Matou Shinji and the Price of Victory

A Harry Potter / Fate Stay Night Story

Disclaimer: Though I wish it were otherwise, I do not own or in any way, shape or form hold a legal or moral claim to elements of either the Nasuverse, the Potterverse, or other works I may reference in the course of this story.

Summary: It is a dark time for Matou Shinji. Though his performance at the Wizarding Schools Potions Championship was certainly impressive, his achievement was not without cost, as his actions in publicly using the Killing Curse, acting as a spy for Durmstrang, and otherwise defying British Law have finally caught up with him. On the cusp of being outmaneuvered by the authorities, the lone rebel bargains for a last-minute reprieve, gambling his life and freedom on hope of singlehandedly facing down the forces of an invading army. Yet, in the coming conflict, the boy who calls himself Matou Shinji will soon learn that the line between friend and foe very easily blurs, and that even victory carries a hefty price.


Chapter 4. An Offer You Cannot Refuse

When the boy who once called himself Matou Shinji woke up, he found himself looking up at a ceiling that was for once, all too familiar. At least he thought it seemed familiar, as did the walls, the floor and…

'Hey, wait a minute…I'm in my own bed!'

The shock of this was quite sobering, as it meant that whoever had found him had been friendly, though instead of taking him to see Sokaris, he'd been brought instead to his manor in London. To his private apartments, even, meaning they had access to them. And then they'd…uh…the boy blinked, noting his current state of dress. Or undress at it were, as other than the sheets covering him, there was nothing between his body and the cruel, cold world, not even rags.

'So…someone – probably not Luna, since I don't think she's back from…whatever she's doing – undressed me and b-bathed me?'

The thought of being that vulnerable around anyone who wasn't Luna was exquisitely uncomfortable, since in his unconscious state, anything could have happened to him. Anything at all. Maybe even something worse than dying, though at least he hadn't ended up as a brain in a jar, or divested of the gem that had replaced his spiritual core, so that…well, it wasn't nothing.

Just in case though, he tried to call upon his inner fire, wanting to confirm that he wasn't stuck in the land of the dead, frowning as he found his prana sluggish, like a serpent whose inner furnace had gone cold overnight, and had not yet had time to warm up in the sun.

Still, he could at least feel that it was there, which was more than he'd expected after his conversation with Death. It had been his second time coming face to face with an embodied concept (or perhaps his first, given that he wasn't the same Matou Shinji as the one who'd spoken with Gaia, but how much of 'Shinji's' experiences were truly his was a question for later…), and being in that place, standing before the one who was the end of all things had been utterly terrifying, not just because of who Death was, but because of how powerless he had been.

'I couldn't even fight him if I wanted to – I had no power in his domain. I existed – was able to think and speak and choose because Death allowed it.'

Because he had been, in Death's words, "A CURIOSITY."

A particularly unusual insect, perhaps, with Death being something like one of those schoolboys who was assigned to collect a number of specimens over the summer for homework? The boy shivered, and not just from the incongruity of picturing the Grim Reaper in a school uniform.

'He returned me to the physical world…why? Because it amused him?' No, that didn't seem right. 'Because he was curious what I would become, and where my choices would lead me?' Or had it been because, at the end of the day, Death simply hadn't cared what…the mud doll that was puppeted by the will of Matou Shinji would choose, as it was not truly a living thing, merely an amalgam of various parts that believed itself to be? 'No. Enough. I'm not going to figure out Death's motives, if something like that is even possible.'

For the moment, he needed to concentrate on the present.

As he sat up in bed, the sheets fell from him, revealing a delicate network of scale-like markings all over his body, and two great scars in the center of his palms, looking almost like someone had slashed them open.

'That's right…to return to the world of the living, I had to give up Harpe,' the boy recalled, as the blade's anti-healing properties came to mind. 'It looks like it left a mark coming out.'

Idly, he wondered if his feet also had scars from the removal of the sandals, and if so, what that would look like.

There was a word for people marked with such scars, no? Stigma? Stigmata? Stigmatics? Something like that. If he remembered correctly, they were people who had received divine favor from the Christian God, like St. Francis of Assisi.

