DISCLAIMER: This is getting tiresome…it should be obvious by know who or what is owned by whom. And yes-Dragon Lady Supreme (also known as Aya) is now officially my co-author. She does a mean butt-kicking when I deserve it. T.T
No warnings. No word watch. I'm freeeeeeeee!
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Chapter 20: That Night...
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It took a while for Tatsumi to make it to Hogwarts. Useless meetings had held him up at Annwn. He hadn't made any progress with regards to the red tape. The European shinigami's didn't trust the Eastern branch. Had in fact accused them of helping the renegade wizard Reed from escaping their clutches. Never mind if the JuOh Cho had nothing to do about it. Yes... Reed did travel in Asia, but Reed didn't die... Well not in the normal conventional way. Reed simply just... vanished. Even the Count was at lost to explain it, and he usually remembered all the candles in his hall.
The Olden Gods could not be found; appearing only on All Hallow's Eve, for their Hunt and then disappearing; leaving their servants to keep order. Calling them usually meant someone was about to become part of the Hunt...as prey. So it was understandable that everyone was reticent at meeting them. As well as loathing to report anything was wrong.
Well, it won't be long before the Olden Gods and Goddesses wake from their slumber long before the Great Hunt, considering the current mess. And to say that they won't be pleased would be putting it very mildly.
Maybe it was because mortals in the West do not believe in Gods and Goddesses anymore...?
Maybe it was because they had cease believing at all...?
Whatever the reason... the Old Ones no longer rouse themselves except to hunt the souls that wander during All Hallow's Eve when the boundaries where weakest.
He hurried up to the teacher's entrance that led to the banquet hall, his robe slung carelessly on one arm, his chi carefully subdued so no one would be the wiser... Especially the ghosts who might scatter after finding out that Death was in their midst, never mind if they were not the one's he was intent on collecting.
Let the arawns squabble among themselves. He will do what he was sent too. The restoration of the Commandments took precedence over jurisdiction and areas of responsibility.
I hope Tsuzuki and the others won't make such a mess while I'm gone...
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"Achoo!"
Tsuzuki wriggled his nose and sniffled. "Someone is probably thinking of me," he said brightly, running a hand through messy black hair.
"Right," was the grumpy reply of his morose companion. "Could you be any nosier than that?"
"Ne, 'Soka...why do you think Touda ran off on me?"
"Probably had enough of you."
"Don't be mean."
"Stop whining and let's follow that woman!" Hisoka snapped, trying to keep his voice down. He'd seen the professor leave with some old scrolls from the restricted area of the museum.
"Hey wait a minute...didn't someone else collect and process her already...?"
A resigned sigh from his smaller companion.
"When will you ever start reading the reports, you idiot..."
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"We refused to be sorted into the Houses," Zshar declared proudly after the first years were done sorted and it was their turn. "I belong to the House of the Great Firebird. I was named for it! I will not mingle with the Houses of the Badger, the Raven, the Snake or the Griffin!"
"Fine," Snape waved his hand dismissively. "The grounds near the Forbidden Forest are free for you. Make yourself comfortable there."
"But," Dumbledore hastened to add, a benevolent smile and twinkle in his eyes as he addressed her mildly. "I trust, my dear, you will stay away from the Forbidden Forest unless supervised by one of the teachers...?"
The Heirs were grumpily silent. Some students giggled. The ghosts floated around minding their own business. Peeves for once was not being his usual annoying poltergeist self. Most likely decided, after seeing the initial meeting of the newcomers, that anyone of them could blast him to kingdom come if he annoys them.
Yusuke broke the silence by stepping forward and rubbing his hands eagerly," I don't see what the big deal is...I put on funny hat, hat tells me where I stay, sleep and eat right? No biggie."
"The hat is NOT funny," the hat said grumpily at him, eliciting a few chuckles from the hall and a few ghosts.
"Old then...?" Yusuke offered just before putting it on his head.
"Bah, you're Gryffindor," it said. Mildly bit irked at Yusuke.
Gryffindor's table erupted into applause. They'd seen how he fought on the train.
"Say Harry," Ron nudged him by his side. "I think he'd make a great Beater... You should see him when we got attacked on the train."
Harry turned to Ron, "Speaking of which...When will you tell me what happened?"
"Tonight?"
The short dark haired boy with a fearsome look was in Ravenclaw. The tall goofy-carrot top was in Gryffindor. And the handsome red head-Slytherin. Much to Hermione and Ginny's dismay.
Harry and Ron harrumphed.
"I never trusted him," Ron said smugly. "Told you he'd be Slytherin." He nodded wisely, secure in his knowledge.
Ginny turned to him and rolled her eyes, "You don't trust anyone better looking than you."
"Hey!"
