Disclaimer: If you recognize it then it probably belongs to someone with a great deal more money than I have.
Kodachi was tired, sore, and hungry. Her large companion had dragged her through was seemed like half of London before they came upon the dingy disreputable looking pub known as the 'Leaky Cauldron'. If Kodachi had any doubts about traveling around the world to attend this Hogwarts they were only reinforced at the dingy atmosphere of the pub. She was Kodachi Kuno of the line of Hecate, dingy and dirty pubs were not something she either enjoyed or could tolerate. Thankfully Hagrid seemed to pick up on her mood and ushered her through the pub with all haste.
Kodachi was on the edge of panicking when she realized that she was now in a dead-end alley with what only could be described as a giant wild man. Had she made a huge error and walked into the hands of slavers? She was far from home, no one knew where she was and now she might be dealing with agents of Madam Lou! On second thought perhaps not Kodachi mused as Hagrid tapped three seemingly random bricks and the back wall of the alley… dissolved for lack of a better word. Reveling a rather wide alley filled with people in cloaks and robes moving to and fro completing errands and shopping.
"Come along now. First to Gringotts and then we'll start getting yer school
stuff."
"Hai Hagrid-San" Gringotts was one of the places mentioned in the stack of papers she obtained back in Nerima. From what she could tell of the documents Gringotts was a bank, a rather old bank that contained a large amount of money she could access. Along with the bank documents she needed to present she also had a list of school supplies, what appeared to be a partial family tree, and a sealed envelope with instructions not to open until she was at Hogwarts. Of course she had tried many methods to determine what was contained in the envelope but so far it had foiled all of her attempts.
Hagrid bulldozed a path through the crowded alley towards the huge marble building located at the end of the alley. Kodachi found massive structure… quaint, it somewhat reminded her of the larger bank offices she'd been forced to visit in the past. Usually when her seal was needed on certain documents. Normally they would have been dealt with by her older brother but for some reason most officials preferred dealing with her.
Kodachi glanced at the inscription written on the silver inner doors and found herself chucking involuntarily. A poetic warning of nameless dangers facing those who would try to steal from the bank was something she could understand. Sometimes the mere threat of force was better than force itself. Hagrid noticed Kodachi's interest in the writing.
"yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it.. Safest place in ther world, cept Hogwarts of course."
"What do they use to guard such an establishment as this?" Kodachi was thinking of the many traps, snares, and pits she had setup at the Kuno mansion.
"Well, they say that there be dragons deep in the'r vaults. Cricky I'd love a dragon."
Kodachi stared at the man in awe. Even she had never dare dream of owning such a majestic wonderful creature.
"Well come along now, much to do no time to dawdle." Hagrid said hustling into the bank.
Kodachi quickly followed but came to a dead stop when she saw just what sort of creatures ran this bank. Kodachi had to surpress a shiver of disgust and terror as she beheld creatures out of her childhood fables. Kodachi caught one of the nasty looking creatures eyeing her and straitened herself up and affixed her 'daughter of nobility' mask. There was no way she was going to give these creatures the pleasure of seeing Kodachi Kuno as weak.
With a determined stride she walked up to the desk, pulled a package of documents out of her coat pocket and placed it in front of the goblin.
"I require access to vaults 652, 732, and 923. The paperwork should all be in order."
Griphook stared down at the young human girl with the hint of a sneer in his features. With a grumble he took the papers and gave them a once over. Finding all the proper seals, and signatures he could only sigh. It appeared that another Hecate was demanding access to the money.
"Everything appears to be in order. Very well follow me." Griphook lead the two deeper into the bank towards the carts.
"How… quaint." Kodachi muttered as she sat down in the car.
"Err, I'll meet ya back here. Those carts dnd't agree with me."
Kodachi glared at Hagrid, but she couldn't find fault with him. It looked like he suffered from motion sickness and she didn't want someone of his size throwing up anywhere near her.
"Very well Hagrid-san, this should not take long."
The cart ride was everything one could expect in a Gringotts roller coaster as it was called. by some. Still Kodachi managed to catch a glimpse of a large beast prowling around the lower levels when ever they car went over a chasm. She found the ride exhilarating if a little disturbing. Perhaps regulars were given a different path and they reserved this trill ride for new comers.
After an short period of time they arrived at the first of the three vaults Kodachi had access two.
"Key please." Griphook asked in a bored tone.
"No key was provided." Kodachi replied, having gone through such matters before back in Tokyo.
Griphook just stared at her. No key? Why was she wasting his time? Didn't she know his time was valuable?
"Can't get access without a key." Griphook started walking back towards the cart only to find a long ribbon wrapped around his ankle preventing him from moving.
"No key was provided with those documents. I assume you have procedures for dealing with account holders who either lose their key or have it stolen. Also as an officer of the bank I suspect that you have the authority to override the vaults locking system, giving me access." It might be noted that Kodachi had a lot of experience in dealing with reluctant bankers. If she hadn't kept a firm reign on the what Kuno funds she could access why they might have been force to sell the house.
