XXI

"Interesting, interesting."

There was a voice in Kakashi's head. Deep and elderly and kind of rough. The hat was talking to him. Looking at Snape and Drummer, however, Kakashi was convinced he was the only one who could hear the hat.

"It's not my obligation to decide who gets to go to Hogwarts and who doesn't, boy, but…" the voice drifted off, never finishing the sentence. "Yes, I've never sat on a muggle's head."

Kakashi got nervous then. Clearly, the hat could see into his mind, read him somehow. Was it a technique like the one Inoichi Yamanaka used for his mind-reading? That was dangerous. Even more so, the hat could out him. But there was little Kakashi could do against that. Surely, Snape and Drummer wouldn't react kindly to Kakashi ripping the hat to shreds and he didn't even know if that would effectively kill it.

The hat laughed in his mind. "A disturbing train of thoughts, boy. You want to kill me, do you?" The laughter echoed around his head. "I would not take such threats seriously from any other kid, but you… I wouldn't be your first, would I? But don't get all excited, boy, you cannot kill me. As I am not technically alive."

"What are you then?" Kakashi whispered quietly, hoping Snape and Drummer wouldn't hear. He doubted even the hat would be able to hear him, but apparently, the hat could just read his thoughts. "How can you speak?"

"I'm but an old hat. And as I said, boy, I'm not here to decide whether you should go to Hogwarts. Your thoughts are safe with me. Even when Tom Riddle carried me on his head, I did not share his innermost fears and desires with anybody." Kakashi didn't know what he was talking about or who this 'Tom Riddle' was. "Your thoughts are safe with me," the hat repeated.

Then what do you want? Kakashi asked. This time he didn't whisper it, but only thought his question.

"I shall find a place for you. A home, so to say, a house you can fit in. A place to find acceptance and friends." It sounded too good to be true to Kakashi. Never mind that he didn't think he would find many kindred spirits in a school of all places. "Though I am not certain, you will stay long enough to enjoy it, will you, boy?"

Just get on with it, whatever you need to do. Kakashi was still nervous, that this hat might ruin his chances to go to Hogwarts as a student.

"Ah…impatient. I see bravery there. Loyalty too, and a certain cunning. Interesting, interesting. Very smart, too." There was a short pause. "You are a hard worker, are you not, although you like to hide it with your slouch. You are also resourceful, oh yes…quite resourceful. And oh, so intelligent…You might be one of the most intelligent children I ever met – then again, you're also one of the oldest." Kakashi heard the hat hum in his mind. "I can see a darkness in you, Kakashi Hatake." It was the first time he heard his name in over a week that he was now separated from Sirius. It almost made him rip the hat off. "And sorrow… But I think you will do well in…Hufflepuff."

Kakashi only realized the head had cried the last word out loud when Snape pulled the leathery thing off his head. The teacher sneered. "I could have guessed. Of course, you'd be a Hufflepuff," he said in a mocking tone as if there was something wrong with Hufflepuffs. Whatever that was.

"One last thing," Drummer said finally. Kakashi was quite glad that apparently, their meeting would be over soon. He felt he had come too close to being outed already. "As a third-year you will be required to take a minimum of two elective subjects. As you will have a lot of things to catch up on already, I would suggest choosing only two." She gave Kakashi a small list of elective subjects.

Kakashi quickly chose the only two that made sense to him – given that he had never heard words like 'divination' or 'arithmancy'. "Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures," he picked.

"Muggle Studies sounds like a smart choice, considering…" Drummer took the paper back. "Thank you, Mr. Major, that would be all. As I'm informed you remain at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the holidays?" She continued after he nodded: "That is quite perfect. We will send you your list of schoolbooks and -supplies by tomorrow. That should leave you ample time to buy all the necessities."

Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be found. Harry sat every morning in the Leaky Cauldron and then went to Diagon Alley looking for his friends. But they never came. He met several of his other classmates. After he met Neville, he also met Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. The three boys swooned over the Firebolt for a while, until the other two had to leave to get their books. Harry already had all his school supplies. Still, however long he searched, he couldn't find his friends.