'…somehow, I don't think the Church would be entirely accommodating if someone like me claimed to have a revelation from…the final judge of all things. Their Executors would either kill me or…' Well, actually, they – or the Templars – might recruit him too, he supposed. Not that he really wanted to work for them or get any closer to those particular factions, if at all possible. 'I just really hope Sokaris will understand my situation…'

If she didn't…well, he might as well end it now then, he supposed, since his purpose for living would be gone.

'Though would it really be suicide if I'm not really alive to begin with?' he inquired philosophically, his lips pressing together as he began to mull over whether he really had a self to kill, only to be distracted as he finally noticed that his room was glowing.

That it was illuminated by an eerie figure wreathed in a strange glow anyway...a figure who was silently

standing by an open window and looking at the world outside. The figure was obviously female, but her features were obscured by the light, so he couldn't quite recognize who it was.

It reminded him of nothing so much as the golden light that had Elesa had been cloaked in when she allowed herself to tap into the fullness of her power. This light though, wasn't that of the sun. It was...paler, like the moonlight, which was why…

"Luna?" the boy asked, the name coming unbidden to his lips, his voice still all too frail for his liking. "Is...is that you?" Had she come back? And if so, how long had he been…unconscious? He didn't really feel any of the soreness or fatigue that he knew came with oversleeping, though he acknowledged that these were abnormal circumstances, so conventional wisdom might not apply.

"I see. That is who you wish it was," came the quiet reply, with the figure turning to regard him curiously. "But I am not Miss Lovegood."

No indeed. As the figure walked from the window to his side, the boy felt a sense of warmth in his chest as the sheer sense of power radiating from her, the prana in his body quickening as he began to feel more…human again, in the face of someone who was obviously his better, though at least it was a friendly someone.

But how could he make such a determination? He'd never met—

And then she came close enough that the boy could see her face in full, and he realized he recognized her.

"...Kyrielite," he murmured. Of course…she was the one who had—that was, she had access to this place, access that he'd granted her, as she was Sokaris' right hand. "Mashu Kyrielite." He'd…never seen her like this before, so powerful, so beautiful, shining in senses other than sight like a star in all its glory, but then, he supposed that it made sense that someone who Sokaris so trusted would have been gifted incredible powers worthy of her position. "What happened?"

"After your departure, I was given clearance from the Director to deploy to the field to assist you. However, when I arrived, the battle was already over, and all that remained was..." She hesitated for a moment. "An unstable rift linking this layer of reality to the Other Side of the World. You were nowhere to be found."

"Yet you found me. Somehow."

Had she…had she gone in after him?! That…no human could survive the Other Side, right…?

"I did," Mashu confirmed. "After you were ejected from the rift."

"…ejected, you say?"

"Yes. By a silver light that pushed you through from the other side and held you aloft for long enough that I was able to retrieve you."

"...and the Ministry?" he asked. "Did...did I get them all out?"

"Hm?"

The boy briefly laid out what had happened during his conversation with the Minister, and how he had offered to hold the line to buy time for those working in the Ministry to escape.

"There was no one present in the subterranean structure in which you were found," Mashu reported solemnly. "And not enough residue to account for thousands of bodies. As such, it is likely anyone above...the level on which you were found managed to escape."

"I see."

"Has your curiosity been satisfied?"

"Yes. For now," Shinji allowed. He'd done it then – he'd saved those people. Though—

"Perhaps you might answer some questions for me then?"

"About what?" The boy asked.

"You passed through to the Other Side," Mashu prompted.

"Yes?"

"And then you returned, which should not be possible for a human."

"Yes, I know that," Shinji muttered, "but what does that…ohhh. I see...you're doing something to the room. In case what came back from the Other Side isn't Matou Shinji, but something else wearing his form."

Which was somewhat worrying, as she was right. He was indeed something else wearing Matou Shinji's form.

"You are not wrong," Mashu admitted, as the silvery radiance about her grew more potent, and the boy felt his grip on his prana slip away entirely, leaving him as helpless as he had been when he stood before Death. "This room has been shifted to another layer of reality, where you cannot access your abilities."

"How...?" And then it hit him. "...I'm in two layers at once. My power separated from my will."

The young woman nodded.

"Tell me what happened," she stated, making it very clear that this was not a request.

"Tell you…?"

"Everything."

