Crystal: This may as well be the oddest fic you will ever read. The idea came to me while watching Rurouni Kenshin one day. This idea has always appealed to me, and now I am finally putting it down on paper for the world to see. It may really suck, but that's your opinion, isn't it my friend.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, but NOW I own all five books. The character Cahira Zeva Aiden is my character and is not allowed to be used. She is not based on a real person in any circumstances. Yes, this is boring, but it's important. So you can't sue me. I also do own the people who you do not recognize, so they are mine. No stealing please.
Crystal: The two paragraphs above will almost never change, just so you know you will not have to keep reading them. I would usually put below who has reviewed to this story, and answer their questions and such, but no one has yet to review. If I do happen to get one before I finish this chapter, I will add it in at the top. Alright, you had enough of me, on with the story…
~*~*~
Cahira looked around the training area, glad with her success. The room was fully ready to be a classroom. The court took up the whole room, and about ¾ of it was sand. The other ¼ was at the left end of the court, about 2 yards in width and going all the way across. Among it were three rows of ten seats, allowing only thirty to take this class. The rest of the court was still sand.
The sand bag dummies that she had sliced early were now no where to be seen, but there were beams, a fighting area, sandbag dummies, everything you would need to be a trainer. The room was Japanese styled, with the walls being almost see through to the other room. There was a large window on the north side of the room, from the outside only visible as a slit from the grounds. Right next to it was another step up area, where a small indoor pond was. There was a small waterfall running from the wall, pouring into a slit of bamboo which would turn down to let the water escape into the pond when it got too heavy.
There was also a small table there, and this is where she would congratulate her students. It was usually used for a relaxing place to have tea and rice after a fight, and she would still use it for that reason.
She had found all her old swords, much duller then the one she used now, since the one she had at the moment was one of a kind. It was called a Silver Dragon Blade. It cut very nicely, and very fast, but what gave it its name was the silver dragon carved into the left right side of the blade, which was always to be faced away from the swordsmen. The handle also was made out of many silver dragons, wrapping themselves around one another, which may look very uncomfortable to hold, but it was actually quite easy. The sword was only made for her family, considering when you look at it, it shines with a fiery glow, like their last name.
The sword had been passed down through her family, and now that…that…she was the only one left in her family line, she had to use it. It was this reason she could not return to her home. But, Cahira kept her face stern. The first thing she would teach her students was discipline, which most of them probably needed badly. She would turn these students into warriors, like herself, and finally be called a master of the sword.
Although Master Keiji already called her such, she couldn't believe it unless she trained someone herself. Master Keiji was now retired, but he used to be a great swordsman until he almost got his leg cut off in a fight. A fight to protect her, when she was little. Cahira shook her head, letting the thoughts drip away from her. She did not want to go back to any of that at the moment.
Master Keiji had also said that she was one of the most skilled swordsmen in the land, and probably one of the only. She had grown up in Japan, though her father was half Irish half Greek, and her mother was American. She had been brought up in Japan to learn the ways of the sword, and to keep safe. Cahira shook her heads once more. Anyway she went in thoughts, it always brought the reason she was in this miserable castle. Cahira hurled the pillow she was placing across the room in anger, flushed with rage.
She stood and put it back, before heading back into the wooded hallway. It had the nice sent of tea leaves and chicken ramen. Being brought up in Japan had also been the reason she had grown to like their foods, and live in their style. Her name was not Japanese, though. Her first name, Cahira, was Irish, and it meant 'warrior'. Her middle name, Zeva, was Greek and it meant 'sword'. And her last name, Aiden, came from her great great grandfather, who was Celtic, and it meant 'fire'.
Cahira stepped into a room just down the hall from the training/class room. Inside was Master Keiji, standing over a small stove. It was true, she had her own kitchen in this tower, but Master Keiji said he did not want her to turn to stone. He wanted her to keep a soul, so she would have to eat meals in the hall. The kitchen was put there for tea, rice, and ramen. There was a circular table in the middle of the kitchen, only about a foot off of the floor. Around it was about 6 cushions for sitting.