He was disappointed. It was always fun to go shopping in Diagon Alley together. Now, instead, all he had was Charlie, and most of the time Charlie was doing something else. For somebody who lived just across the corridor, he saw Charlie surprisingly little. Harry didn't even know if Charlie slept into the afternoon, or if he was just such an early bird, but he never met him in the morning. Nor even in the evening. Sometimes he spent hours with his door slightly ajar in his room just waiting for the other boy, so he could finally ask him how his meeting in the ministry had gone. That was now days ago.

Part of Harry felt it meant something went wrong and Charlie wouldn't go to Hogwarts after all. He was convinced, if Charlie was accepted, he'd have already asked Harry for money for the schoolbooks.

Harry quietly ate his scrambled eggs for breakfast. After Charlie told him that Tom spitted in the dishrag, he had decided not to eat in the Leaky Cauldron anymore. But then he had done it regardless because it was just so much more convenient.

He grabbed for the saltshaker but quickly realized that it wasn't there. There was pepper, sugar, but no salt. Frustrated he looked around for the closest table when…

"Yo!" Charlie leaned over the booth, waving with a stupid grin on his face.

Harry almost fell from his bench. "Jesus," he cursed. He hadn't even seen Charlie coming. "Where did you come from?"

Charlie pointed to the stairs, without turning away from Harry. "Do you know how the passage to Diagon Alley works?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "I told you how to do it. Did you forget?"

Charlie laughed sheepishly. "No, no, I don't mean how to open it. How does the magic work?"

Harry stared at him, blinking. He had never thought about that. "I have no idea." Harry shrugged. "It just works." Charlie seemed unhappy with the reply. "Why?"

"Curiosity. I've been trying to figure it out all week."

Harry's eyes narrowed. Clearly, that couldn't be true. Harry had gone to Diagon Alley every day. He had passed the passage twice a day if not more often. Not once had he seen the other boy there. Or had he just searched the information in a book?

"I didn't see you there," Harry said but didn't receive a response. "But if it's so important to you, I can ask my friend when we're in Hogwarts." If anybody knew about such useless tidbits of information, it would be Hermione. "Speaking of which, how did it go?"

Charlie looked at him with a blank expression.

"Your appointment with Drummer?"

Charlie came around the bench and then slid into the booth opposite Harry. As he did that, he put the saltshaker on the table.

"You took it!" Harry exclaimed in frustration and quickly grabbed it.

"I just saw you search one," Charlie retorted. The explanation wasn't bad, Harry decided.

"So, how did it go?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Went well, I supposed. I'm starting the third year with you."

Harry felt elated immediately. That was great! He always liked getting new friends, and Charlie was the only person he knew, who didn't stare at the scar all the time when he talked to him. Even Ron, he remembered, only had eyes for the scar that first time they met. Charlie didn't even seem to see it. "That's awesome. I thought you'd go into the fourth year, 'cause you're a year older."

Charlie nodded. He leaned back in his seat. "I am, but since I never held a wand before…"

Harry considered that. "Yes, I see. It makes sense. So, how did they figure that out? Did you have to take a test?"

Charlie nodded again.

Frustrated, Harry scowled at the other boy. "Come on, don't make me beg for the details."

"Mah…fine. There was a Hogwarts teacher who asked me all sorts of questions. He gave me a written test with multiple-choice questions, and then he wanted me to perform some spells. After that they—"

"Who was the teacher?" Harry interrupted curiously. It was probably McGonagall, he thought, she was vice-principal after all. But Charlie had said 'he'… Ugh, Harry just hoped it wasn't Snape.

"His name was Snape. I don't think he liked me much."

Harry cringed. Yeah, he could see that. Snape didn't like anybody unless they were part of house Slytherin. Of course, he liked Harry least of all. Harry didn't even know why. Dumbledore had dropped hints, that it had to do with his father, that Snape and his dad didn't like each other in Hogwarts. To Harry that seemed absurd. Sure, maybe Snape hadn't liked his dad, but that had nothing to do with Harry after all. In his first year, even his first day in school, when Harry hadn't done anything yet to anger Snape, the man had already enjoyed making him suffer.

