrusting something wooden into Harry's left hand, giving him no time to argue.
Harry looks down and feels his stomach drop as he realizes that the object he's been given is Shinji's broom, minus its rider. Before he has much time to panic though, a chorus of the previous howls sounds again, this time with a clear note of pain. Harry's head snaps up just in time to witness all of the monsters' faces erupt in sprays of blood, barely seeing the back of a figure in a long white cloak crouched on the other side of them before it disappears. The monsters start to fall out of the sky, parts of their bodies already decayed into dust.
"Thanks, kid." Harry hears from his left, starting as the spare broom is tugged from his shock-numbed grip. He snaps his head to his left, only to see Shinji calmly settling on his broom while adjusting his sword and once more flying beside him. What in the name of Merlin just happened? I know he said he'd handle the monsters, but how exactly did he do that? Harry's thoughts were in a daze, trying to figure out how Shinji had not fallen to his death when he left his broom and how he'd gotten to the other side of the monsters and back so quickly. He missed the quick scolding from Moody about Shinji's unexpected and unannounced actions, how the captain could have been hit by a stray spell. Harry was finally snapped out of his thoughts when Shinji had to point out another change in direction to him.
After almost being forced to loop back, Harry was quite glad to get out of the cold of the upper atmosphere that had slowly been numbing his entire being. After Moody showed him the slip of paper, the group quickly slips into number twelve Grimmauld Place. Harry's first impression of the place was that it was very much reminiscent of a haunted house with all the dust, cobwebs, and simply old appearance of the house. Mrs. Weasley comes scurrying out of a door at the far end of the hall, quick to welcome him and shower him with her motherly affections. She informs the others of a meeting which the guard all heads off to, Mrs. Weasley keeping him from following, saying it's for members only. She ushers him away, taking him to a room upstairs before hurrying away to rejoin the meeting.
Upon reuniting with Ron and Hermione, Harry was quite happy. However, as he got few and rather poor, in his opinion, answers to his questions, he couldn't help but lose his temper over his self-perceived mistreatment. He knew it was wrong to unload on his friends like that, but after being kept in the dark so long, he had expected answers and he wasn't getting them. His temper was only starting to lessen as Hermione and Ron explained their lack of ability to gather information when the twins Apparated in with a loud crack. They teased Harry a bit about his lost temper before reprimanding him for messing with their sound reception on their Extendable Ears.
"It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having," said Fred in response to Ron's warning.
"I suppose we're lucky that Hirako fellow didn't decide to turn us over to mum." said George.
"Right you are, brother of mine. Seems like he'll be a decent teacher." Fred replies with a grin.
"Especially considering he actually gave us advice through the Ears on hiding them."
Before Harry can question the twins on Shinji being a teacher of all things, because he cannot imagine him acting like a teacher, the door to the rooms opens, revealing several people. Harry easily recognizes Ron's sister, Ginny, but the other three are a mystery to him. There is a bespectacled boy with raven hair, pale skin, and sharp, deep blue eyes. His hair is chin length and the bangs are down on the right side while on the left they tuck behind his ear. The boy was about as tall as Ron, though unlike Ron instead of being gangly, he was slender and fit his height. He also held a slight air of nobility, or maybe he was just stuck up, Harry wasn't really sure, but the way he carried himself held some sort of air that reminded Harry of the way Malfoy would strut around. Next to him was a rather busty girl with auburn hair, pale skin, though not as pale as the boy, and kind, silvery eyes. Her bangs framed her face while the rest of her hair went down her back, all the way to her waist if the small swish he noticed when she moved was any indication. She was a little bit shorter than Hermione, though that was a rather absent minded observation as it was hard to get over the curves that the girl possessed. Harry likely would have looked a little longer, he was a teenage boy, sue him for having hormones, but the chill that went down his spine after about five seconds had him noticing the final new comer. He is slightly taller than the other boy, with peachy skin, and while the other was slender, he is lean, part of a well-defined chest visible above his shirt collar. The most obvious thing about him though is his bright orange hair, spiking out and looking as if it has never met a comb before. Taking his focus off of the bright hair, Harry notices that this boy is scowling at him, brown eyes filled with… anger, maybe jealousy, Harry can't quite tell, but he's fairly certain that it's because he was staring at the girl and that if he had stared much longer there would have been ensuing violence. There is simply something about his punkish looks and the way he holds himself that screams out 'Mess with me and you'll be in pain.'
"Oh hello, Harry!" Ginny brightly greeted him. "I thought I heard your voice."