There were beautiful red and white roses filling vases around the room, and many cabinets filled with tea cups, bowls, ramen, rice, tea, teapots, and many other things. There was a sink, stove as mentioned earlier, a fridge, and drawers. There was one trashcan hidden beneath the sink, which was shown because Master Keiji was using it while he cooked.
"Dinner will be ready in a half a hour, Lady Cahira" Master Keiji said. Cahira bowed, and left the room, going into the one on the left when she came out. Across from that room was the bathroom, sitting itself between the kitchen and guest room. The guest room was next to the training/class room.
Her room was very simple. A small table, many vases of red and white roses, and some yellow. She had a large bed, provided by the castle, which she had lowered closer to the floor. It was covered in white sheets with gold dragons sewn into them, her mother had made it. Her pillow had the same design as well, her grandmother had made this. Then she had an overhanging on the bed that was sheer white with many golden dragons sewn into it, her mother, her grandmother, and herself had made this. She had a bookshelf, and a wardrobe. She had a special closet where she kept her battle clothes, and she had many pictures of her family and places in Japan.
On the farthest wall in the room, closest to the window [where she had put blue and purple cushions along with a lamp and flower] (A/N Because you know how you can sit in them, because they have like an outset thing. It shows in the first HP movie) was a silver dragon with large amethyst blue eyes. It held it's arms out, just in the right shape so it could hold the sword.
On the dragons' feet, and in many other places around the room, were candles. She had incense burning, being held away from everything so as not to be dangerous. In fact, it was being held in a silver box hanging from the ceiling in front of the dragon.
Cahira walked up to the dragon, taking incense, and lighting one of the candles at its feet. She bowed, and stayed that way for a few minutes, before blowing on the candle and watching it flicker. Bowing once more, she stood, and walked back to the kitchen.
"Have you finished with your respects?" Master Keiji asked.
"Yes" Cahira said.
"That is good. Now sit, the rice is done" Master Keiji said. He placed a china bowl in front of her, and a pair of chopsticks. She bowed to him, and noticed he had also added some shrimp and seasoning to the rice.
"I shall poor the tea" Cahira said, standing and walking over to the stove. Pouring the hot liquid into a china pot, she put out china cups. (A/N This is only the style. Just because she used to live in Japan, doesn't mean that everything has to be Japanese. Besides, I have no clue what Japanese cups or anything like that, look like. But, I do know the cups don't have handles.) She poured the tea, and sat herself back down, just breathing in the scents.
She began to eat quietly, like always, and poured more tea for herself and Master Keiji when the time is right.
"Lady Cahira" Master Keiji said, breaking the peaceful silence. Cahira looked up. "As you know, I am leaving tonight. Tomorrow, the school arrives, but do not forget to train. Your classes do not begin till next week, for tomorrow is a Thursday, and Friday through Sunday the students have time to join your class.
"They have a lake here, so try and purify yourself when necessary. I have asked Dumbledore about a waterfall, hidden from school view, and he said he may think about it. That way, the water will be fresh, and you will not have to tolerate with the creatures in the water" Master Keiji said. Cahira bowed.
"If I may ask a question, Master, when shall you be returning?" Cahira asked.
"Around the holiday in December, maybe a few visits before then. But, try and feel it. I'm not sure when I will be here, so you must be prepared with a thought" Master Keiji said. Cahira nodded. They soon finished, and Cahira walked with Master Keiji to the castle entrance.
"Goodbye, Master Keiji" Cahira said, bowing.
"Goodbye, Cahira" Master Keiji said. He bowed, leaving onto the path, and fading into the night. Cahira walked back to the tower, entering her room. She washed up, changing into a pair of blue, satin pants with silver dragons on them. She changed into a white, sleeveless top. She slipped under the covers, letting sleep overtake her stress-filled body.
~*~*~
Cahira let herself sleep the next morning, forgetting her masters' orders. She was having a lovely dream, about someone she had met on her way to Hogwarts. His name was Calin (A/N Pronounced Call-in). She had run into him while traveling through London, and they had sat and talked for a while. She knew his name meant 'warrior' in Irish as well. His last name had sounded Celtic, too, but she couldn't remember it at the moment. He had black, spiky hair that seemed to fall over his eyes. He had what seemed to be dark indigo eyes, very much matching her own. He had a British accent, and she had learned that he grew up in London. His father was full Irish, and he had no clue of his mothers' heritage, for she had run out on him when he was young.