"Look Ginny..." Harry thought he'd butt in before it turned into a full blown sibling argument. That and the fact that Ginny found the newcomer good looking weren't sitting well on him. "I think the hat knows something we don't since he was placed in Slytherin..."
"Not all Slytherin people are bad," Hermione said.
"Oh yeah?" Ron and Harry said together.
"How do you know?" Ron shot back.
"I dated one last year," Ginny said matter of factly.
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"Slytherin!"
Miriya placed the hat down and glanced to where Harry and the others were looking at her in shock. She waved at them and sat down as far away as that red head as she could. She didn't like the way he was looking at her.
Wonderful. First the Heirs treating me as Pucha...now that...that...insufferable...arrrghhh!
The mere thought of what she'd almost let him do that night filled her with anger.
Draco couldn't hide a grin when he learned that Harry's new friend was with them. He'll have her on his side soon enough. He ignored the sudden tightening grip on his arm by Pansy. This new girl with her dark eyes and hair was easily one of the best looking girls in the school. He turned his gaze to the Egyptian and Russian girls.
All beautiful. All powerful. Noble blood. Pure-blood. Perfect
If he could turn them to his side...
"Ow...Pansy!...You're cutting of the circulation!" He snapped at Parkinson who muttered something and frowned.
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Raul was next. He was in Ravenclaw. Ashlar...surprisingly enough, was in Hufflepuff. There were muffled titters and surprised gasps. His size was still intimidating after all never mind if the hat placed him at Hufflepuff. And the scene of him breaking up the ground with his fist sort of stuck in everyone's mind.
Miriya felt a twisting stabbing feeling in her heart when she realized... the 7 Houses would not be complete this time. The Heir of the Dragon Clan was not here...
No! He is not dead! I would know it if he was!
"Slytherin!"
The tallest of the newcomers made their way on their table, giving the red head a flirtatious smile. Miriya wasn't sure if she should like this one or be wary. This girl, Aya, smelled of dried old blood for some reason. And glancing at the red head, he smelled it too.
She groaned inside when Nefertiti and Zshar were placed in Slytherin too. It was something she expected as much. Salazar Slytherin had this thing for purebloods...particularly proud ones. No way would he let those two go to some other House. She was neither...so it must be...
No...Best not to think about Her.
Yukito was Slytherin too.
Of course... Yue... makes sense. That, and Yue vowed to stay with her. A promise long made. She didn't hold him to that promise he made long ago with Reed. But Yue being Yue...and Yukito being ...Yukito...
She missed Cray...missed him so much.
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Dumbledore stood up, quite please at how things turned out despite the snags.
"Welcome everyone to Hogwarts. Hogwarts also welcomes the members of the 7 Houses...yes Nefertiti...7...no not 6...7...no I am not a senile old man," he said bemusedly despite the girl's annoyed telepathy, which earned puzzled looks at some of the students who didn't know any better. "Yes dear I can count... now Mr. Filch here as a lists of banned objects which will be posted in the prominent areas for your perusal. The Forbidden Forests are still forbidden after dark. All students are required to stay indoors, and report if they have any plans to go outside for safety reasons. Oh dear...before I continue with the matters at hand...dinner has been delayed long enough isn't it? Very well then, tuck in."
A clap of his hands and the banquet magically appeared on the tables which the students eagerly devoured.
Neville turned to Harry in between bites, "So what's the deal with these Houses thing? And why weren't you on the train?"
"Yeah Harry," another Gryffindor chimed in. "Who's the girl and why are you with her?"
"Cho didn't look too pleased," someone observed, "when she saw you with her..."
Harry squirmed. Cho Chang was still a touchy subject for him. He could feel Hermione's and Ginny's eyes bore down on him at the mention of her name.
"It's nothing... Her name is Miriya..." he mumbled, taking a big mouthful of the steak in front of him. "She's nice. Yukito too, so I don't know why they were placed at Slytherin."
"Yup," Ron piped up. "We stayed at their place. Boy, was that place HUGE!"
…And he launched into very detailed descriptions of the manor and what it was like staying there leaving Harry to eat in peace. Harry watched how Ron seemed more... confident? What did happen at that train ride...?
He half-listened to Hermione explaining to someone else what the Houses were and their significance. After all they were probably going to take it up in their classes...Crap...
Classes... Their OWLS...
He hadn't peeked into his results yet when he got it...too afraid to want to know his grades. He hadn't exactly finished it when he took the tests. He'd consider opening it in the car on the way to Hogwarts and Miriya had bugged him about it but he found other reasons not to. Now...he had no choice but to look at it...
Tonight...just before bed...I'll look at it. No sense spoiling dinner.
He noticed how someone he hadn't seen before stand at the side of the teacher's place just putting on his robes and then taking his place with one of those vacant chairs. The man was tall, with brown hair and wore glasses. He nodded at Dumbledore who smiled back and gestured him towards an empty chair.
