Poke poke.
"Hey Sophie."
Poke poke.
"You wanted to talk? Lets Talk."
Poke Poke.
Sophie Groaned, and looked up at Hailey, who was squatting on Sophies bed. "Ehhh… What time is it?"
"Half past two." Hailey said.
"... Why are we talking about it now?" Sophie whined.
"Because I just got back. If you don't like it, too bad. That's what you get for reading my mail." Hailey said, matter of factly.
"Guess I should have seen that coming." Grumbled Sophie, sitting up, and giving a full body yawn.
"So what was so urgent that you needed to leave a note?" Hailey said. Sitting down on her knees.
Sophie, gave her a smile. "Maybe I just wanted to know how your little adventure went?"
"Not buying it." Hailey said, flatly. "You didn't leave a note to enquire about my night."
Sophie seemed to think for a minute, but then grimmanced, holding her hand to her forehead. "Dammit I'm too tired for this. Fine you win! I haven't figured out a damn thing about you and everything I have seen has only confused me further. What the hell is your deal?"
"Took you long enough." Hailey said, giggling. "I was considering dropping hints."
"So what even are you?" Sophie said. "Because I am starting to have some major doubts about your species."
"Ah-ah-ah." Hailey said waggling her fingers. "Don't try pulling a fast one on me. You first, The more I hear, the more I'll tell."
"Tsk."
"Nice try." said Chen, peering up from beside the bed. "But Hailey is a little sharper than that."
"Oh god you're here too." Sophie said, putting her head in her hands "Am I really gonna have to-"
"Yup." Chen said. "I ain't gonna go anywhere, so unless you want to wait me out…"
Sophie groaned. "In that case, you might as well come over too Lily. We know you are awake, you aren't fooling anyone."
"Meep."
Lily, peered up sheepishly. "I just kind of woke up when they arrived…"
"Don't worry about it." Hailey said, beckoning her over. "Come on over, it's story time."
Lily fumbled for her glasses and joined everyone else on Sophies bed.
"How on earth are you so peppy at two in the morning." Sophie grumbled.
"Spill your guts and you might find out." Hailey teased.
Sophie sighed. "Fine, but make sure none of this leaves the four of us, clear?"
"Cross my heart." Hailey said.
"Mums the word." Chen said.
"I won't tell…" Lily said, curiosity peeking past her shyness.
Sophie took a deep breath. "Alright, Hailey already guessed, but for Lilys benefit, my parents, are… Muggles. God I hate that word."
Lily nodded, having already figured it out.
"I prefer the term, 'Mundanes' myself," Chen said conversationally. "It actually means something, and doesn't sound like a racial slur."
"But yeah, I figured pretty early on that it would be easier if I kept that under wraps, especially after I was sorted into Slytherin, but there was a bit more to it than that." Sophie said.
"I figured as much, said Hailey, "But one doesn't get that paranoid about personal information because of just that. That kind of behaviour is learnt."
"It's my mom, she always taught me to take any advantage I can. The quickest route to power is knowing more about your enemies then they know about you." Sophie said.
"Weird thing to teach a child." Chen said.
Sophie shrugged. "Probably."
"Come on Sophie, gonna need more than that." Hailey said.
"... Ugh fine. My Father also happens to be the former, former mind you, head of a major crime family. And my mother was his second in command." Sophie said.
Lily gasped.
Chen however... "HA! Suck it Hai-chan! I win!."
"Well there goes fifty Gallions." Grumbled Hailey.
"You were betting on me?" Sophie said, raising her eyebrows.
"Not you. Your backstory!" Chen said gleefully. "And I won. Military Intelligence my ass!"
"What." Sophie said blankly.
"I thought one of your parents was in MI5 or something, and they sent you here to infiltrate Hogwarts." Hailey mumbled. "With how you act, It wasn't a huge leap of the imagination."
"Military intelligence, really?" Sophie said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, that kids in Hufflepuff." Chen said.
"What?" "Huh?" Hailey and Sophie said in unison.
"What?" said Chen innocently.
"Your parents are criminals?!" Lily said, shocked.
"Hey! Former Criminals, thank you very much." Sophie said indignantly. "You see, when I was, ehem, conceived, my parents didn't want their chosen 'occupation' to affect me in the future. By the time I had turned one, my parents had done a thorough extermination campaign of my families rivals, and liquidated all criminal assets. Now they run a perfectly legitimate multimillion dollar business empire." Sophie said. "Mom never quite kicked some of the habits though, she spent most of my childhood making sure I had every possible tool I could need to succeed in life."