She had told him about her family, and about traditions. But, that was then. She had no clue when she would ever see him again.
In her dream, they had been sitting at the same café, Master Keiji chasing pigeons. Suddenly, everything had gone dark, and many shadowy figures appeared. All of them were holding bows, but had no arrows. They would fling the string, but instead of arrows, bright light would flash towards them. Calin had grabbed her hand, and they began racing through a sudden maze. She kept looking back, but nothing was following her. They stopped in the heart, and Calin opened his mouth to say something. But his voice was cut out with his scream of pain, and he fell to the floor, dead. The figures had then surrounded her, and she was left alone.
Cahira sat up strait in her bed, sweat trickling down her face. She left her bed, walking across the hall into the washroom. Running the facet, she splashed the water onto her face, and wiped it with a towel. She looked at herself in the mirror before sighing. This was a very recurring dream, and it kept getting further and further. She walked out of the washroom, and back into hers, over to her wardrobe.
She opened it up, looking through all her haoris and her traveling clothes, thinking about what to wear for the day. She would have preferred not to train, and remembered that she had not yet knew every inch of the castle. If Dumbledore had expected her to be a teacher, she would need to know this school top to bottom.
It was actually a bit un-nerving, since some of the students would be her age and some even older. She shook her head, to many stressful and nervous thoughts kept creeping into her head, but she must be strong. She quickly choose her purple haori, which was the opposite of most, because the top was purple and the bottom was white. She put her hair back into a loose ponytail, and then slipped into her black sandals.
She walked into the kitchen, pouring herself some tea. She always had a pot on the stove, so it was already for her when she wanted it. She cooked herself some rice, pouring some soy sauce on it. Eating it slowly with her chopsticks, she let the sun from the window over the stove soak her body. When she finished, she cleaned up, walking down the hall and down the tower steps.
She must have been really bored this day, because she found herself counting the steps. When she finally reached the bottom, she realized that there were 239 steps all the way up. Unlocking the door, she stepped out behind the large portrait, to come face-to-face with Professor Dumbledore.
"Mas-Master Dumbledore" Cahira said.
"Oh, please, Cahira, you may call me Professor or Albus" Dumbledore said.
"Alright-er-Albus" Cahira said. Dumbledore smiled.
"Now, Cahira, since your tower will now be a classroom, I'll be needing you to make a password for your portrait. This also means I will have to enchant your portrait" Dumbledore said.
"Oh, that's fine. The password" Cahira said, thinking. Then her birthday came into mind. "Haru kin'youbi" Cahira said. "It may be a little confusing, but it is Japanese. It means Spring Friday" Cahira said. Dumbledore nodded. He flicked his wand, and her portrait self came to life, suddenly beginning to train.
"For your first class, Cahira, meet your students in front of the portrait, because they will not yet know of the password. You must remember it, and before every class, I would check the front of the portrait, incase someone forgets the password. Now, I suspect you will want to roam the castle. Dinner is at 7:30pm, but I would be there a bit early, for the students arrive at 7:20pm and will be in the hall at 7:30pm. If you would like to be there earlier, you may. It's not very important if you arrive early, and you can arrive late if you must" Dumbledore said.
"But
Mas-er-Albus, I would never be late. Is there something I should wear?" Cahira
asked.
"Whatever you are most comfortable in" Dumbledore said, before he walked off and his robes swished out of site. Cahira smiled, before she went to memorize the castle.
~*~*~
Cahira stepped into the Great Hall, where some of the teachers were talking up at the table. They were all seated, and a few were missing. Cahira suddenly felt more jolts of nervousness, until Dumbledore found her eye. She relaxed.
"Ah, Cahira, come and join us" Dumbledore said. Cahira smiled, and walked up to the table. Both sides of Dumbledore were empty, and she knew that one of the seats were for the new DADA teacher. Dumbledore motioned to the seat beside him, and Cahira sat, right next to Professor Flitwick.
"Hello deary" Flitwick said. (A/N Do any of you readers know Flitwicks' first name?)