"Everything", as it turned out, was...a very expansive term, especially after he signed a self-geis contract to answer her questions wholly and without reservation, supplying relevant information if Mashu failed to ask about it for the duration of the session.

It covered what he could remember of the isle: his fight against the Echo of the Moon, his encounter with an Outer God, his negotiations with the Americans over rights to the potions he'd developed.

It covered his relationship issues: how he had...kind of been a bit too presumptuous about his relationship with Luna, how the relationship he had with Tohsaka Rin was somewhat…complicated – a status exacerbated by experiences he'd had in the Trial of Courage, how even now it was Sokaris he placed above all others, and even if it cost him everything – even if the very world became her enemy, he would be her ally.

"…in a sense, it did cost me everything," he whispered, shaking his head. "I died on that island, facing down the merest fraction of an Outer God's power. Facing something like that, I did what was necessary to end the threat. That day, Matou Shinji ceased to exist, and I was born…" He looked down. "But I'll go back to that – there's still a lot to cover."

He told her of his conversation with Minister of Magic, and how he'd mentioned Sion to him as the Greatest Alchemist in the World, descended from the one who had taught Nicholas Flamel, and as the "sister" of Sialim Sokaris.

"Unfortunate, but not outside the bounds of expectations. Continue."

And so he did, speaking of how, to avoid facing the consequences of his actions, he'd made a rash vow to hold the line against an army alone to buy time for the employees of the Ministry to evacuate.

"You said I managed it…"

"It is likely, yes," Mashu agreed. "Tell me of the battle."

He proceeded to do so, laying out as best as he could remember how he'd fought against an entire army of mercenaries and monsters, perhaps losing a bit of his composure in the process.

Well. More than a bit.

This account was followed by the details of his encounter with Death, in which the embodied concept had revealed that he was in fact no longer Matou Shinji - that Matou Shinji had died on the island - as well as what he had given up to return to this side of the World.

"I thought I was just...that my nature had just shifted, but to learn that I'm not actually myself anymore?" he trailed off, shaking his head. "I think I did the right thing?" he asked, feeling uncertain and honestly, exhausted, since they'd been talking for hours, as he reflected on his choices. "I mean...even if Sokaris told me to do my best, but to survive, I had no choice but to take that thing down with me. "Because that is what she would have me do – because that is what she would have done in my place, though I'm sure she would have managed to do better." He sighed. "Still, whatever the reason, I'm not Matou Shinji anymore. Just an empty shell that inherited his memories."

He held up his hands, looking at the scarring on his palms, and skin ridged with a scale-like pattern.

"Death said it himself. That I'm a 'strange amalgam which is not dead because it was never truly alive,'" he repeated tonelessly. "The combination of a scrap of soul, a dragon's essence, a hero's gift, and the heart of an elemental within a vessel of mud. Well, I guess without the hero's gift now. Which is only fitting, because I'm no hero. I'm just a mud doll. A thing of dirt."

The real Matou Shinji...perhaps he had been a hero.

After all, he had done incredible things, like face the First Jinn in battle. Like fight (and cripple) the Echo of the Crimson Moon for the sake of a girl. Like sacrifice himself to stop the avatar of an Outer God.

Yes – even if that Shinji – the one whose memories he'd inherited – had failed to follow Sokaris' instructions, and had in fact died, he had still done great things.

Much unlike the golem that now wore his shape, whose would have died facing a bunch of jumped up practitioners of witchcraft if he'd actually been alive.

"...so, you're right in the end. I'm not Matou Shinji. I'm just a thing wearing his form, just like you feared," he admitted with more than a little self-loathing, after his thoughts had run themselves down. "Only I wasn't born on the Other Side, but on the island. Somehow." He shook his head. "What will you do with me, now that you know?"

"Hm?" Mashu responded.

"You know, since I'm nothing but a monster," he said, waving...vaguely at himself. "I mean, look at me. Here, in this light, I couldn't even hide what I am if I tried."

The agent of Atlas regarded him evenly, as if weighing just what he wanted – needed to hear.

"It is true that you cannot hide what you are," she said after some indeterminate amount of time. "That you are a new entity, no longer bound by any of the contracts you agreed to prior to your death – unless you chose to be," she supplied eventually. "And, so you chose."

"Eh?"