"I was actually slated for a specialist school, that centers its curriculum around business management and economics for when I inherit the business, before Mcgonagall came to our door with my letter. My parents, after being shown the existence of magic, decided that this would be better to give me a leg up in life, provided I can get some extra tutorage in economics. Thanks for bringing Ran with you by the way, You probably saved me from being tutored all summer."
"Wow, your welcome I guess." Hailey said.
"Gosh..." Lily said, her expression rather conflicted.
"Well there you have it. My life story." Sophie said, "My mom is probably gonna skin me alive if she found out I squealed, so hope your side is gonna be worth it."
"Oh it is." said Hailey, who leaned back, rolling off the bed and onto her feet. "To answer your question as to what I am. I am Hailey Potter, and I am a youkai of grudge." She struck a pose, and grinned, showing off her best sharky grin, and her eyes blazed green.
Lily recoiled in shock, falling off the bed. "Ow… I'm okay."
"A what?" Sophie said. "What's a youkai?"
Chen chimed in. "a youkai is a blanket term. It is Japanese, and it refers to a creature who is entirely magical in nature, they can be many things, like forces or concepts given physical shape, objects given life and intelligence, or like Hailey and myself, ordinary creatures that due to magic ascend to another state of being, among many other types as well. Things such as demonkind and fae creatures also fall under this term."
"You're not human?" Lily said, who had clambered up back onto bed.
"Not since I was six." Hailey said, kinda miffed that Chen stole her thunder.
"I figured you were strange, I didn't figure you were that strange." Sophie said. "How did that happen?"
"Lots of things." Hailey said, shrugging. "Primarily though it was the environment I was raised in."
"The Muggles- er, I mean, the... Mundanes?" Lily said, correcting herself after Sophie shot her a look.
"Yeah, It turns out that, on top of all that abuse and hatred, they also deeply feared magic. And fear is a powerful magical motivator. All the abuse they piled on me agitated my magic further, and the hunger and malnourishment left a deep hunger in my soul." Hailey said
"Is that why you always eat like your starving?" Sophie said.
"Yeah. It's also why when I turned, I immediately bit my cousin." Hailey said.
"You bit your cousin?" Lily said, nervously.
Hailey pulled down her lips to better show her teeth. "These things aren't for show you know. I can break bone with these things."
"Do you... eat people?" Sophie said, slightly nervous.
"Don't worry, neither of you are on the menu." Hailey said dismissively.
"But you do eat people then?" Sophie said.
Hailey rolled her eyes. "Well if you are so fixated on it, yes I eat people. Or more accurately people meat. I don't think even I'm enough of a glutton to eat a whole person." Hailey said.
"You eat people." Lily said, in mild hysterics.
"I kinda have to." Hailey said, "the hunger I have leads me to crave it regularly, once a month in fact, roughly around full moon usually, when my kind is at its strongest, and most unstable." Hailey said matter of factly. "I need it, or it will slowly errode me from within, my mind and body deteriorating until I either eat it or come apart at the seams, dying in pain, a husk of my former self."
"... you know what, that's fair enough." said Sophie, adjusting her collar. "That sounds nasty."
"But… but who do you eat?" Lily said, still very nervous.
"You'll have to ask Yukari, or Ran, they are the ones who feed me." Hailey said, shrugging.
"Well I can't speak for all of Haileys meals," Yukari said conversationally from Sophie's desk, causing Lily to fall backwards off the bed again, "But her last meal was provided by the Arizona State Prison Complex, it's amazing how often bodies can get lost on the way to the crematorium, especially with a few bribes here and there." She said, reading from a manilla folder.
Yukari then caught Hailey as she glomped her. "Honestly, second time tonight, whatever will I do with you?"
"Oh, they were already dead." Sophie, releasing a breath. "That's kind of a relief."
"I am no fool, Miss Roper, There are better, more discreet ways of acquiring fresh corpses then picking people off the street." Yukari said. "Humans are far too wasteful, especially with all the hungry youkai out there needing a meal, I am merely recycling wasted material." Yukari said.
"When did she get here?" Lily said, climbing back onto the bed, looking slightly dazed.
"No need to worry about it Miss Moon, I am simply there when I need to be." said Yukari, standing up, and putting Hailey down. "Now I shall be on my way. But since you are swapping life stories, might I suggest you do a bit of sharing Miss Moon?" I'm sure your companions will find it very interesting. Good morning." Yukari stepped into a gap and vanished.
"Huh?" said Lily.
"Hey now there's an idea." Sophie said. "We really don't know much about you either."
"Yeah, might as well complete the trio, you've never really talked about yourself either." Hailey said. "Well except for…" Hailey petered off in quiet realisation.