New teacher for the DADA?
It was the only vacancy anyway. He actually felt sorry for the man. The position for the DADA was cursed as far as anyone knows. No teacher ever lasted to the 2nd year teaching DADA. They either die, go insane, missing, or turn furry. Harry smirked at himself. Well at least it's another year that Snape got denied the position he so coveted.
Dinner was done. The house elves took care of everything. Dumbledore stood up again. His manner this time was different and the hall was quiet save for him speaking.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. As you are all aware... The Dark Lord is back." Gasps from some of the students. Allowing the student's surprise to quell once more, the wise wizard continued. "But do not despair. As long as you stay within Hogwarts, and adhere to the rules, you will be safe. There are several security measures taken by the Hogwarts staff and faculty to ensure you are away from harm. You are all perhaps wondering what happened on the way here. "
Murmurs of agreement.
"We apologize for not being adequately prepared for that..."
Harry broke his attention off as he saw a lithe figure ascend to the table and take her place on one of the last 2 empty chairs-his eyes widening in surprise.
"It is something your teachers will explain to you later in class and we are immensely glad that you all have survived it and fought well. It is because of that, that we have Hope, knowing that the Dark Lord and his kind will not prevail over us."
This time there was an undercurrent of unease at his words as people were either sure of which side they were on in the fight, straddling both fences or not sure which side to pick.
Dumbledore continued nevertheless.
"These are interesting times we lived in and as such, us magic users must learn from each other and learn cooperation and fellowship to best protect ourselves. The 7 Houses of Men, 4 of which built our noble school, are all that is left of the 12 Houses of Men. The Heirs are here to show us the forgotten ways of how magic used to be use. And though not all Heirs are family by Blood...they are family by their magical lines that they were descended from," he turned to Nefertiti. "And that is why I say 7 Houses and not 6 by your count."
Raul snickered. He was Heir simply because he had the magic of the Family that found and raised him. The tribal elders weren't very happy of course that a foundling was Heir but they had no choice. And it pleased him to annoy Nefertiti who called him pucha. The late Dragon Clan's girlfriend didn't count as one of the Houses but at least that one had magic-and from the looks of it when they dueled outside-could hold her own against them. Maybe that's why the Dragon Heir was so taken to her. He'd befriend Miriya just to annoy the other Heirs.
"Before we call this a night, and you all can rightfully rest for tomorrow's classes, I will introduce to you 3 new teachers."
Three!
Harry looked back at the table at the smiling woman seated there who was looking at him benevolently.
"May I introduce the new teacher for the History of Magic- a fine gentleman from Japan. Mr. Tat-"
"Aaaaahhhh! Tatsumi-sannnn!"
Everyone turned to Kazuma who was gaping at the new teacher. Tatsumi winced.
"Nooooo..." Kazuma slumped back into his seats. "Just our luck... He's tough, tough I tell you..."
The students look frightened. The previous teacher-albeit a ghost-was understandably boring but at least wasn't tough on them. The new one could be a headache.
Dumbledore laughed, "I see...well his name is Tatsumi Seiichiro and considering the reaction of his charge...we don't have to worry about favoritism among students eh?"
Yusuke grimaced and muttered to no one in particular, "Trust me, you don't want to be his favorite." He was remembering their crash course on western magic.
Tatsumi glared at Kuwabara. The boy visibly wilted.
"As for the new Defense of the Dark Arts...we have here the lovely Mizuki Kaho..."
"Noooo..!" it was Harry and Ron's turn to embarrass themselves.
"Errr..." Ron looked around sheepishly and sank under the seats, red as a tomato.
Mizuki just smiled at them.
"She will be teaching in tandem with Professor Snape..."
"WHAT!"
Hermione and Ron had to tug Harry back down his seat. Snape smirked at Harry. Hermione whispered to Harry, "Look, you keep saying they pack some pretty mean magic. Maybe Ms. Kaho will break that DADA curse."
"I hope so," Harry muttered. He liked Mizuki. Her kind smiles and the way she treated him-much like the way she treated Miriya...and the way Miriya looked at him... It was almost like being part of a family-no…that wasn't right…it felt like they were HIS family...Of course he had nothing against Mrs. Weasely, but she had several kids already and even though she treated him like one of her own it was still difficult for him to see or feel like she was his mom. Aunt rather…but with Mizuki...
"Oh dear...", Dumbledore looked around interrupting Harry's thoughts. "Our new Potions teacher seem to be..."
The door at the end burst open and a frazzled looking young man, his clothes wet and sticking to him, stumbled in.
"Sorry, I got held up... Damn chess game... Then freak thunderstorm," Touya made his way to the teacher's table, oblivious to the stares, wringing the edges of his clothes dry.