"You chose to trust me, to trust the Director – and her agents – as he did. You sought Miss Lovegood, as he did. You attempted no deception, hid nothing of your nature – much as he would have. You hold to the same words he did – that even if the world became her enemy, you would be her ally."

"...was this...was this a test?" the boy asked, blinking as some things fell into place. "To see...what I was?"

"Not to see what you were, but who you were," the agent of Atlas corrected. "For only you can choose whether or not you want to continue as Matou Shinji - to honor what he honored, to love what he loved, to carry on his dreams."

"…you already knew what I was."

"From the moment you appeared in the house after returning from the isle, I was aware of your...changed nature," she confirmed. "That the you who returned from the Other Side was not the you who left the house, this I also knew."

"W...hat?" the boy croaked, feeling like he'd been punched in the gut. "B-but ho—"

"Currently, I control the defenses of your house," she said matter of factly. "Everything that was set up by your former Master. Through them, I can sense who belongs and who does not – who is given access and who is not."

"Yes, I gave you that access, but—" Matou Shinji's words died in his mouth. "But if I'm not me…then how do I have—"

"You do not," came the response. "Rather, you did not until I granted you limited access."

"Oh." The boy went absolutely still for a moment as the ramifications of this sunk in. That he was now a guest in the very house he'd bought. "So then…I…"

"Spiritually, you are not enough like him to be recognized as the owner of this place."

"I...but then..." No, that wasn't right. No, it...but if it was...

'Shit...I had an account at Gringotts.'

Among other possessions and belongings that were technically registered to him, like his ownership in various businesses. Granted, the business bits weren't magically enforced in Japan, and he suspected that with fusion to worry about, they might be better setup to treat people who had...changed as the same individual, but with the stuff in Britain...

'...that would be...so everything I've put into the bank, I can no longer get, because they don't recognize me as me?!'

That...

"You have other concerns?"

"I...I just never really thought about how dying could...be so inconvenient," he muttered, before breaking into hysterical laughter at the ridiculousness of that sentence.

Of course, he'd never thought about the inconvenience of dying. He'd been young - arrogant – careless, and he knew that no one ever came back from death, so why would he concern himself about that unless he had to? The only time he'd had to think about death was when the Championship was looming, and they'd asked him to write up a will...

'...right. The will.'

A will that had left everything he owned in Britain to Luna Lovegood.

'…this is going to be awkward,' he realized, cradling his head in his hands. 'I'll have to tell her...won't I?' he asked himself. 'But if I do...what if she gets angry? What if she takes my words and then...' What if she took everything from him - as she could, legally? After all, none of what had owned in Britain really belonged to him anymore, because it had been Matou Shinji's...and Matou Shinji had willed that upon his death, those assets were supposed to go to Luna. 'Though I guess Britain wouldn't know quite yet, and they wouldn't unless I tell her and she tells them…'

It was tempting, very tempting, to just avoid that whole mess, but…

'…she deserves to know,' the boy resolved, knowing that it was the right thing to do. 'After everything she did for…Matou Shinji, it would be disrespectful if I didn't at least tell her what happened to him, and why I'm not…the person she loved.' Yes, he loved her still, but…it wouldn't be fair to her if she didn't have a choice whether to accept what he'd become.

The boy raised his head, but the agony of the moment writ clear across his face.

"Well...you tested me – what else did you find?" he asked out of more than idle curiosity, wanting to distract himself from his thoughts.

"That you aren't Matou Shinji," Mashu replied succinctly. "In some ways, you are like him - in others, you are not, and more to the point, you haven't entirely decided who you are. You are insecure, broken, confused...which is understandable given what you learned. You need time to figure out who you are and what you want."

"I..." the boy swallowed. "Sokaris. I want to reach her side...that's all..." That was all he - no, all Matou Shinji had ever wanted. But what did he want? "I..."

"Take this year and figure out who it is you want to be," Mashu stated, not unkindly. "I will be there to help, but only you can figure out who you are, what you want, why you are here - when the original is gone, and where you will go from here."

"And...I guess I have to figure out what...everything means for me and...everyone else."

"Yes," the Agent of Atlas said. "I will help how I can. As for the Director, she believes what will best help you are the tools to think through things – to better understand yourself."

"Tools..?"

"Thought acceleration and mind partition, both of which the Director has authorized me to teach you."