"Oh, hello" Cahira said. "I'm Cahira."
"I'm Professor Flitwick" Flitwick said. Cahira smiled. She looked over at Dumbledore who was talking with another teacher she had seen when she had been told she was a teacher. She looked out the large windows behind them, and then saw all the teachers returning to their seats.
"They should be arriving" Cahira muttered, and no later then she said it, had the entrance hall been filled with voices and footsteps. The door swung open, and in piled many assortments of students. Many of them looked up at her, and smiled at the man who was sitting in the DADA chair. She tried not to look at any of them, keeping her face hard and looking at the back of the room.
Many looked at her interestingly, some looking at the wall to see what had captured her attentions, but nothing was there. They just all presumed her to be crazy.
"Cahira" Dumbledore whispered. Cahira broke down her inferior, bending over to Dumbledore. "Would you prefer to be called Lady Cahira by your students, or Professor Aiden?" Dumbledore asked.
"Master Cahira" Cahira smiled, and Dumbledore followed suit. She turned back to the front, now smiling and watching the students. She no longer felt embarrassed, and the man on the other side of Dumbledore seemed nice as well.
"Hello" Cahira said to him. He smiled at her. He had brown hair, which had specks of gray filling it. He had a very worn face, but a smile on it.
"Hello, nice to meet you" the man said. Cahira smiled.
"Nice to meet you too. My name is Cahira" she said.
"You can call me Remus" the man said. Cahira nodded, and their conversation was cut off as the large doors of the Great Hall swung open once more. A woman walked in, and she walked up to the teachers table. She pulled out a stool and a hat, and then walked back down the hall. A minute later, the hall burst open again and more students piled in. They all looked extremely frightened, but walked behind the woman. As she got closer, Cahira recognized her as Minerva McGonagall. She had also been at the table when Cahira had been ordered to teach.
They arrived, and McGonagall walked up to stand behind the stool with the hat on it. Cahira couldn't see from there, but out of nowhere, the hat began to sing.
~*~*~
Earlier…
"Harry!" Cried a voice of a distressed friend. A 16 year old Harry Potter turned from piling his things into a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. He saw the head of his red headed, freckled friend, Ron. The voice he had heard had not been Ron's, so his only guess was that Hermione was with him. His friend arrived beside him, his trunk in one hand, and his crazy owl in the other.
"Shut up Pig" Ron said as he approached Harry. "Nice summer?" Ron asked his friend.
"Wasn't as bad as I expected. I passed my drivers test" Harry smiled.
"So, it's not like you'd really need it" Ron said, beginning to push his things into the compartment also.
"Actually, it could become quite handy in the future" Harry said. "By the way, where's Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I saw her just a minute ago. She was right behind me" Ron said. He scanned the crowd. "Can't catch a sight of her, but wait till you see what she's done to herself, I mean" Ron began, but was cut off by another call.
"Harry!" It was still Hermione's voice, but it didn't look like Hermione who stepped out of the large crowd smiling. No, this girl had strait hair, with her bangs hanging lightly in front of her hairs. Her hair itself reached right above her hips, and she was wearing a black plaid skirt and white turtleneck. She was also in a pair of white tights, and a pair of black shoes. Completely muggle oriented.
"Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Yep, I got it done over the summer, do you like it" Hermione asked, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. A flash of black hair went through Harry's mind. "Hello, Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry looked perplexed. Hermione snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, and he shook his head.
"Sorry" Harry said.
"Still upset about Cho, huh?" Hermione asked, as she put her things in the compartment with the help of Ron and Harry.
"No" Harry said, trying to plaster a smile on his face, but Hermione's look was stern.
"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked, sitting down in the train. Ron looked nervously, and then looked out the door.
"I think I'll go say bye to my mum now, and help Ginny bring her stuff in, yea" Ron said, stepping out of the compartment.
"You know what happened; I don't need to go over it again. You both were there" Harry said, not noticing Ron take his leave.
"Yes, but that wasn't anything final, was it?" Hermione asked.
"I guess it was" Harry said, turning to look out the window. Hermione stood from her position across from him, and sat down next to him, hair falling over her face.