Harry felt suddenly angry. He was used to Snape's bullying by now but did he really have to be the same nasty bat with Charlie. It would be humiliating enough for Charlie, that he had to beg the ministry to give him a chance to go to Hogwarts. After all, it was their fault, or Hogwarts' fault that they had missed him in the first place, wasn't it? And in came Snape and made it even more difficult.

"I'm sorry for that," Harry said honestly. He really pitied Charlie, that of all the teachers he had to meet Snape first.

"It's alright," Charlie shrugged. "I don't think he took it well when I called him Miranda." There was a sly grin on his face.

Harry sputtered. "You called him Miranda? Why?" That was a story he had to know!

Charlie told the entire story. From how he had entered the office and asked Snape if his name was 'Miranda Drummer', to how they had made the tests to decide what year he would attend, to the hat ceremony and choosing his electives."

"Hufflepuff?" Harry asked feeling a little disappointed, that Charlie wasn't going to Gryffindor. That would've really been perfect. Hufflepuff was fine though. Before his first year, Draco Malfoy had warned him that only losers got sorted into Hufflepuff, but now Harry knew better. He didn't really have much contact with any of the Hufflepuff's in his year. Apart from that one time, when Finch-Fletchley and his friends accused him of being the heir of Slytherin. Other than that, he had no gripe with Hufflepuff. Of course, he couldn't trust anything Malfoy said. He just hadn't known that back then. "Everything's great as long as it's not Slytherin."

Charlie frowned a little. "Honestly, I have no idea what any of that is. Hufflepuff or Slytherin."

"You don't?" Harry stared in surprise. Then again… "Snape that git! He should've explained it. It's the Hogwarts houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." There was still no recognition in Charlie's face. Of course, he wouldn't know anything about that. Harry shouldn't forget that. Charlie knew as much about the magical world, as Harry had known when Hagrid first picked him up. These last days must have been a convoluted and confusing mess for Charlie.

"Okay, the four founders of Hogwarts each had different ideas about what kind of students they wanted to teach," he started to explain. "To give you the long and short of it: Gryffindor wanted the brave, Ravenclaw the smart, Slytherin wanted the purebloods, and Hufflepuff didn't care and wanted all equally." He quickly summarized not getting into details about the different criteria, because really, he had already forgotten all that.

In his first year, the hat had explained everything, and back then, Harry had listened intently. Since then, he hadn't really cared that much anymore. He knew the differences, after all. He was proud of being a Gryffindor. And the rest of the houses... well the Ravenclaws were nerds, the Slytherins were pureblood supremacist bullies and the Hufflepuffs were the rest. That was about it. He would call it unfair prejudice, but so far, all this prejudice was reinforced every time he met anybody from the other houses. Hagrid had said it best, after all: There wasn't an evil wizard who wasn't a Slytherin.

"This seems nonsensical," Charlie commented. "I don't get the purpose of it."

Harry felt a little affronted at that. He was a proud Gryffindor, and although he had to admit the criteria were a little random, he was happy being in Gryffindor. For every young wizard he knew, being sorted into their house was a big event. "It's just a dorm system," he said. "It promotes competition in classes and quidditch. It's actually a lot of fun. You'll see when you get there."

"But why separate it along these criteria. The brave, the smart, the purebloods, and the rest. Seems rather random."

Harry huffed. "I was just summarizing it. I think Slytherin is for ambitious and cunning, and Hufflepuff is for loyalty, but they're accepting of all."

Charlie nodded in understanding. "Still seems random. Why put all the ambitious people in one house? Or all the smart ones. If you mix that up, they could help each other. The ambitious could push the lazy ones and the smart ones could help the students who have trouble in class. And bravery? How's that important at all?"

"Of course, bravery is important," Harry bristled.

"For school?"

Harry huffed. How would Charlie know the sort of danger he had to go through every year. He was probably right that for any other ordinary school that Charlie might have gone to in his childhood, bravery was not a trait that would be at all relevant, but Hogwarts was different.

"Just seems like they're putting kids in echo chambers," Charlie finished, before he stood up from the booth, apparently ending their conversation.