"S-she has?" the boy found his back straightening, his eyes widening. He swallowed. Those techniques…weren't they restricted to Alchemists of Atlas? "I...she...you would agree to teach these things...to me? Even though I...I am not..." Or…could it be? "Am I being accepted as an Alchemist then? W-will I be going…to Atlas?" His voice was hushed, reverent as he spoke the words, scarce able to believe them.

But Mashu shook her head.

"Not this year," she corrected. "The Director wishes for you to learn these skills first."

"…and figure out who I am, of course," he accepted, unable to hide the disappointment from his voice. "I understand, but…what will I do then?" he asked bitterly. "I can't attend Hogwarts, with what Britain has become. I could go to Beauxbatons, or Durmstrang, or to Mahoutokoro, but..."

...would he even fit in going to school?

True, wherever he went, people would respect him for being a Champion – and at Mahoutokoro, for being able to actually offer some competition to Sajyou-san, but...was that something he had the right to be proud of, really? All that he'd achieved had been due to luck – and the ingredients and knowledge that the real Shinji had acquired.

"If that is what you're concerned about, then there is someone downstairs who has an offer for you."

"Downstairs?" But...the only other person in the house was Tohsaka, right? And what could she possibly offer him? Her virginity? No…it couldn't be that, since Mashu had expressed her disapproval of that the first time around. "Who...?"

"One of your Professors," Mashu supplied, with Shinji sitting up as he tried to process this. A professor who wasn't at Hogwarts? "He was concerned about you, and came to the house to inquire as to your well-being in the wake of the battle of London, as it is being called."

"He…?"

"Gilderoy Lockhart, former professor, adventurer, and now First Citizen of Albion."


When Matou Shinji went downstairs after taking a long shower and changing into the outfit he'd obtained from the Americans, which was a sight more comfortable – and appropriate for a conversation like the one he was expecting than his birthday suit, he did indeed find Lockhart, though he also found that the man wasn't alone.

The First Citizen of Albion, whatever that was, was dressed in an outfit much like the formal robes of the Stone Cutters, was seated in the dining room, sharing a cup of tea with a spellbound Tohsaka Rin as they discussed the various exploits of Matou Shinji, be they his ingenuity in the various scenarios the man crafted for him, his valor in facing down a horde of giant spiders, or some of the more notorious stories about him from the year, involving his time at Durmstrang, the island and more.

"Yes, he has accomplished much for someone his age," the man reflected. "It is quite something to count him as one of my more promising students."

Rin of course, was no dummy and didn't miss the implication of his words.

"Then there are others just as skilled?" she asked, finding it hard to believe that there were others just as promising – or more so.

"A few, he admitted," Lockhart admitted, "though none get themselves into quite the...positions he does."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that while Matou is certainly talented enough to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, often enough, he wouldn't be facing the jaws of defeat in the first place if it wasn't for one of his prior actions," Lockhart explained. "It is well and good to be able to deal with things when your back is up against the wall, but finding one's back against the wall is unfortunately all too common with Matou. Even as skilled as he is, this is an issue, since all it takes is one time when you are not skilled enough, not fast enough, not clever enough, to fall – especially with no one to watch his back..."

"No!" Rin exclaimed, with Lockhart raising an eyebrow as the girl stood from the table and slammed her hands on it. "I mean...he's not alone," she added, her face reddening as she sat down. "I...he has me."

"Oh?" Lockhart inquired with some interest, raising an eyebrow. "If anyone, I rather thought he had Miss Lovegood," he pointed out. "You have met her, I assume?"

"Y-yes, but…he promised to walk beside me!" Rin exclaimed, bringing one hand to her chest. "To watch my back - just as I would watch his," she said, looking away.

"And have you?"

"Have I…?"

"Have you been there, to watch his back when he is in danger?" the man asked mildly. "From what you've said, you've diligently kept to your studies while he has been out there, risking his life. With all due respect, Miss Tohsaka, your actions don't seem to be those of one of his trusted comrades."

"I..."

"Or am I wrong, Mister Matou?" Lockhart asked, turning around a moment before Rin heard a sound.

