Thoughts
'Not translated dialogue '
"Translated dialogue
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Harry Potter
Chapter 4
'Idiot apprentice, wake up,' Hiko whispered at Kenshin's sleeping form. 'Well, if you're not going to wake up,' Hiko whispered again, walking out of the cabin, 'I'll just have to find a more effective method.'
Ten minutes later, Hiko walked back in with a bucket in each hand. Once he got right next to his apprentice's cot, Hiko immediately overturned the bucket in his right hand over Kenshin's head. This proved a much better way of waking up Kenshin.
'ORO!' Kenshin exclaimed, at once leaping out of bed in response to the ice-cold river water.
'Get up, idiot pupil,' Hiko told Kenshin while he threw the other bucket's contents over whatever part of Kenshin the cold water didn't get to yet.
'Ah, Ah, Ah!' Kenshin yelled in response to the scalding water. In just a few moments, the different temperatures nullified each other though Kenshin still felt the after-effects while they walked out of the shack. Glaring at Hiko, Kenshin said, 'That was unfair, Master. You could have just yelled at me.'
'I did try to tell you to wake up but as my voice was so strangely delicate this morning, I could only manage to get a whisper out,' Hiko smirked. Kenshin's look told Hiko exactly what he thought of his "delicate" voice, which served only to amuse Hiko more.
'What time is it, Master?' Kenshin asked, dropping the subject.
'I don't know exactly, before noon I think,' Hiko answered, looking into the sky. Kenshin remembered that Hiko only could tell time by the sun's and moon's positions in the sky because he did not own a clock, watch, or any kind of time-teller. 'We'd better get going now if we want to make it in time.'
'Yes, Master,' Kenshin said, suppressing a yawn. Vaguely walking toward the direction the shack was facing, Kenshin groggily set out.
'Idiot apprentice!' Hiko called out from where he still stood next to the remains of the campfire. 'I didn't send you to sell my pottery just so we would forget it!'
'Oh yeah,' Kenshin said sleepily. The effects from the water had worn off by now.
'Perhaps I should throw ice on you this time,' Hiko said. 'Just plain water won't work I see.'
'N-No, Master,' Kenshin said while he instantly sped up. Within seconds he had gotten the considerable amount of money he gained last night and was standing next to Hiko. 'That won't be necessary. Water works just fine.'
'Don't forget your letter also; your supply list is in there along with the note we're supposed to give our guide in London.'
'Okay, Master,' said Kenshin who sped into the cabin and back again without complaints, not wanting to get ice thrown at him.
'Good, we're ready, idiot apprentice,' Hiko said, when Kenshin handed him the bag of money and the letter. 'Let's go.'
For about half an hour, they walked in silence. And then, Kenshin finally noticed that there was still an extra weight on his side and stopped walking. 'Master, we still have our swords with us,' Kenshin told Hiko.
'Yes, and your point is…?' Hiko replied, also stopping.
'Umm… didn't you say that most people don't carry weapons, much less swords, around with them anymore? That it was even illegal?'
'Yes, I seem to remember saying that. What are you trying to say, idiot apprentice?'
'Umm, well won't we be a little… out of place with our swords worn in plain view?' Kenshin asked, bewildered at his master's supposed ignorance.
'I thought I taught you to not care about how other people think of you, idiot apprentice.'
'You did, Master, it was how I survived living with you,' Kenshin agreed. 'But, won't the local police try to arrest us?'
'Us?' Hiko asked. 'They'll arrest you, whose sword is clearly visible at his side while I, whose sword is concealed by this cloak, will be let free.'
'Master!' Kenshin said angrily. 'Why can't I conceal my sword with yours?'
'Can't you recognize a joke when you hear one, idiot apprentice?' Hiko said. 'In actuality, I doubt that anyone who tries to arrest us will be able to catch us.'
'Oh, ok,' Kenshin said relieved and resumed walking.
Hiko sighed in response to his apprentice's thickness and soon caught up to him,
In mere minutes, they reached the clearing described in Dumbledore's instructions, and sure enough, they found the old boot. It was hidden among twenty-or-so other old objects- though none of the other ones were boots. Kenshin could only guess that the other stuff was there for extra camouflage. Hiko looked up into the sky to try and see the sun's position.
'It looks like we have an hour until noon, give or take a few hours,' Hiko said while Kenshin mentally cursed him for not getting an accurate watch. 'Of course, if he was talking about London time, then we would either be already a day late or a day early. I'm sure he was talking about our local time though, idiot apprentice,' he added when he saw Kenshin's very frustrated face.
'Well, what should we do now, Master?' Kenshin said through grinding teeth; his patience with his master's jokes was wearing thin.