Harry wanted to retort something, but he found he couldn't. In fact, Charlie's last comment sounded disturbingly fitting. How would somebody like Malfoy ever learn to respect muggleborn witches and wizards if he spent all day surrounded by like-minded Slytherin? He shoved the thought away because he didn't want to think about it.

"Charlie! Wait, do you need help with your schoolbooks?" He didn't really want to pay for Charlie's entire supplies, but if that was the only option Charlie had, Harry would do it. He owned more gold than he needed – and really, he didn't need to buy a Firebolt any time soon.

"I'm fine, thanks," Charlie retorted waving. "I have everything."

Harry was surprised. "What do you mean you're fine? How did you pay for everything?"

Charlie smiled back at him. "I found some gold lying around."

He found some…? Harry stared at him. What did he mean he found some gold lying around? Did he steal it? But no, Harry shook his head. He probably got a ministry stipend and just didn't want to admit it or something like that.

It was the last day before the start of term. Kakashi found himself once more sitting in the backyard, probing the secret passage to Diagon Alley, with his chakra. He was frustrated. After Snape had confirmed to him, that magic could affect chakra, he had hoped the same was true the other way around. Each night he spent trying to find a chink to catch on to. A way to manipulate the passage with his chakra.

Nothing… The day was already starting, and once more, his chakra only felt smooth unassuming stone. Nothing that would indicate a secret passage. Frustrated, Kakashi stood up to touch the wall with his hand.

In a few minutes, the rush of witches and wizards visiting Diagon Alley would make further research all but impossible.

"Did you forget how to get through again?" A voice asked from beside him.

"No," he turned to Harry, "I'm just trying to find out how it works."

"By staring at it?" Harry laughed. "I don't know if that's the most effective way."

Kakashi grunted. Obviously, it wasn't effective, or he would have already found out how it worked.

"Then why don't you open the passage, so I can watch closely and see if I can find something out?" Kakashi suggested.

Harry gave a skeptical shrug, but he pulled out his wand to tap on the brick stones. Kakashi carefully put a thin layer of chakra over the wall. When Harry tapped the wall, however, nothing happened.

Harry frowned. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Kakashi lied. Apparently, his chakra layer had blocked the contact between wall and wand… Was it so sensitive, that a thin layer of just anything could stop the passage from opening? Or was it chakra specifically that could block the entrance? Kakashi hadn't found a way to open the passage himself yet, but apparently by sheer happenstance he had found a way to force it closed.

When Harry tried again, Kakashi removed the layer of chakra, around the area Harry hit with his wand. As soon as the wand retracted, he covered it again, before the passage opened. This time, it worked.

He could feel the wall move below his chakra, could feel his chakra merge into the wall, as the bricks shifted to the side. Harry nodded satisfied and went through the passage. "Do you want to join me?" he asked. "Tomorrow we'll leave for King's Cross."

Kakashi shrugged and followed, but he concentrated on the wall behind him still. The wall moved again to close when…

There! He could feel it. He didn't know if his chakra had grown accustomed to magic after studying it for so long, or if it was simply that his chakra was now merged so deeply with the magical wall, that it became essentially one and the same. Whatever the reason, when the wall moved again, he could feel the magic. Just a faint trace of an unknown energy. Something barely detectable but no doubt powerful, that moved the wall and created a passage between dimensions. His chakra immediately latched on to it.

Then the wall was closed again, but the magic was still there. He could feel it, humming as if it had a heartbeat. He had never felt it before. Hours he had spent touching and probing the wall, but he had never felt anything that didn't feel like a normal wall. Now, his chakra was probing and familiarizing itself with the new energy.

Kakashi retracted his own chakra. He felt a little exhausted after the ordeal. Still, he tried one last time, to probe the wall with the chakra he had left. YES! He could still feel it. He still didn't know how to manipulate it, if he even could manipulate it, but he felt as if he had made a massive step forward.

"Are you coming?" Harry asked impatiently. Kakashi had almost forgotten about him. He quickly hurried after the boy.