She turned, only to see Mashu leading a rather frail and exhausted-looking Matou Shinji down the stairs. The sight of this, of Shinji leaning against the maid, his arm wrapped snugly around her shoulders, seeming exhausted and dazed, set off alarm bells in her mind, as her thoughts went wild, her imagination seething at what it imagined must have transpired above.

Matou was…wearing something different this time though. A rather dangerous looking garment, -something like a catsuit covered by a trenchcoat, with…was that prana leaking from it?

What kind of outfit?

'…is that whole thing some kind of Mystic Code?' she found herself wondering, struck dumb by why he needed such a thing just to come down the stairs. 'WHAT WERE THEY DOING UP THERE?!'

Even as she was gaping at the two of them and how shameless that hussy of a maid was being, Mashu helped Matou over to a chair and eased him down into it, before moving to stand behind him supportively, with Rin looking between the two, wide-eyed.

She longed to simply rush over to him, or to demand to know what was going on, but...she couldn't, not in front of a guest.

Not with Mashu watching her every move either, those eyes looking at her as if they found her wanting.

"Matou Shinji. It has been some time," Lockhart greeted, while Rin was still deciding how to react.

"Mashu said you had an offer for me, Professor?" the boy stated bluntly, not in any mood to deal with the Assassin's usual circumlocutions or lectures. "Or is it 'First Citizen' now?"

"Technically, First Citizen, though you are welcome to simply call me Mentor."

"I'll pass, thanks," Shinji grunted, shaking his head. "The offer then, First Citizen?"

"Down to business I see," the man noted. He glanced over towards Rin. " Miss Tohsaka, if we could have a bit of privacy...? As pleasant as your company has been, I'm afraid Mister Matou and I have some delicate matters to discuss."

"...do I really have to have to leave?" Rin asked, looking at Shinji plaintively. "I...I promised to walk beside you. Are you...making me go when…" She glared at Mashu. "when she doesn't have to go?"

"I...no, I'm not making you..." the boy's trailed off as he felt a treacherous stab of guilt, as her words echoed those of the Tohsaka from the Trial of Courage. "You can stay."

"...thank you."

Tohsaka beamed at his response, with a smile seemingly bright enough to light up all of Shinjuku, making the boy swallow as he remembered another moment from that Trial, remembered how she'd looked at him just before—

"So, the offer, then?" he said brusquely, trying not to think about the various…aerobic activities that had followed.

"Very well," the man acknowledged solemnly. "Matou Shinji, given what you managed at the Ministry, I would like to extend an invitation to you to join the Home Guard of Albion as one of its first squad leaders."

"Albion...?" Shinji muttered. He knew that this was an old name for Britain, but why was it coming up now?

"Ah yes, that's right - you don't know," Lockhart said pleasantly. "The short version of the story is Wizarding Britain is currently divided into two factions. One of course is controlled by and loyal to the Ministry. The other is attempting to remove Britain from the Ministry's influence, as it believes the Ministry to be an illegitimate government, which has failed to uphold the social contract in many, many ways, with the last straw being how it abandoned every citizen in Magical London to die, without even so much as attempting to save even a single person."

"These…rebels," Shinji surmised. "They call themselves Albion."

"Yes."

"With you as First Citizen," the boy grunted, shaking his head. "…I remember you once said you wouldn't mind that the Minister of Magic job. So you finally obtained the position."

"Well, the position is more like that of a Chairman of a Council of Magic, than a Minister," Lockhart corrected, with Shinji's eyebrows rising expressively. "Still, I admit there are some similarities."

"I see," the boy said, trying to fight the urge to rub his temples. So far, he was winning. So far. "Who was behind the attack, if you can say?"

"Publicly, it is believed to be Grindelwald, given that he appeared in London. However, a mutual…acquaintance of ours tells me that the one behind it was a certain...Voldemort."

"...this acquaintance wouldn't happened to be named Peverell, would it?"

"Why yes, yes, he would be," the man said easily, the corners of his lips pulling upwards. "He has been quite an asset in training the goblins for war."

"Goblins…?"

"Well, someone had to repel the army of inferi, giants, and dark wizards," Lockhart explained reasonably. "They didn't all attack the Ministry, you know."

"…I see."

"In any case, Grindelwald is dead. The wraith of Voldemort, however - that, unfortunately escaped."

"Grindelwald is...?" the boy blinked. He frowned. "How?"