'I guess we should touch the boot and wait until we've been transported to London,' Hiko said, thinking. 'If it hasn't whisked us away by the afternoon then we'll just try tomorrow. Maybe my calendar is a little inaccurate.'
Kenshin -who had already picked up the boot and had not listened to anything Hiko had said about his calendar maybe being inaccurate- called, 'Hurry up, Master, or we'll be late.'
'Always so impatient,' Hiko muttered as he too walked over and grabbed one side of the shoe.
Standing there holding a mangy old boot, the apprentice was feeling a little bit awkward. After a half-hour, Kenshin could not stand the silence anymore.
'So, uh, Master,' Kenshin said.
'What is it, idiot apprentice?' said Hiko.
'I was just wondering,' Kenshin began, 'about who taught you.'
'Well, when I was about as tall as you –maybe 4, 5 years old- I had a tutor who instructed me in various things such as Latin, English, Japanese, Math –' Hiko said before Kenshin interrupted.
'I meant who was your master in Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu,' Kenshin said, not wanting his Master's whole life story.
'Hiko Seijuro XII' Hiko answered. 'and of course since I was taught for more than 4 years, I had a very good grasp of the subjects.'
'Only 4 years? No, no you don't need to answer that, Master' Kenshin said hurriedly as he would rather not hear about his master's genius. Hiko obviously guessed why Kenshin interrupted him again because he smirked knowingly. 'What I really want to know is what your Master in Mitsurugi was like?'
'Hmmm…' Hiko thought. 'He was strong, very strong. And fast too. He had a very strong sense of justice. He was the one person I respected and looked up to,' Hiko reminisced.
'How did he die?' Kenshin asked, now fascinated by the man his master viewed as a role model.
Hiko didn't answer for a few minutes. 'That's not-' he didn't get any further words out.
With a sudden pull, Kenshin felt as if he were caught on a hook. He was being lifted up and pulled along at an incredible speed while the hand still on the portkey felt as if it were glued to the boot. And then, just as suddenly, he hit the ground.
Stumbling a bit, Kenshin quickly righted himself and looked at his surroundings. Though he was expecting it, the sight that greeted him astonished him. He and his master was no longer standing in a small clearing surrounded by trees. Now, they were standing on a large, secluded hill overlooking a very large city. It was late at night now, due to the time zone difference, and also…
There's someone else here, Kenshin realized as he whirled around to face the stranger. He saw him talking with his master, who was not as surprised as Kenshin was about there whereabouts and had noticed the other person's Ki the moment they arrived.
'…And who are you?' he heard his master ask the other man.
'I'm Qu-Quirrel, your son's D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts P-P-Professor,' the pale, rather nervous and twitchy young man stammered. 'D-do you have your l-letter, Mr. H-Hiko?'
Hiko took out the envelope Kenshin gave him and took out one letter. Briefly unfolding it and looking it over, he handed it to Professor Quirrel.
'O-okay, let's g-get going.' Professor Quirrel said in his strange stuttering speech. 'And th-this must b-be Mr. Him-Hi-Himura?' he said, finally noticing Kenshin standing behind Hiko, this time stuttering from stumbling over Kenshin's foreign name.
'HEE-mu-ra, sir' Kenshin said, informing his professor how to pronounce his name correctly.
'Yes, of c-course,' Quirrel muttered. 'Well w-we better b-be going.'
Professor Quirrel set off toward the city, which Kenshin assumed was London. As Kenshin and Hiko followed him, they saw that even though it was late, there were still many people out walking around. And also, Kenshin found that the three of them drew many, many curious stares. Quirrel was wearing a strange bright purple suit with a matching purple turban on his head, completely covering the back of his head. Hiko, of course, was a seven-foot tall Asian man with a huge white cloak on. Kenshin had a blue training gi on and puffy white pants. What's more is that Kenshin, in plain view, had a Japanese Katana stuffed through the sash around his waist. The three of them together made a very strange sight indeed. Professor Quirrel was oblivious to the stares; Hiko was too preoccupied to notice; however, Kenshin was very uncomfortable.
'I told you we would look out of place, Master,' Kenshin hissed at Hiko.
However, Hiko seemed too deep in thought to reply. Kenshin soon realized that something was bothering him when he didn't throw back a retort. Right when Kenshin was about to ask his master what was the matter, Hiko began to slow down.
When they were around 15 feet behind Professor Quirrel, Hiko whispered at his apprentice 'Something is wrong with that Quirrel person, Kenshin. I want you to keep an eye on him.'
Kenshin was so surprised at being addressed as Kenshin by Hiko that it took him a minute to reply. 'What do you mean by that, Master?'
'I'm not sure, that's what is bothering me,' Hiko said. 'Something about his Ki is strange, but I can't figure out what.'
Kenshin could not sense anything wrong with Professor Quirrel's Ki. 'So you want me to keep watch him?' Kenshin asked dumbfounded.