"We woman are pretty hard to understand, Harry. Did she try and contact you in any way?" Hermione asked softly. Harry shook his head. "Did she say anything to you before her leave, I mean, it was her last year" Hermione said. Harry shook his head.
"I mean, I didn't mean to get that mad at her. We finally got together, and she had to bring up Cedric, again. I lost my temper, and you saw the rest" Harry mumbled.
"Harry, you have to understand that she cared severely for Cedric, and she may have even loved him. The topic is a sad yet happy one for her, and I guess she just can't find herself to move on from him. You'll just have to learn that she may need a life without you, and you may have to deal with that" Hermione said. Harry nodded.
"I guess your right" Harry said, then noticing where she was sitting, looked around the rest of the compartment. "Oi, where's Ron?" He asked, looking at Hermione.
"I don't know, he must have snuck off" Hermione said, and then she smiled. "Guess what I found out about Ron?" Hermione smiled more.
"What?" Harry asked. Hermione leaned in, whispering in his ear. Harry broke apart smiling. "Who?" He asked.
"I don't know, Ginny just told me. He has been up in his room all summer, like Percy was" Hermione said.
"I think he's starting to resemble Percy a bit TOO much" a voice said from the door. They turned and saw Ginny entering, Ron behind her. He had seemed not to have heard. Following behind him were none other then…
"Fred, George" Harry smiled. Their events last year still blazed in his mind. "I never got to thank you last year, so, thank you."
"Well, we were sort of in a hurry" George said.
"Yea, didn't want Umbridge to get to us" Fred said.
"Well, I personally hope that she chose not to nose around in our school anymore, especially after Dumbledore came back. I sure hope he found a new DADA teacher, and potions. If I at all want to be an Auror after Hogwarts, I'll sure need some nice ones" Harry sighed.
"Don't worry, he wouldn't keep Umbridge, even if it meant hiring another Mythical Creature for the job" Ginny laughed.
"Well, we better go. Harry, Hermione, always a pleasure. Bye fellow Weaslys" Fred said, and George waved as they left. Michael Corner soon walked in, setting Ron on 'big brother' mode again, but soon got comfortable as they got to know each other.
"You guys, I just found out something" Ginny said as Michael left.
"And what is that?" Hermione asked, placing the book she had been reading down. It had nearly been two hours since they left the station.
"Well, Michael told me that he heard from his friends' father, who works at the Ministry, that they have a new teacher at Hogwarts. Apparently, she was just signed on two days ago" Ginny said.
"What class do they teach?" Ron asked.
"A Defense class" Ginny said.
"So maybe they're the new DADA teacher" Harry suggested.
"No, Michael said it had more to do with physical defense, but he didn't know too many details. I guess we'll have to wait till we arrive, huh?" Ron said, and he and Harry went back to their game of Exploding Snap.
~*~*~
They all piled into a carriage as they arrived at Hogwarts finally. The rumor about the teacher had spread up and down the train, and now all the students knew. They chatted back and forth limitedly, but soon broke the tension as they stepped onto the threshold of Hogwarts. Many people were already approaching the Great Hall, and they followed the crowd in.
They stepped into the familiar hall, sitting down first so they could claim seats. Their eyes shot up to the teachers table, at first looking for the new DADA teacher. They smiled when they met the man's eyes. Remus Lupin smiled down at them, but the girl on the other side of Dumbledore caught his attention.
Their eyes carried over to her as well.
"She's our age" Hermione hissed.
"We can see that, Hermione" Ron hissed, causing several to laugh.
"But, she can't be the new teacher if she's our age" Hermione said.
"Actually, she could Hermione" Harry said.
"And how would you know?" Hermione asked.
"I got bored over the summer, so I read Hogwarts, a History and The Hogwarts Rulebook" Harry said.
"We've lost you, mate" Ron said, hitting him on the back a few times. Hermione glared at him.
"Well, it's weird how she's dressed though. She looks like she doesn't even live in England" Hermione said.
"Yea, and look at her side" Ron said.
"A sword" Harry finished.
"I'm guessing we'll learn more about her after the sorting" Hermione said, and at that very moment, Professor McGonagall walked in with a batch of first years. They all watched as they were lead to the front, and then has the hat burst into song.