They were just past Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor when somebody yelled Harry's name. When Kakashi turned towards the voices, there were a boy and a girl waving at them. The girl had bushy brown hair and large front teeth. The boy had red hair and freckles… He seemed immediately familiar.

The picture! Harry had talked a lot about his friends Ron and Hermione, but how could Kakashi have guessed, that Ron was the same boy in the picture. The boy with the rat! Kakashi had only seen a black-and-white picture, he wasn't a hundred percent certain, but the similarities were there.

So, maybe, the rat was close.

He had thought, he'd have to wait all the way to Hogwarts to find it, but instead, if he could kill Peter here already—

His mind ground to a sudden halt.

If he killed Peter here, what would that help? He'd kill a rat, no more. Do Animagi turn back to human form in death? He didn't know that, so in the worst-case scenario, he'd just have a dead rat and no way to prove to anybody that the rat was once a man and that that man had done what Sirius Black went to prison for.

Would Sirius even thank him if he stole his revenge away from him?

But Sirius wasn't a killer. Kakashi was certain of that much, at least. Would Sirius even be capable of killing the rat?

Kakashi had been hellbent on finding the rat. Now that he might be close, he realized that wouldn't do anything. He had to find it alive. He had to somehow force it back into human form and then he had to present it to the ministry. That way, he could prove Sirius' innocence. That was more important, wasn't it?

Harry was Sirius' godson. Sirius had talked all this time about how it would've been his job to raise Harry, how he regretted not being able to do that. And Harry lived with his abusive aunt and uncle who hated magic. If Kakashi managed to prove Sirius' innocence, he could help both his new friends. He could finally allow Sirius to live free again, without fear of Azkaban. Harry could live with somebody who loved and cared for him.

Killing the rat, without proving anything, would destroy all chance they had to ever become the family that they were supposed to be all along. It suddenly seemed so clear to Kakashi. Killing the rat was never the aim. Or it shouldn't have been. Instead, he needed the rat alive and ready to spill the beans.

Only Kakashi didn't know how to do that. Sure, he might be able to catch it now and drag it to the ministry. Then he could hope that there was a spell to force an Animagus back into human form and that there was somebody in the ministry willing to believe the word of a teenager to try it against a rat and risk embarrassing themselves. Never mind that Kakashi had no credentials whatsoever. Just a kid who first discovered the magical world a mere month ago.

There were too many holes in the plan, and if only one thing went wrong, all he would have achieved was to warn the rat that he was after him. Kakashi knew by now, that magic would be difficult to handle. He was confident that he could best most wizards in a fight. Maybe all of them. He knew, he had skills they didn't know how to defend against… But all the rat had to do to escape him was teleport away, and then there was nothing Kakashi could do to find him again. In fact, even without teleporting, if he just slipped away and hid with the other sewer rats… Kakashi was a good tracker, he was confident in his skill, but even he didn't believe he could capture a random rat on the run.

No, the best would be to keep the rat close, make him feel safe, and prepare for a time, when Kakashi had a better plan. As long as the rat didn't know Kakashi was after him, Kakashi could take his time to make his move.

"Who's that?" the redhead asked with a nod towards Kakashi. The girl had her eyes narrowed at him.

"I'm Charlie," he introduced himself, only now realizing that the others had been staring at him for a while.

"I met him in Little Whinging. Apparently, he lives just a few miles away," Harry explained. He took the chair opposite his friends and then waved for Kakashi to sit beside him. "Those are my friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. I told you about them."

The girl's eyes narrowed at Kakashi. "Really?" she asked in a suspicious tone. "I never saw you in Hogwarts."

Kakashi grabbed the menu. "I never went to Hogwarts before," he explained distractedly.

Hermione was obviously suspicious. She glared at him as if he would spill all his secrets if she only looked long enough. "So, you went to Durmstrang? How did you end up in Little Winging, to meet Harry? That's a funny coincidence isn't it?"

"I didn't go to Durmstrang," Kakashi replied putting down the menu and glaring back at her. "I didn't go to any school, because I never got a letter." He decided to make a small scene because he had no idea how to explain, why Charlie Major suddenly walked from Horley to Little Whinging. This drama would hopefully distract her. "I'm getting really tired of explaining this."