'Yes, just make sure he doesn't try to kill anyone.'
Now Kenshin was really confused. 'How do you know he's going to try to kill someone, Master?'
'It's strange. You should be able to feel it if you try hard enough. It's hidden, a very malicious intent.'
Trying to dig deeper into Quirrel's Ki, Kenshin finally found what Hiko was talking about. Something was very strange with it. 'It's as if he has a dominant Ki and a dormant Ki!' he exclaimed.
'Yes, but that shouldn't be possible. No one should have two separate Ki signatures. That is why I want you to investigate this.' Hiko told Kenshin.
'You mean, you want me to spy on a professor?' Kenshin asked disbelievingly.
'Not necessary-'
'H-Hey, w-we're here!' Professor Quirrel half-stuttered half-yelled back at them, stopping in front of a small, kind of shabby pub.
'We'll finish this discussion later,' said Hiko as he quickly sped up to catch up to Professor Quirrel.
When Kenshin was right in front of the small inn, he asked, 'What exactly is "here", Professor?'
'This is th-the Leaky C-Cauldron, H-Himura. The entrance to Diagon Alley.'
'Where is it?' Hiko said, looking from side to side, not noticing the pub right in front of his eyes.
'Oh y-yes, I f-forgot you were a m-m-muggle, Mr. Hiko,' Professor said with a faintly disdainful tone. 'You will h-have to lead M-Mr. Hiko inside, H-Himura,' with that said, Professor Quirrel went inside the Leaky Cauldron.
'This way, Master,' Kenshin said bemusedly as he steered his master, not understanding how Hiko could not see the tiny, but obvious, building.
'I guess I was unable to see the building since I am not a wizard,' Hiko said when they entered the dark room.
'Oh,' Kenshin said absentmindedly, looking around at the curious occupants.
'Keep up, idiot apprentice!' Hiko called, having already spotted and followed Quirrel's disappearing figure.
'Yes, Master!' Kenshin said, running up to him. He followed Hiko and Professor Quirrel into a small, unremarkable courtyard with nothing but a trash can in it. Upon arriving, he saw Professor Quirrel apparently counting the bricks on the stretch of wall above the trash can with a sturdy twig.
'Th-Three up…t-two across, I th-think it was,' Professor Quirrel muttered to himself, touching the brick he ended on three times with his twig.
Just as Kenshin was wondering about Professor Quirrel's sanity, the brick wriggled-it actually wriggled! A hole was appearing in front of Kenshin wide eyes. Soon the hole was wide enough for even his Master to step through with plenty of headspace.
'Th-This is D-Diagon Alley, where y-you can get all of y-your schoolbooks, H-Himura,' Professor Quirrel stuttered. 'And now, if y-you two will excuse me, I m-must be g-going,' and Professor Quirrel turned around and went back into the Leaky Cauldron.
'Ororororo…' Kenshin said softly in awe.
'Well stop standing there staring and get in, idiot apprentice,' Hiko said, pushing Kenshin through the whole and then following him in. 'Neither of us have any idea where anything is or where we should go, but I think going to the bank first would be smart.'
Nodding more out of habit than from actually listening, Kenshin followed his after Hiko, trying to look everywhere at once. There were places selling cauldrons, owls, brooms, robes, telescopes, various animal body parts, spell books, quills, parchment, and many other things that Kenshin had never laid eyes on before. However, since it was nearly midnight by now, there weren't very many people shopping. In fact it seemed that the only people out were people who were taking stroll, not shopping.
'Ummm, Master, don't you think it's a little bit late to be shopping,' Kenshin asked Hiko who was also looking around, though without the blatant amazement Kenshin had.
'Yes, but I would bet that the bank would still be open -and with very few people there so we shouldn't have to wait in lines,' Hiko replied, still looking for anything that looked like it could be a bank. 'Ahh, that looks like it would be a bank.'
Looking at what his master had seen, Kenshin would have to agree. The white building in the distance was much larger than the other shops. It also didn't have any display windows to show off what it was selling. What it did have, though, were bronze doors with a very peculiar creature in a red and gold uniform standing next to them. If Kenshin had to guess, he would guess that the creature was a goblin or gremlin though he knew those were just in fairy tales. But magic used to only be in fairy tales too, Kenshin mused. Walking up closer to the goblin/gremlin, Kenshin saw that he was even shorter than himself and had a pointed beard.
As Kenshin and Hiko walked in, the goblin/gremlin bowed and said, 'Good evening, sirs, and welcome to Gringotts.' Then, the two were facing a pair of silver doors bearing the inscription:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
'A very heartwarming greeting,' Hiko remarked as they walked through, past another two bowing goblin/gremlins.