Lockhart only smiled.

"No..." the boy breathed. "That..."

But the tension was broken as Tohsaka fell out of her seat, with all three people in the room turning to look at her, one with disapproval, one curiously, and one with surprise.

"W-wait, so you're like a Prime Minister or something?" she goggled, as she picked herself up, her face utterly red with embarrassment. "And you...you came to visit Matou? To give him a job?" She swallowed. "You…you told me you were one of his professors!"

"I did not lie – I was one of his professors," the Assassin said simply. "As for the position, I never asked for the title, but it seems I bear its burden, yes," he admitted. "And so, having found myself in this position after...organizing the defense of London, I find myself looking for good help."

"And you think I'm 'good help?'" the boy asked, almost scoffing. "When you already have a goblin army and Tomas?" He shook his head. "I'm just an above-average practitioner of witchcraft."

He was no diplomat, nor did he enjoy paperwork, so why did Lockhart want him around?

"Is that what you call single-handedly holding back an entire army so that nearly every employee of the Ministry could escape to safety in Hogsmeade?" Lockhart inquired sharply. "Being of little use?" His laugh had a bit of an edge to it. "Truly you are funny sometimes – and not always because you try to be."

"How do you…?"

"Well, even if Miss Kyrielite hadn't told me, it is all over the papers," the First Citizen stated. "The Hero of the Ministry, they are calling you."

Rin looked at the boy with wide, worshipful eyes, seeming awestruck by Shinji's deeds – especially when the next words out of his mouth weren't a denial.

"…they must have managed to evacuate many more than they thought they would if the newspaper is calling me a hero," the boy asked, with Lockhart inclining his head.

"Oh, they did. The log in the Department of Transport shows that much, even if the rest of the Floo system has been shut down," the man stated. "Perhaps one in thirty died? The rest are alive, thanks to you."

"I...that's great," the boy sighed, bemused by the fact that the Ministry actually was allowing the papers to portray him as being heroic. "I'm glad." He paused then, realizing that perhaps saying this in the presence of the head of the anti-Ministry faction of Britain was...not actually a wise idea. That in fact, it was probably a bad idea.

At least, it would have been, had the leader been someone other than Gilderoy Lockhart.

"I am as well, frankly," Lockhart agreed unexpectedly, with Shinji looking at the man in surprise. "Human lives are a precious thing in a country that has already suffered so much." He shook his head. "Which is why I come to you with the offer of a commission. The public currently thinks of you as a hero – even if one with monstrous powers. As such, I would like to bring you under my banner, to reassure people in the areas I control that they will be protected, even if they do not agree with me – or with Albion. That should something threaten London once more, you will be there to stop it."

"I can't do it alone," the boy replied at once. "Even holding back those people. Those giants...it almost destroyed me. I came face to face with Death, you know?" The boy swallowed, shaking his head. "Protecting an entire city, or more...? How...?"

"Well, I'm not asking you to do it alone," the Assassin noted reasonably. "As a squad leader in the Home Guard, you would command a group of individuals whose abilities would complement yours, so that hopefully the whole would be greater than the sum of its parts."

"Ah, but—"

"You have seen how a group can do much more than a single individual," Lockhart continued. "And if you are asking why I wish to recruit you when I have a goblin army, well…one can't use that army for everything."

"Is this one of those PR things?"

"Indeed," the man agreed. "They're worse at it than even you are – which is quite an achievement, I must say. And for some of the things I have in mind…they're not entirely suitable. Most of them anyway."

"I would get to choose my own squad?" Shinji inquired.

"Yes. I am happy to suggest members for you, but I will leave the final composition to you."

The boy nodded. If he didn't have that much, he wouldn't want to join, but with that concession…

"What's in it for me then?" he asked.

"Besides a very generous stipend for you and your squadmates, courtesy of the goblins?" Lockhart inquired, with a slight smile. In his experience, if someone asked about compensation, it means they were basically amenable to what he had in mind. "The chance to learn leadership in a very practical setting. Specialized training in…a number of exotic arts that I would not grant otherwise. And of course, the chance to make something of yourself, beyond any accolades you may feel you don't deserve. To learn who you truly are and become all that you can be."

The boy nearly flinched at that last line.