The orange haired boy snorted. "You'd have to be deaf not to hear that yelling." He grumbles, receiving a small frown from the girl and an elbow to the side from the other boy. "What? I'm just saying. He was pretty damn loud."
"Be that as it may, Kurosaki, you still shouldn't be so rude about it." The boy with glasses reprimands him, pushing his glasses up and seeming very arrogant to Harry.
"Piss off, Ishida." Kurosaki replies, glaring at the now named Ishida.
The girl just smiles at Harry, not at all concerned with the two boys bickering and giving each other death glares over her head. "I'm Orihime Inoue, hajimemashite." She happily tells Harry with a little bow.
"Ha-jee-may-what?" Harry asks, completely confused by the Japanese greeting.
"It serves along the same lines as 'nice to meet you' in Japanese." The bespectacled boy explains with a sigh. "I'm Uryu Ishida and this moron is–"
"Hey! I can introduce myself, thank you very much." The orange haired boy loudly cuts in. "Ichigo Kurosaki, nice to meet'cha."
Harry blinks a bit in surprise. He had thought that Orihime and Ichigo were related with their similar hair colors and the way Ichigo had glared him down for staring at her. He absently notices that the two boys have taken to bickering again.
"Anyways, it's no go with the Extendable Ears," Ginny says, turning to Fred and George, "she's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."
"Are they always like that?" Harry whispers to Ron as Ginny explains how she checked the door.
"Dunno, mate. They got here this morning and have been holed away studying almost all day." Ron whispers back. "Something 'bout having a completely different schooling in Japan then what we got at Hogwarts. Though there was something a little od–"
"–finding out what old Snape's been up to."
Harry's attention is immediately dragged away from Ron at the mention of his most hated teacher. "Snape?" Harry quickly questions. "Is he here?"
"Yeah" said George, closing the door and settling on the beds with Fred, Ginny, and Orihime while Ichigo and Uryu lean against the wall beside the door. "Giving a report. Top secret."
"Git." Said Fred idly.
"He's on our side now." Hermione admonishes him.
Ron snorts. "Doesn't stop him from being a git."
"Mmm. People don't stop being asses just because they're your ally." Ichigo throws in his two-cents, eyes flickering over to Uryu who just glares back. Harry really isn't sure what to make of the two's seemingly constant bickering. They insult each other, but neither seems truly upset about it, just annoyed and trying to one-up the other.
"Bill doesn't like him either." Ginny says with a sense of settling the matter. Harry's curiosity truly took over any remaining resentment at being kept in the dark as he fished for more information on what he'd missed. He learned about how Ron's older brothers were helping out, Bill returning home and helping Fleur with her 'Eeenglish' while Charlie was gaining foreign support from Romania.
"Is that how you three got brought in?" Harry asks, turning to the Japanese students.
"Nah. Geta-Boushi and Shinji owed the old man" "Dumbledore" "yeah him, a favor or something and we got dragged along." Ichigo explains with Uryu supplying Dumbledore's name. "So we get to transfer to your school for the year."
"Geta-Boushi?" Harry asks, wondering what kind of name that is.
"It's a nickname that Kurosaki gave Urahara-san to make fun of his hat and shoes." Uryu explains as Orihime nods along. Seeing a slightly confused look from the others he further explains, "Geta are a special type of wooden sandals while boushi means hat in Japanese." Looks of understanding spread across the Weasleys' and Hermione's faces while Harry still remains somewhat confused. "Don't worry, you'll get it when you meet Urahara-san." Uryu says with a sigh.
The Weasleys then continue to explain Percy's defecting to the Ministry's side and the trashing of his name that the Daily Prophet has been doing lately. Both sets of news were met with anger and negativity, even from the Japanese group who didn't understand the implications too much. When they got back to the news of Harry's hearing, he looked for a way to change the subject, but ended up not having to worry about it as the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs was heard. The twins gave a sharp tug on their Extendable Ears before Apparating away with a loud crack. Moments later, Mrs. Weasley comes into the room.
"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now, everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?" she asks.
"Cookshanks," Ginny lies, shifting the blame away from herself. "He loves playing with them."
"Oh," Mrs. Weasley says, "I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please…" she requests as she proceeds to leave, Ginny grimacing as she follows her along with Ichigo, Uryu, and Orihime.
After the others have left, Ron and Hermione try to apologize again for keeping Harry in the dark. At this point he's just feeling guilty about how he reacted, justified as it felt at the time, and is quick to change the subject, getting the two arguing about Hermione's S.P.E.W. When they've exited to the landing, they see the meeting's members still gathered in the hallway, so they stop to try and eavesdrop on the conversation below them. Fred and George try to get an Extendable Ear into the conversation, but end up being too late as the group leaves, so all of them continue down the stairs.