Kenshin nodded in agreement. Through the doors was a big marble hall with around a hundred goblin/gremlins sitting behind a long counter. Hiko looked for a goblin not busy doing something and walked to the closest one.
'Hello, we would like to exchange some money for wizard's money,' Hiko informed him.
'What kind of muggle money is it, sir?' the goblin/gremlin asked.
Kenshin and Hiko glanced at each other. 'What exactly does "muggle" mean, sir?' Kenshin asked hesitantly.
The goblin/gremlin looked at them with what was close to disbelief and then muttered, 'definitely muggle money.' The, louder, he said 'It is a term that describes mostly non-magical people and their inventions, sir.'
'Then, it is Japanese muggle money: yen.'
'Very well, may I see the amount to be exchanged sir?' asked the goblin/gremlin with an out-stretched hand.
Hiko grabbed the bag from somewhere in his mantle and handed it to him.
'Thank you, sir. This will only take a moment,' said the goblin/gremlin, counting the many coins and bills in the bag.
'It is surprising that people would pay so much for your pottery,' Kenshin muttered to his master, watching the goblin/gremlin count the money.
'How is it surprising, idiot apprentice?' Hiko muttered back, also watching. 'I told you that my considerable skills were not limited to swords.'
'Mm-hmm,' Kenshin hummed disbelievingly.
Waiting for a few more minutes, the goblin/gremlin finally finished counting. He then jumped off of something- probably a tall chair or stool- and disappeared underneath the counter, apparently looking for something. He reappeared with a small roll of parchment and a quill in his hand. He wrote something on it- without dipping it in ink first, Kenshin noticed- and then called out, 'Griphook!'
Another goblin/gremlin walked over to the part of the counter the goblin/gremlin serving Hiko and Kenshin. The first goblin gave Griphook the parchment and instructed him, 'Take these gentlemen to the foreign exchange vault and give them the amount I have written.'
'Yes, sir,' Griphook said. 'Follow me sirs,' he said to Kenshin and Hiko.
He led them to a door leading out of the hall and into a small stone passageway. It took Kenshin a couple of seconds to adjust to the dim torchlight light after walking out of the bright, marble hall. Griphook led them downwards until they reached reached small railroad tracks. Griphook whistled and a small cart came speeding toward them.
'In we go, sirs,' Griphook told them as he climbed in. Kenshin climbed in without difficulty, but Hiko had to suffer a little discomfort considering his size. When they were all comfortably- or as comfortable as they could be in Hiko's case- inside the cart, they sped off into a maze of tunnels. The ride wasn't very long and before Kenshin knew it, they had stopped. In front of them was a small door in the wall. Griphook climbed out first with a lantern in one hand and a key in the other and then walked over to the door. He unlocked it while he explained 'the personal vaults are down below, but since this one doesn't belong to one specific family or customer, it doesn't get the same security.'
Kenshin understood their thinking, but he wondered if the vault should be down deeper when he saw what was inside. There were small mountains of gold, silver, and bronze coins inside the vast vault.
'Oro,' he said in amazement.
'The bronze ones are Knuts- they're worth the least-, the silver ones are Sickles- one's worth twenty-nine Knuts-, and the gold ones are Galleons- worth seventeen sickles,' Grihook explained, counting coins unbelievably fast and putting them in a small, leather bag. He soon filled one and took out another bag that looked exactly like the first and started filling that one too. When he was halfway through the fifth bag, a few minutes later, he stood up and tied it. '1568 Galleons, 7 Sickles and 17 Knuts in all, a very large amount. I exchanged a few Galleons for Sickles and Knuts so you'd have a more even amount, sir,' Griphook said, handing them the five bags.
'Thank you,' said Hiko as Kenshin just stared incredulously at the bulging bag of gold he had.
They rode a cart back and Kenshin recovered enough from his astonishment to say 'thank you' to Griphook. Soon they were once again standing in the cool night air, and it was probably past midnight by then. Kenshin realized how tired he was for only being up for a few hours. 'Master, where will we stay for the night?' Kenshin asked sleepily.
'Tired already, idiot apprentice?' Hiko asked. 'It's understandable. I think the Leaky Cauldron doubles as an inn; we can get a room from there.'
'Th-Thank you, Master' Kenshin said, stifling a yawn.
Kenshin was barely awake through the walk back to the Leaky Cauldron; he was so tired. When they got into the room Hiko rented, Kenshin literally collapsed on the bed. He only had one thought before he surrendered to unconsciousness. If today was this exciting, I wonder what tomorrow has in store.
Author's note: I don't know why but what I was planning to say about Ki wasn't said. What I wanted to add was that Ki shows someone's emotions if he or she doesn't hide his Ki so, since Hiko could sense Kenshin's Ki, he could predict when he was going to move and where.