"Oh yeah… that." said Sophie, suddenly realising this might not be a good idea.
There was an awkward silence.
"I'd… I'd rather not yet, if thats ok." Lily said quietly.
"Yeah… That's fine." Sophie said.
"Take all the time you need." Hailey added.
Lily sniffed. "Thank you."
Everyone quietly went to bed.
Some wounds never fully heal.
A few Days later...
"Hello, boys."
Fred and George, currently pouring over a piece of parchment in an empty corridor looked up to the Approaching cat girl.
"Chen, what can I do for you." Fred said Jovially.
"Nothing much, just wondering what you guys are up too." Chen said, smiling.
"Looking for a bit of mischief are we?" George said, leaning in conspiratorially.
"I might be." Chen said, leaning in. "Got anything planned today?"
"Well not today." Fred said joining his fellow conspirators.
"But we are in the middle of some planning for something tomorrow," George said
"if you are interested." Fred finished.
"Hey, have I said no yet?" Chen said. "But before we get into it, mind if I ask something?"
"Why not?" "We are all ears." Fred and George said.
"You know Hailey right?" Chen said.
"Indeed we do." Fred said gravely.
"She had such potential." George said, equally grim.
"Shame she went into Slytherin." Fred said.
"Now don't be like that." Chen said chidingly. "She might be a Slytherin, but she doesn't give a hoot about her house. She just wants to have fun. In fact, she is finding it rather suffocating around here, if you know what I mean."
"Oh really?" The twins said.
"I've been trying to help her out, but one cat can only do so much." Chen said, feigning sadness, holding her hand to her head dramatically. "She just needs an outlet for her inner mischief."
"How tragic." said George somberly.
"The poor girl." Fred said, bowing his head.
"I don't suppose you'd let her get in on some of your schemes every now and then?" Chen said.
The Twins shared a glance. "Well if you vouch for her..."
"Oh, I do." Chen said. "I taught her everything there is to know about causing trouble."
"Very well, we'll give her a chance then." said Fred.
"Great, when can I start?" Hailey said behind them.
The twins whirl around, to see Hailey standing there.
She popped a salute. "Hailey Potter, Soldier of Mischief, reporting for duty."
Fred and George looked at each other. "Not bad."
The Day After...
Mcgonagall, gave a tired sigh as she walked into the teachers lounge. She had just gotten back from the scene of an utterly tasteless prank, involving about half the bathrooms on the third floor. And it absolutely had Weasleys written all over it. She had honestly no idea what to do with those two, and she swears they have gotten worse recently...
"Good evening, Professor Mcgonagall. Busy day?"
Mcgonagall was surprised to see the Fox woman, Ran sitting by the fireplace in one of the big armchairs. For someone who was for all intents and purposes working here, it was incredibly rare to simply run into her. She was reading something, some sort of novel. Apart from the token greeting, she hadn't acknowledged her existence, slowly flipping the pages.
"You could say that," Mcgonagall said. "What about you? I don't often see you in here."
"No one else was using the space, so I'd thought I'd use it for some quiet reading." Ran said, "Not sure why I am bothering though to be honest, this book is absolute drivel. Character development is all over the place, the premise is absurd and halfway through it's already painfully obvious the butler did it."
"I see." said Mcgonagall diplomatically, sitting down in the other chair by the fire.
Ran sighed, before putting the book aside and finally looking Mcgonagall in the eye. "So you wish to speak to me about something Professor?"
"I don't recall telling anyone that." Mcgonagall said.
"It's an educated guess, would you care to prove me wrong?" Ran said.
"Well… you are correct, I have been meaning to ask you about some things, Miss Granger to be precise."
"I thought as much, what do you wish to know?"
"If I might be honest, I am worrying for her health, the girls in her dorm report she is always the last one to bed, and the last one out of it. She stays out until ridiculous times at night with you in your classes, she has dark rings under her eyes, and she doesn't seem to be engaging with other students in any way outside of classes." Mcgonagall said, her brow creasing in worry.
"Have her studies been affected in any way?" Ran asked.
"... No," Mcgonagall admitted, "She is consistently excellent in all classes."
"Then I am failing to see the problem." Ran said, picking up her book.
"Miss Yakumo!" said Mcgonagall irritably. "If I believe that your classes may be adversely affecting her health-"
"They are not." Ran said with finality, cutting off the Professor, putting her book down again. "I have taken steps to ensure they will not, I assure you."
"And what might those steps be?" said Mcgonagall, unmoving.