"We're eating in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley whispers, meeting them at the base of the stairs. "Harry, dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall, it's through this door here–"
CRASH
"Tonks!" Mrs. Weasley cries in exasperation.
"I'm sorry!" Tonks wails from her position on the floor. "It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over–"
The rest is cut off by an earsplitting screech as the curtains Harry had passed earlier flew open, revealing not a door, as he had expected, but a life-sized portrait that he mistook for a window for a moment. The portrait was of an old woman with yellowing skin in a black cap, all displayed in a very realistic yet horrifying and unpleasant manner. Her shrieks seemed to wake all the other portraits so that they added to the cacophony of screams that echoed through the hall, reaching such a volume that Harry clapped his hands over his ears. The foreigners came dashing out of the kitchen, looking ready to fight something. Lupin and Mrs. Weasley hurried forward to try and tug the curtains closed, but to no effect except to cause the depicted woman to screech even louder.
"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers–"
"[Damn. That thing's screechin' is worse than a herd o' Gillians]" Shinji comments, hands having already moved to cover his ears like the others.
Mrs. Weasley gives up on the curtains and hurries down the halls, stunning the other portraits. Ichigo quickly moves forward, Uryu at his side, and they take her place trying to close the curtains, allowing Lupin to go and assist Mrs. Weasley in quieting the other portraits. The pair seem to have a bit more luck in trying to close the curtain as they get it to move halfway across the painting. Then a man with long black hair came charging out of a room across from Harry.
"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" he roars, joining Ichigo and Uryu on the curtain. The painting's face blanches as it notices the newcomer.
"Yoooou!" she howls, glaring at the man before her. "Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"
"I said– shut– UP!" the man roars, and with a mighty heave, the three force the curtain closed again. None but the sharp eyes of Kisuke and Shinji catching the faint glimmers of energy running under the two boys' skin as they ensure that it will be the final tug on the curtain.
The man turns to Harry, sweeping his hair out of his face as he pants. "Hello, Harry," Sirius says grimly, "I see you've met my mother."
"I don't normally insult girls and women, but your mom's a bitch." Ichigo says to Sirius, crossing his arms over his chest, defying anyone to say otherwise. Sirius just lets out a bark of laughter.
"I won't disagree with you there,… ah, I'm afraid we haven't been introduced yet. I'm Sirius Black, Harry's godfather." He says, offering a hand to Ichigo and Uryu.
"Ichigo Kurosaki." "Uryu Ishida." They both introduce themselves, taking his hand in turn.
"So that was your–?" Harry asks.
"My dear old mum, yeah," Sirius replies. "We've been trying to get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get downstairs, quick, before they all wake up again."
"Have you thought about possibly burning or destroying it? Maybe painting a muzzle or gag on her?" Urahara questions him, curious glint in his eye. I wonder what would have the best effect. Can the paintings be manipulated by added art?
"It's kind of hard to destroy magic paintings, though you might have something with the add-ons." Sirius replies.
"What's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asks his godfather, bewildered as they move down the hallway.
"Hasn't anyone told you?" Sirius asks a little incredulously. "This was my parents' house. But I'm the last Black left, so it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters– about the only useful thing I've been able to do." He bitterly finishes. Harry feels that he can relate to Sirius's plight of being left out considering his previous interment with the Dursleys this summer, though he was expecting a warmer welcome from his godfather than this, but Harry was mostly just happy to see everyone and be a part of things again.
Dumbledore sat in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts, considering his decision to call in Shinji Hirako and Kisuke Urahara, along with the students they had decided to bring with them. He had never been sure that he'd ever cash in on the debt they perceived themselves to owe him, but with the recent additions to Voldemort's forces, he had felt that the mysterious duo could help.
However, that was the problem: they were mysteries. He had never gotten much out of them on who, possibly what, they are, though he could maybe pull some conclusions from what he knew.
He sighed, the duo had been tight lipped and calculating, only telling him bare bone facts and vague answers that were very unsatisfactory. Not that Dumbledore hadn't done much the same in return, but he felt that they left out much more than him. Not to mention that any further attempts at researching what they did mention turned up nothing while he was quite sure that they would have found all that they wanted to know when they searched for more on wizards. After all, both were highly intelligent men, made even more dangerous by how easily they covered it up so that only those who look might notice their façade.