"When I was young, Matou, I was much like you," he added, his voice almost subdued. "Someone who was ambitious and clever, but who never quite fit in Britain. Who never thought of himself as good enough. It was why I sought validation from so many others, stirred up so much trouble. But one day, the old man who would become my mentor offered me a chance to become something more. To make something of myself," he related. "What do you think I did?"

"You took a leap of faith."

Lockhart paused, momentarily surprised by the exact turn of phrase Shinji had used, but recovered quickly.

"I did indeed. Doing that – learning what I did from that experience, it changed me. Were it not for his offer..." the man sighed. "Who knows. Perhaps I would be no more than a fraud today, taking credit for things I did not do, and floundering as I tried to convince the world around me that I knew what I was doing – that I was perfectly in control." The adventurer shook his head. "I'm making you this offer not just because you would be useful, but because I think you could use it. Because I think you find yourself in a place similar to where I was, many years ago."

"Oh," the boy said, trying to digest this piece of information. He...he had trouble believing Lockhart had ever been like that – had ever been insecure about himself or unsure of what he wanted, but...he didn't think the man was lying. "And who would you suggest for my squad, if I were to take the offer?"

"Well, Hilde of course - she would be useful for a variety of things, given her nature," the Assassin noted. "And—"

"Me!" Rin interjected, with all the others in the room turning to her in the wake of her outburst. "I mean...let me join you?" she added in a very small voice. "I...the last time you went away by yourself...when you said you might die I...I didn't know what would do. I had nightmares. Terrible nightmares. Please...let me go with you. Let me stay by your side, Matou..."

The boy looked to Lockhart, who seemed to shrug.

"As I said, I would leave the final composition of the squad to you, so the choice is yours."

"Please?" Tohsaka pleaded. "I'll...I'll do anything you want, so..."

"...I'll take the offer," the boy said, not really feeling like he had a choice, not when Mashu had implicitly endorsed the man earlier by suggesting the offer was something that could keep him busy over the next year. That, and he truly was in a bad place right now, so if the more experienced adventurer could help, he would take what he could. "And yes, you can join me, Tohsaka."

The boy was surprised to learn that it was in fact possible for someone to squee with delight, when Tohsaka essentially launched herself at him, hugging him tightly – so tightly it made his ribs hurt.

"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthan—"

Tohsaka's squeeing was interrupted by a cough, with the girl looking up to see Mashu looking at her disapprovingly. Realizing her position, the Japanese girl turned very, very red as she leapt back, almost as if burned.

Lockhart, seeing these antics, only sighed.

"Miss Tohsaka, was it?"

"Y-yes?"

"How would you like to be paid?"

"P-paid?"

"Yes, paid. Mister Matou has an account with the goblins, so we can simply do direct deposit, but what about you? We could open an account, set up a credit line for you, offer you payment in kind, or pay in something more tangible."

"More tangible?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Gold, precious jewels...Miss Tohsaka, you are drooling."

"Oh, I'm...I'll take what Matou does?" she said, flustered. "Or let him decide for me."

"Very well. Matou, if you could come to my office in Vertic Alley at your convenience, we can finalize these arrangements. Failing that, I can leave a copy of the paperwork at Gringotts, as they are running…I suppose it would be Sapient Resources for Albion."

"Not Human Resources?" Shinji asked, only to feel dumb for asking as he realized that with a goblin army, not everyone would be human.

"We have humans, yes, but they are nowhere near a majority," Lockhart replied. "In any case, once this is formalized, we can arrange to get you paid, and I can send you off on a mission, hm? For now though, I unfortunately have other business to attend to, so do think about who you might like to work with, and either owl me with any requests, or have the names of who you want to work with in mind when you visit."

"Requests? How would I..." He frowned. "I don't actually know that many people who aren't at Durmstrang."

"Well, I will show you some dossiers if you come to the office," the man quipped. "As for everyone being at Durmstrang, why don't you let me handle that, hm? I have to make some use of the goodwill I've gained from slaying Grindelwald in single combat, hm?"

"…single combat?" Rin echoed. "B-but you're a…"

"A professor? A politician?"

"Yes! How—how is someone like that?"

"You'll find, Miss Tohsaka, that people are rarely defined by a single position or title. Try to keep that in mind over the course of your assignments. It might just keep you alive."