Grumbling about know it all witches and their parentage, in goblin of course, Griphook reluctantly opened the vault. Revealing mountains of gold and silver coins.
"Kami-Sama." Kodachi softly swore. This was something leaps and bounds beyond what she had been expecting. "Are the other vaults also like this?"
"Account statements can be acquired at the front desk." Griphook stated by route.
Kodachi quickly scooped out several large handfuls of gold and silver coins, quickly filling the dragon hide bag Hagrid had given her earlier.
The ride back was similar to the ride down but it seemed a little smoother and quicker to Kodachi.
Kodachi stood outside the bank with a lot of money, three keys and a long school list. She ran her finger down the list trying to decide what order to get the items.
"Heavy things last." She muttered to herself. ", that means books and cauldrons. Perhaps my wand should be first."
"Alright there Kodachi?" Hagrid muttered as he came up to her side.
"Yes Hagrid-san, lets go get my wand."
"Right-o Youl'll be wanting to go ter Ollivanders then."
"Ollivanders Hagrid-san?" Kodachi followed Hagrid as he lumbered his way through the alley.
"Yeah only place fer wands." Hagrid said as he pointed to a small dusty shop with a single long wooden stick laying on a faded purple cushion.
The inside of the store perfectly reflected the outside, small, dark, and dusty. Kodachi glanced around in distaste, was everything like this? The entire place had a feeling of time having been stopped and not in a good way.
"Good afternoon." A soft voice called from an upper balcony. Kodachi glanced up and found herself staring into the pale eyes of the shops owner. Kodachi again had the sense that time had stopped around the stores owner, leaving what there was in a sort of permanent decay. Kodachi stayed silent, the man seemed to remind her of the amazon's grandmother.
"Ahh.. Rubies Hagrid, so good to see you once again. How is young Harry?" Mr. Ollivander queried as he turned his gaze on the giant of a man. Hagrid nervously clutched a small pink umbrella that Kodachi had seen him carrying around.
"Little Harry's just fine, staying at ther Weasleys don't cha know." Mr. Ollivander's lips quirked into a small smile.
"Good to hear, now I suppose that Miss Kuno has come for her wand hasn't she?"
Kodachi had to give herself a small, unnoticeable, shake as she felt long icy finger run up her spine. This wasn't someone she wanted to get on the wrong side of.
"Now then Miss Kuno, which is your wand hand?" Mr. Ollivander asked as he pulled a long tape measure out of his pocket.
:"I'm ambidextrous." She replied.
"Curious" He muttered as he began to measure her right arm. After a few measurements he let go of the tape and walked into the back of the shop. Kodachi was slightly unnerved to discover that the tape measure hadn't stopped measuring when it was released and was now measuring her on it's own. She immediately saw the benefit to using such a enchantment of her ribbons. Having them attack on their own would give her a huge advantage.
"Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss Kuno. We use unicorn horns, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizards wand. That's enough now." Mr. Ollivander lectured, directing his last comment to the tape measure that was currently measuring the distance between Kodachi's eyes. He pulled a dusty black box out and approached Kodachi with it.
"Nine and a half inches, teak and unicorn hair rather firm." He said pulling the top off the box and presenting the wand inside to her.
Kodachi reached into the box only to pull her hand back with a small grunt as the wood seemed to burn her. She glanced down at her hand and found a small red burn on her palm. Mr. Ollivander's seemed to recede into his hairline as he stared in bafflement at the burn.
"Well…. Perhaps we should stay away from unicorn hair." Mr. Ollivander hurried back into the shelves and pulled another wand out.
"Try this, mahogany and dragon heartstring, eight inches. A little bendy." Kodachi looked at the wand with a little trepidation, slowly she grabbed the wand and lifted it out of the box. She held it for a second when there was a loud cracking sound and the wood of the wand split along it length, exposing the wand core of dragon heartstring which crumbled into ash.
If it was possible Mr. Ollivanders eyebrows rose higher than before.
"Well….. Perhaps we should try phoenix feather, I haven't had this much trouble in quite a long time."
Sitting to one side Hagrid watched the proceedings in stunned silence. He'd never seen wands react the way they were with Kodachi and it took over two hours to find his. Mr. Ollivander walked back into the stacks of boxes and drew forth yet another box.
"perhaps this one, teak and phoenix feather, seven and a half inches, rather stiff." Kodachi looked dubious at the wand, she had no illusions that this wand might also meet with some trouble. With a barley audible sign she grabbed the wand only to have it shoot out of her hand and imbed itself up to the base in the nearby wall. Mr. Ollivander looked strangely disappointed and at the same time jubilant.
"My dear it appears that there can be only one reason for all this. You my dear simply must be a Hecate."
Kodachi double blinked, what did her ancestry have anything to do with this. Mr. Ollivander turned his gaze towards Hagrid.
"Hagrid, Miss Hecate will not be able to find a wand here, please do try Empusae in the rear of Knockturn alley." Hagrid stared in shock at the man.
"What! Yer want me to take a little girl like Kodachi into there?"