They might very well be as old as, if not older, than me, he muses to himself, recalling how they haven't aged a day in thirty years. There are spells and potions to help maintain a youthful look, but considering that they aren't wizards of a European convention, he doubts they use such things. Adding to that feeling is what Severus reported about their minds. Not only Shinji and Kisuke, but the two boys, Ichigo Kurosaki and Uryu Ishida, have minds that break the standard human convention, leaving little doubt on them not being human. Truthfully, this worries Dumbledore a bit, to not know what he is unleashing into his school. It is not helped by the fact that Snape found violent secondary personalities in Shinji, Kisuke, and the Kurosaki boy. True, they seemed to have these personalities under control, but if they should lose control of them… well, things wouldn't be good, especially with a Ministry representative having forced their way in to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Furthermore, he had no inkling what might reside in the consciousness of the girl, Orihime Inoue. She had struck him as a rather kind and gentle individual when he had a quick meeting with her to tell her the secret of Grimmauld Place.
That was another thing: how did they bypass the Fidelius Charm? If they could do it, there was a chance their enemies could do it. When he had confronted Kisuke about it, the shopkeeper had told him not to worry, the path they had used to get her there had to be opened from within the barrier to allow a person access. Unless the enemy got in on their own, there was no way for that method to bring a person to their headquarters. Dumbledore honestly hoped he was right, because if not, well, that would be quite the problem. Although, Dumbledore was quite curious about this 'garganta' as Urahara had called it. It was hard to say, but it seemed to work like the old portals that were used before Apparation was discovered, but somehow more advanced, considering it was portable.
Then there was the matter of the Japanese's abilities and skills. It had been obvious when he first met them and they took down the monster, Shinji had called it a 'hollow' and Dumbledore was fairly certain it referred to the hole in the creature's chest, that they had extensive combat training. He figured they could give dragon wranglers and aurors a run for their money in skill with dealing with monsters. They had confessed to Moody to have plenty of battlefield experience and, according to Moody, they acted like military commanders when looking at the data they had on Voldemort's new help. Shinji had also claimed Urahara to be one of the smartest people around, so that of course elicited some caution, just on principle. The Ishida boy also garnered caution for his intellect as he somehow held a thousand years' worth of techniques of his people, not to mention that he was their leader-to-be, if not already leading, these 'Quincy' people. The Kurosaki boy was supposedly a power house, though probably unrefined as he seemed to easily defer leadership to, what Dumbledore assumed to be, the older pair. There was also the statement that 'really piss him off and you'll be lucky to make it out alive' that concerned him. It seemed to be implied that such a thing required a rather specific trigger or a lot of effort, but the 'lucky to make it out alive' was a rather pressing point. He'd have to get some clarification on that for the safety of the students, just in case. Then there was what Moody told him of Shinji's performance during Harry's retrieval. He had supposedly taken out the monsters, whose descriptions had fit somewhat with his own previous experience with a hollow, in less than a second, splitting all of their faces without being seen at all by the others, except for a brief glimpse of his back form where he stood on the sky as the creatures fell from the sky. Dumbledore supposed that could be excused by this 'inner hollow' Snape had reported on, if the creatures who had also stood on the sky were, indeed, hollows. In fact, the 'inner hollow' might explain Lupin's report on his inner wolf being highly wary of the man, though it didn't explain its caution towards Kisuke. Those four seemed to be the 'battle force' while the Inoue girl provided support with high level healing skills. She hadn't struck him as a fighter, but those who know best how to heal know the inverse, how best to hurt. So he basically had reason to be cautious of the whole group.
He also knew that their powers and magic were derived from their souls and life force. How exactly, they wouldn't say, only that it was not something that Dumbledore could learn. This in itself raised many questions, but it did fit with the more spiritual culture of the people of Asia.
Dumbledore sighed once more. Trying to puzzle the Japanese group out was hard, especially since he seemed to be missing so many pieces. He could ask questions of them, but they guarded their words. He was certain he could get the answers out of them, but he was as equally certain that he'd only get them if he asked the right questions. I suppose I should start coming up with questions.
And now Harry has finally arrived. I've had that scene with Shinji and the broom in my head since chapter 2. You also get some Dumbledore and his musings on his requested help. And while I appreciate critiques as a means to help me improve, I ask that you also include what you think went right because they're more effective that way. A what went right & wrong says a lot more and doesn't make me feel like my story is stupid or makes me question why that person's following when they don't seem to like it. Anywho, that's enough ranting out of me.
Please comment/review to tell me how I did.