Ron groaned to Harry, "I hope he's not going to take it out on me what my brothers did to him a few days ago."
Hermione grinned," I don't think he's the type to hold grudges... I think."
Ron whimpered.
"Yes...this is Touya Kinimoto-also from Japan. If you noticed...we have some Asian teachers who will be teaching us how things are done in the East. We hope you will learn what they will teach you and use what you learned wisely. And now dear students, newcomers and teachers alike-the day is done. Let's all rest for tomorrow. Prefects already have the passwords for your respective apartments so please follow them and try not to get lost. Oh yes... Filch says that the East Wing of the castle is forbidden. Toodles everyone! And have a good night's sleep."
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Yusuke came up to Ron and Hermione as they were herding the first years in line. "So, where do we go?" he asked brightly.
Kazuma swatted a ghost that went through him, making a face as the feeling was akin to going through a cold flimsy web that sunk to your bones. Harry laughed as he saw the expression.
"Yeah...I hate it when they do that," he offered his hand." My name is Harry. Welcome to Gryffindor."
Kazuma shook it, "Ewwww...they do that often?"
"Usually to annoy you."
"Nobody collects them or something?"
Yusuke stomped on Kuwabara's foot.
"OW! Yusuke!"
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Miriya looked around for Harry. She wanted to bid him good night first before joining the rest of the Slytherin. She found him laughing with the 2 boys-both the Slytherin red head's companion. Now was not yet the time to tell Harry about that night. But if those 2 told him first-she was fine with that too.
"Harry..."
"Miriya," he excused himself from the group.
"Hey... you doing okay?" she asked him. He'd seen his look when she went to Slytherin.
"Yes, and you are...? " he looked worried at her. "You're in Slytherin...I'd wanted you to be in Gryffindor."
"Slytherin isn't a bad House. It's the people in it that gave it a bad name."
"You could have chosen Gryffindor," he chided her.
"I know, but I was curious where I would be place if I don't choose. Look, its okay uni," she smiled at him.
He patted her head, " Well fine...but I still don't like Malfoy."
"She'll be okay," Yukito said, smiling.
"Night uni-chan..."
"Good night sister...and if Draco bugs you tell me so I'll smack him for it," he added the last phrase in a whisper.
"I think I can take care of that when that happens," she laughed.
"Yeah but I'd still like to do it myself," he stuck his tongue out at her playfully.
"Hiirigazawa...what are you doing with a Gryffindor?" a snotty voice said.
"Saying goodnight to my brother, Mr. Malfoy. Oh, gotta go uni...Prefect might get impatient."
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Hiei and Raul eyed each other warily as they made their way to the Ravenclaw tower. Both weren't so sure how to address the other. Both aware that both had great power. Both tried not to seriously tripped on the treacherous staircase because that would make them look stupid. Not the image they were trying to project to each other.
On the Hufflepuff area, Botan had managed to strike up with a conversation with the big guy Ashlar who was trying to squeeze in through portrait hole which was their entrance."
"Erhm...try going in head first...?" Botan offered helpfully after pulling Ashlar unstuck from the hole where they'd held up the line.
"We could always use some sort of lube," someone snerked.
Meanwhile on the Slytherin Tower...
"Shinimori...that's the boys' area!" Pansy looked scandalized as Aya tried to make her way to the boys' area.
"Aw phish...like you didn't want to go there yourself and take a peek."
There were scandalized murmurs at what they considered inappropriate behavior for ladies. Aya ignored them and found her bed. A twitch on the magical lines made her turn around. Zshar and Nefertiti were busy weaving protection spells on their beds and stuff. She felt eyes on her and turned to the girl Miriya who was looking at her amused from her bed beside hers.
"Don't look like that Aya..." she smiled. "Any bets you'd be doing that too?"
"Heh…Like you won't?"
Miriya shrugged, "We're a paranoid lot."
"You got that right," her fingers danced on the bed posts, drawing magical symbols for her spells, however of a slightly different manner than the others. The other two, Zshar and Nefertiti, held the spells from their native lands, but Aya held that from a different branch of well known magic.
One by one Hogwarts, her teachers, and her students settled in for the night. Tonight, there would at least be peace.
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TBC
KoHi: I think the next chapter will take awhile…that would be the first day of classes in Hogwarts. No, it's not writer's block It's audits. The schedule has been released for this year. Which means…I gotta get cracking for it if I don't want to be assessed as a slacker. I'll try to finish all the preparations as fast as I can so that I can get Chapter 21 out. It's bouncing around in my head so writing it should be easy. (crosses her fingers) Wish me luck, minna-san! I want to win this year's audit too like last time.
Dragon Lady: Cool…let's get cracking! (cracks her knuckles and chuckles evilly)
KoHi: Ow…. --;;; Mommy….