"Yes, you might also pick up the flesh eating slug repellent you need while your there."
Now it was Hagrid's turn to double blink. How did Mr. Ollivander know that?
"Err. Yes sir, come along Kodachi we'll get yer wand."
If Kodachi had been disappointed at the sight of Diagon Alley, Knockturn alley only reinforced her view that the wizarding world in Britain was in a state of eternal decay. The entire place reminded her of photos taken of the Warsaw ghettos, it had that same sense of hopelessness and engrained sorrow.
Kodachi dearly hopped the entire wizarding world wasn't like this, this tired and weary. Everyone she saw looked like their entire culture was stuck and unable to continue, stopped in time. She leaned closer towards Hagrid's large bulk, this wasn't a place she wanted to get lost in. They walked for an unknown time and Kodachi noted that the further they got in Knockturn alley they more respectable the place became. It was like the place discouraged people tripping down it's heart by showing them it's worst first off. Kodachi also noticed that the further they went the more nervous Hagrid got but the more relaxed she felt, Kodachi glanced around and with a start realized that more and more near-human creatures made up the crowds around them.
Finally they came to a rather elegant looking shop proudly displaying a sign bearing the name Empusae below a symbol of a crescent crown with what looked like mandragon leaves. Kodachi looked through the window and noted that the interior seemed much cleaner than Mr. Ollivanders shop had been.
"Err… I might as well grab ther slug bait while you get yer wand, Kodachi." Kodachi regarded the man, he really seemed nervous but if it was about leaving her alone or just being in this place she couldn't tell.
"All right Hagrid… I'll be waiting for you." Kodachi watched him lumber off into the depths of Knockturn alley knowing he would not abandon her.
Kodachi's first impression of the place being cleaner that Mr. Ollivander's was born out when she stepped into the shop. There was still stacks and stacks of wands in their boxes but the whole place didn't have that feeling of decay frozen in time.
"Well now I wasn't expecting a customer today." A soft woman's voice floated like on a breeze from the shops rear.
Kodachi tried to see into the back of the store in an attempt to locate the owner of the voice but couldn't see anything.
"My, my young one… what are you doing here? Not many humans cross my threshold." This time the voice sounded like it was coming from near by, in fact it sounded like it was coming from right behind her. With a little sense of trepidation Kodachi turned around only and came face to chest with the shops owner. Kodachi looked up and was instantly struck by the woman's sense of otherworldliness. She was wearing what was probably the most unusual dress Kodachi had seen, the skirt portion seemed to be composed of many, many different belts all buckled together. The top of the dress seemed to be cut just above the woman's nipples and was lined with fur. Add in the hair-do that must take three days to accomplish, the purple lips, eyes and the fact that she was currently holding a moogle plushie she was indeed a strange sight.
"I'm here for a wand." Kodachi stated as clearly as she could, Mr. Ollivander might have reminded her of Xian-pu's grandmother but this woman made Kodachi think of her own mother, she had that same sense of not being on this plane that she remembered from her early childhood. She was being added to Kodachi's list of people not to mess with, right before Kasumi Tendo.
"Hmm… Most people obtain their wands from Ollivanders, it is usual that you would need to seek me out." The woman breezed by Kodachi to pick up a long silver rope. "Still, let us see now. Which is your wand arm?"
"I'm ambidextrous Ms…" Kodachi fidgeted.
The woman laughed, a rich, dark sound. "I have been most impolite it seems. My name is Lulu, mistress of the black arts." Lulu gave Kodachi a sweeping bow showing off her massive cleavage.
"Kodachi Kuno of the line of Hecate." Kodachi introduced herself, bowing low.
One of Lulu's perfect eyebrows shifted upwards.
"A Hecate, well that explains why you could not find a suitable wand at Ollivanders. His wands are good enough for normal people but for those special children special wands are needed."
Kodachi felt like she was being insulted, some of it must have shone through her mask because Lulu blushed and then giggled.
"Take no offence child for none was intended. Merlin himself would not have found a match in Ollivanders shop. What I mean child is that your bloodline is touched by the divine, if your ancestor was the goddess Hecate herself or one of her children I do not know. The Hecate bloodline has always bred true not matter what other blood it might have been mixed with." Lulu walked into the back of the shop and came forth with a single box. "You have a great future ahead of you Kodachi Hecate, now try this nine and one half inches, willow wood with a core of Baetylic stone."
Kodachi gently picked up the offered wand, the moment her skin touched the surface of the wood she could feel a gentle humming in the wands core. The humming sensation spread up her arm and seemed to coalesce right above her heart. It was an exhilarating sensation. Kodachi allowed herself a small smile, perhaps this endeavor hadn't been the mistake she first thought it was.
Authors Notes: This would up longer than I thought and Kodachi still hasn't gotten her pet. I would like to thank all the people churning out episodes of Anime Adventure for keeping me writing.
Yes I'll have more anime crossovers but don't expect any of them to have a big impact until Kodachi's second year.
Questions and comments can be directed to big_scary_guy@hotmail.com