"Leave him be," Harry quickly cut in when Hermione wanted to retort something. "He's right. They didn't send him a letter, but it's alright now. The ministry took care of it and he's going to start the third year with us."

Hermione still didn't seem happy. Her lips were a little pinched showing clear displeasure and embarrassment at his outbreak. Kakashi knew that meant, that although she was still curious, she wouldn't ask anything further. "Well, okay," she mumbled picking up the menu, that Kakashi had put down. "I was just curious. Sorry."

"Anyway," Ron changed the topic with the smooth subtlety of an oncoming train. "We looked everywhere for you, Harry. We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd already left—"

"How come you knew I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?" Harry interrupted his friend.

"Dad," the redhead answered. Kakashi had no idea how that explained them knowing about Harry's stay at the Leaky Cauldron, but apparently, Harry understood. "He said you blew up your aunt!"

Hermione peeked nervously over her menu. "Did you really?"

Kakashi turned to order a tea when Harry jumped into an explanation of the events surrounding his aunt and their meeting with Fudge. Ron was showing off a new wand, and they were talking about school supplies. Kakashi only listened with one ear, until his name was called out again.

"We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight too! So, you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione's there as well! Charlie can come too," Ron said throwing Kakashi an inviting grin.

"To King's Cross?" Kakashi asked confused. Of course, he'd go to King's Cross. If he understood it correctly, that was where the train to Hogwarts would leave from – though he didn't look forward to taking the train. He didn't like these metal boxes on trails. It seemed flimsy to him.

"Yeah," Ron nodded. "Dad said the ministry will give us a ride. I'm sure there's a seat for you."

"Sure, thanks," Kakashi accepted.

"The ministry?" Harry asked confused. "Why would they bother?"

Hermione frowned. "Yes, that's odd. They don't offer rides to just anybody, do they?"

Ron shrugged. "Well, my dad works there, and since the Ford Anglia is gone…Never look a gift horse in the mouth, right?" He chuckled.

Harry and Hemione didn't seem convinced. Kakashi had his own ideas.

"It's because of Harry," he voiced his suspicions. Harry looked confused. "They think Sirius Black's after you."

Hermione laughed nervously. "I'm sure that's not…What would Black want with Harry?"

"Is that true Harry?" Ron asked simultaneously looking at his friend with big eyes.

Harry shook his head. "That's news to me." He sighed. "But I wouldn't be surprised…That's just my luck."

"It's why the minister was so nice about you blowing up your aunt, and why they didn't want you to go to muggle London. Snape said something about that when I spoke to him," explained Kakashi.

Ron grimaced and grunted in disgust. "You talked to Snape?" But then he turned serious again. "You sure, Charlie?"

Kakashi shrugged and emptied his cup. He couldn't smell a rat with the boy. For the moment, that was more important to him than whatever the ministry thought about Harry and Sirius.

"Don't you have a rat?" he asked. "Harry mentioned you had a rat." Harry had said no such thing, of course.

"Did I?" Harry blinked confused.

"Yeah, Scabbers," Ron grunted. "He's with my parents. Feels a little sick recently. Maybe he didn't like the climate in Egypt. I got him checked over, but they said he might just be getting old." Although Ron spoke in a tone as if he didn't like having a rat, he seemed sad at the prospect of his rat dying. "He's been with our family for years, even before Percy went to Hogwarts." He shook his head.

To Kakashi, he was now reasonably certain this had to be the right rat. This was indeed the boy from the picture. That the rat suddenly got sick was likely stress after finding out about Sirius' escape. Now, he only had to find a way to turn the rat back into human shape, and then he had to catch it.

"Speaking of which," Hermione said, quickly paying her ice cream. "I still have a few Galleons left to buy myself something for my birthday. I thought about an owl."

With that, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went off to the Magical Menagerie to buy Hermione an owl, while Kakashi turned back to the Leaky Cauldron. He had one last day to figure out how this dimensional travel worked and so far, he had only made little progress.

Also… He had to find a rat. He didn't need to catch it yet, but if he could find it and familiarize himself with the scent, that would be useful.