"If you must know. I have gotten her on some… medicine from a little known clinic and pharmacist in Japan." Ran said. "I commissioned it myself in preparation for Hermione's lessons. The Medicine removes the minds need for sleep for extended periods, and lessens the bodies dependency on it. As well as a number of other things such as immune boosters to compensate for some of the effects of sleep deprivation. In simple terms, it allows the human body to function at near full capacity without sleep for extended periods."
"Such a potion exists?" Mcgonagall asked, sceptical.
"Not potion, it is administered as a tablet, once every twenty-four hours, at breakfast for best results. Swallow, don't chew, otherwise you might notice that they taste terrible. Eirin is a master at her profession, but even genius has its limits."
"Ah they safe?" Mcgonagall said.
"As long as you don't use them continuously." Ran said. "It only reduces the body's need for sleep after all, and the longer you leave it the more time you will need to recover. I have forbidden her from taking it on weekends, and have instructed her to sleep in on those days as much as possible to avoid any negative effects on her health." She had started reading again.
Mcgonagall looked at Ran long and hard. "Why are you doing this, Miss Yakumo. Many students do speak highly of your classes, but you have not put this same level of effort to anyone else except your own ward. What are your intentions for Hermione?"
"Special treatment for a special girl," Ran said. "She is driven, dedicated, clever, and she has an intellect that appears once a generation, if not longer. She is a genius, a prodigy... and it would have been utterly wasted on this school."
Mcgonagall opened her mouth to angrily retort. But Ran lifted her finger. "Care to let me finish?"
"With all due respect to your profession, while it does take some intellect to teach, any idiot can wave a stick and say the right words with enough practice, surely you have taught enough idiots to realise this? Hermione is capable of so much more than that, she soaks up information and knowledge like a sponge, and can apply it practically with little-to-no prompting. She could be anything she puts her mind to, and yet you would limit her to only a handful of professions that your wizarding world allows? She could change the world if she wanted to. In fact with my lessons, she most probably will."
"I think you put a bit too much stock in the importance of your lessons, Mcgonagall said, irritably.
"Hardly." Ran said. "If she continues under my tutelage until her seventh year, current data projects that the chances of her making a positive and meaningful global impact increase by Sixty-six point five percent, leaving her total around ninety-seven point thirty-two percent with a margin of error of only seven point one. I consider that a statistically significant figure."
"What?" Mcgonagall said.
"Oh yes. And only in twenty-four percent of those positive outcomes does she attempt world conquest."
"W-what?" Mcgonagall spluttered. "World conquest is a positive result?"
"I would think so, She would do a far better job then the monkeys currently running the place." Ran said, before cringing, "good grief, how on earth does such tripe get published?"
"Where are you getting all these numbers from?" Mcgonagall asked. "Are you some sort of seer?"
"I suppose you could say that. I am a diviner of numbers, of probability. I anticipate scenarios both likely and unlikely, and measure them up with existing variables to produce the statistical probability of them coming to pass, before breaking them down into easy to understand percentiles. The more information I have, the more accurate my figures and the smaller my margin of error becomes."
"... I have never heard of such an art." Mcgonagall said after a pause.
"I would think not." Ran said. "Such mathematics are far beyond the human mind. However my mistress has programmed me for peak mental performance. And even then, I cannot accurately predict events below a certain percentile."
"I feel like we have got off topic somewhat."
"That is no fault of mine, you asked the questions, I merely provided answers." Ran said. "To the original topic. I am teaching Hermione so that she might reach her full potential, and to give your little wizarding world a small lesson."
That last part sent a chill down Mcgonagall's spine. "What... kind of lesson?"
Ran stood up, "Nothing less, then the true power of magic. I promise you this: By the time I am done with her, Hermione will be one of the most powerful magicians to ever pass through this school, you have my word." Ran stood up. "Now if you will excuse me I will continue my reading elsewhere. Good night Professor."
Ran walked off.
"Now wait just-" Mcgonagall said, but Ran rounded a corner, and she slumped into her chair knowing that Ran was gone. She had hoped her questioning would put her at ease, but instead it only left her with more questions. As she was quickly finding out, the Yakumo's were a very strange lot, and deciphering their motives was next to impossible.
Mini Bonus:
Ran sighed as she closed the book. "And it was the Butler. It would be so nice to be wrong for once."
Chapter Notes:
And finally we have this chapter. Or more accurately three mini chapters. This will probably be something I will do a lot, as I don't really feel like describing the passage of time like Rowling does. So I will only be highlighting significant events, like Halloween in the next chapter. There will probably be regular chapters like this in between though, of just small things that happen. I hope this was interesting anyway.